STOP PRESS: TORRES SCORES! Chelsea 5 Leicester 2

On a weekend when the whole footballing world was craving some good news following Fabrice Muamba's tragic collapse, how fitting that it should fall to Fernando Torres, a man who hadn't scored in light years, to come up trumps. Leicester of course must have fancied their chances at the Bridge, but Chelsea have suddenly fallen in love with the game again over the last few weeks and on Sunday it showed.

I must admit I didn't really know what to expect from the game given that Chelsea had been relatively abject during the previous two occasions I had watched them, but a glance around the stadium minutes before kick off hinted at a change in fortunes; there was a tremendous buzz around the ground, no doubt a reaction to Chelsea's sudden change of form after AVB's exit. Leicester to be fair also played their part, a strong 6,000 odd crowd full of life throughout the game.  Moments before kick off a round of applause was held in recognition of poor Muamba's plight, with fans chanting his name.

The football matched the fantastic atmosphere from the start. Chelsea immediately looked strong, getting the ball on the floor and prancing around the pitch as if in some kind of communal ballet dance. At times their movement was terrific, attacking together as a team and then immediately moving behind the ball when they lost it.

Though Leicester tried, they simply couldn't match the movement, skill and speed of their London opponents, and it wasn't long before Stamford Bridge erupted in a spontaneous explosion of delight as Cahill, their bright new centre back, scored his first goal for the club from a corner. Chelsea were in full control, which was increased by a second goal minutes later. It was a superb team affair, whose main contributor was a flying Spaniard down the right wing, Torres escaping the defender then cutting the ball back to set up Kalou who slid the ball past the onrushing Schmeichel.

Game over. For Leicester fans, it seemed they had nothing but their pride to sing for, and determined they were to keep singing. The flowing ballet style display Chelsea had thus far maintained suddenly began to unravel as the half went on; there was a 20 minute period when Chelsea merely kept the ball, without creating any further decent chances of note, and Leicester maybe sensed an opportunity to establish themselves. Of course, they did no such thing, the game belonged to Chelsea and I was genuinely disappointed to hear the half time whistle.

And Chelsea deserve credit for maintaining control in the early stages of the second half, other teams may have baulked under the pressure of a 2 goal lead in such a high tempo game. Midway through the second half came the game's showpiece moment; the point of no return, the twist in the tale as Torres, who had been lively and pretty damn superb in his role on the shoulder of the last defender all day, finally got the goal he had been waiting for....well, for a bloody long time. And to think it was merely an innocuous flick of the boot, on any other day, in any other game, it could have gone anywhere. For Fernando, however, after leaving his boot, the ball did something it hadn't done for months..cross the line. Instantly, the whole stadium, save 6,000 Leicester fans, exploded in celebration. I am no Chelsea fan, but I must admit I was genuinely delighted for the guy.

Within seconds, a whole host of events took place that probably hadn't happened for a long time; Torres smiled, he was hugged, his fellow players groped his hair. The stadium announcer announced shouted his name. The poor guy hadn't had this kind of adulation since the glory days at Anfield. It was almost emotional.

Torres' goal turned the game from being a Chelsea walkover into a spectacle, a delight to behold. The Bridge was rocking, cheering every touch of the newly revered Spaniard...and then there was Leicester, eleven players who no one seemed to really care about but who could still have a huge impact on the outcome of events. That became immediately apparent when in the 77th minute, a Leicester attack resulting in a close effort hitting the post, bouncing towards the lively Jermaine Beckford who tapped in to score in front of his own fans. It was a bolt from the blue for Chelsea.

But the game remained theirs.

The last 20 minutes were characterized by end to end football, both teams throwing caution to the wind in the search for glory. In the end, glory came to both teams, but more prominantly Chelsea who were just too much for Leicester. The celebratory atmosphere was given further fuel by the occasion of Fernando's second goal of the game, a neat near post header from a corner that sent Stamford Bridge into delirium. It was a sight to behold..and much credit should be given to Chelsea fans who had stuck by the lad for so long, now enthusiastically applauding his sudden return to the scoresheet. And he deserved it. Torres was at the heart of almost every Chelsea attack from start to finish, looking lively; his first touch was exquisite, his awareness of the team around him admirable.

Yet incredibly, despite Torres' heroics, the award for the best goal of the game must definately got to Leicester's Ben Marshall. Cutting in from the right, Marshall drove at the Chelsea defence before unleashing a tidy strike from 30 yards that left Cech standing aloof. Once again, another testament to the unpredictability of this great competition.

And there was more. With just minutes left, Torres ran down the left wing, lashing onto a throughball, urged on by the crowd who no doubt had visions of a magnificent hatrick. Unfortunately for the fans, Fernando disappointed them by cutting inside, and sliding the ball across to Raul Meireles who in turn shot neatly passed the hapless Schmeichel, who must have by now been wishing the full time whistle to come early.

It was a fantastic cup tie, a genuinely enjoyable game to watch, a buoyant atmopshere, some superb attacking football, the theatre of Torres' performance and goals, and even the Leicester fans were in full voice throughout. And so, rather predictably it seems, Chelsea have booked their place at Wembley for the semifinal, a dramatic turnaround of events considering the mid season loss of form they had. I am no Chelsea fan, but it is pleasing to see a group of players playing for each other, and playing for the manager, and I have lots of admiration for the way in which Torres has dealt with his loss of form in recent months. He deserves his turn of good fortune, and so do Chelsea. Question is, will their semi-final at Wembley be their first and last appearance this season? More importantly, will I be there?

Birmingham City 0 Chelsea 2

I am a big believer in doing things out of the ordinary, thinking outside the box, going the extra mile. In all fairness, it is highly unlikely that I will ever enter St Andrews Kop corner ever again, so in that respect alone it was a momentous occasion. I couldn't help but be occupied by the hilarity of the situation however, sitting alone in McDonalds before the game, surrounded by Birmingham fans, I felt like I was going undercover. Back in the day of course, in August, I never thought that the FA Cup run I had embarked on at Boldmere would take me anywhere near Small Heath, yet this is where I found myself. In St Andrews. In the Kop.

Birmingham City is a weird little club, I have decided. Their fans have long been viewed as more passionate and vocal than their Birmingham based rivals; and more committed. Yet I didn't see this while watching highlights of their recent league game against Derby. All I saw was empty seats. Further alarm bells rang as I began reading Chris Houghton's programme notes. In his first sentence, he suggested that the replay tie was 'a welcome distraction from the npower Championship'. Why? True, a home tie against one of the biggest teams in the country is a big deal, but Birmingham are playing in arguably the most exciting and entertaining league in the country, and have a good chance of being promoted.

And then of course you have the stadium. St Andrews is an old ground, and looks it. The Kop swings round to the Tilton in one tier, while the Garrison Lane end has a huge lower tier below a comparatively small upper one. The whole stadium looks out of proportion. But then I am biased. The Tilton is no Holte End after all.


And so to the football. Chelsea were coming into this game having lost their manager, and looking like losing their season if they couldn't get anything here, and they immediately set out to gain an advantage, their lively forward Mata unlocking the Blues defence after barely 3 minutes. Birmingham soon recovered after this initial scare, and appeared to be carrying on from where they left off in London; tight at the back, determined and focused in midfield. Trying hard not to allow Chelsea room to play. The result was a bleak stalemate at halftime after a first half of little note.

If the first half had been bleak, the second half transformed the game into a tantalizing tussle that quickly developed into an end to end spectacle. I am not sure what Birmingham's bright young manager said to them at half time, but it certainly didn't work as Chelsea came out storming, their pressure gifting them first blood. Minutes later, a superb solo effort from Meireles all but ended Birmingham's hopes of creating a cup upset. Chelsea maight have gone to hell and back over the past few weeks, but a devastating 6 minute episode showed us all what they are capable of.

And it was all over.

Well, maybe not. You see, for Birmingham's fun loving fans there was one genuine moment of celebration to be had, and even if it didn't win them the game, it was worth seeing. Shortly after going 2-0 up, Chelsea were awarded a penalty in front of their own fans. From where I was, I couldn't see if it was a dive or not, but seconds later, Juan Mata was stepping up to increase the lead. As we all watched and waited for the inevitable, Birmingham fans began chanting for Torres to take the spotkick. It wasn't Torres, it was Mata. And it was saved, saved by the hero of the original tie, Colin Doyle.

The save sparked Birmingham back into life and gave them confidence to play for the last fifteen minutes. It was of course, to no avail. When Blues were crying out for some ingenuity, some creativity and flair, they had Nikola Zigic. They bright young star Nathan Redmond, was hardly given enough service throughout the game, and must have been furious.

In the end, it was all too much for Birmingham who had tried hard but failed miserably. For Chelsea, this victory is hugely significant as it gives them genuine hope of winning a trophy this season, after the disaster of the last few weeks. They will surely fancy their chances now of beating Leicester at home, and making Wembley for the semi final. For Birmingham, their 'Road' ends here...for me and Chelsea... Blue is the Colour!