Chelsea 5-0 Morecambe: Match report & talking points from FA Cup trouncing | OneFootball

Chelsea ultimately eased to a 5-0 FA Cup win at home League Two Morecambe on Saturday.

It was a victory which didn't deserve three cheers but two, perhaps one as the Premier League giants made heavy weather of their lowly visitors before a burst of three goals in seven second-half minutes distorted the scoreline.

In a display which secures Chelsea's passage to the FA Cup fourth round, not many of the club's B-team stated a strong case to be promoted to the Premier League XI.

How the game unfolded

Chelsea started Saturday's contest with the confidence of a side sitting 87 league places above their opponents. The fourth-tier strugglers were penned into their own half for much of the opening 15 minutes before they belatedly buckled under the mounting pressure.

Morecambe skipper Yann Songo'o took the unorthodox approach of blocking Joao Felix's cross by instinctively raising both arms, locking them in an upright position as though he was preparing to dive into an invisible swimming pool. Christopher Nkunku, however, failed to punish the captain's flop.

The French forward drilled a low effort within Harry Burgoyne's wingspan, watching on as the Shrimps goalkeeper preserved parity.

Those inside Stamford Bridge ended the first half with a cricked neck, their gaze constantly fixed on Morecambe's half of the pitch. But Derek Adams' side battled valiantly, hauling a red shirt in front of the ball as Chelsea rattled off a flurry of shots. Unfortunately for the spirited visitors, Callum Jones didn't intend to get in the way of Tosin Adarabioyo's speculative effort, inadvertently deflecting the centre-back's pot shot beyond his goalkeeper in the 40th minute.

Nkunku made up for his errant spot kick within five minutes of the restart. Jones underscored the quality of Chelsea's opponents with a touch inside his box that was so heavy it may as well have been a pass for Renato Veiga. The Portuguese midfielder had his firm effort rebuffed by Burgoyne before Nkunku tucked away the rebound.

After more than an hour pinned against the ropes, Morecambe eventually crumpled to the canvas during the final 20 minutes. Tosin added his second of the match - Chelsea's third - with an even sweeter strike from distance that didn't require the misdirection of a deflection to deceive Burgoyne.

Joao Felix soon found his range, curling in a pair of finishes separated by less than two minutes to take the scoreline to 5-0.

Morecambe had the chance to give their boisterous travelling support something to shout about aside from their hated owners. On a rare forward forward in the 88th minute the aptly named Hallam Hope was responsible for the visitors' last chance, but tamely rolled the ball into the welcome gloves of Filip Jorgensen.

Check out player ratings from Chelsea vs Morecambe here.

Christopher Nkunku sinks deeper into moody malaise

Christopher Nkunku has not cut a happy figure at Chelsea of late / Justin Setterfield/GettyImages

This, however much he doesn't want it to be, is Christopher Nkunku's level these days. The former Bundesliga top scorer and £52m recruit has been the reluctant talisman of Chelsea's B-team. Of the 13 starts he has made this season, just three have been in the Premier League.

Nkunku has made the most of these cup outings; the calm finish he delivered on Saturday was his 11th goal across the Europa Conference League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup. However, the Frenchman couldn't even muster a smile.

Perhaps his first-half penalty miss was still weighing on his mind, or maybe he was making more of a point. Rumours have gathered pace this month claiming that Nkunku is in desperate search of a move away from Stamford Bridge to earn some minutes against clubs sat a little higher up the professional pyramid than 91st. Barcelona has been floated as a potential destination, but Maresca insists that he wants his disaffected striker to stay.

Whether Nkunku can stomach another six months among the understudies remains to be seen.

As Chelsea found out on Saturday after Morecambe's Harry Burgoyne crept off his line to save Nkunku's penalty, there was no VAR in use across the FA Cup third round. The controversial video system has many flaws, but surely would have spotted the goalkeeper's illegal wandering, allowing Nkunku to retake his saved spot-kick.

This was little more than a pernickety wrinkle by the end of Chelsea's comfortable win, but teams won't always be so fortunate.

The world's oldest cup competition has always struggled to decipher how to best implement technological advancements. The FA Cup was a decade old before permanent crossbars were introduced, let alone pitchside monitors. The logic behind the seemingly arbitrary decision to introduce VAR from the fifth round onwards is hard to find.

Football fans can't agree on much, but the vague concept of "consistency" seems to be one value cherished above all others. In that case, how can there be any uniform standard of refereeing in a competition where the rules are changed from one game to the next?

Marc Guiu (left) had little to work with on Saturday / Bryn Lennon/GettyImages

On a day when Tyrique George showed some flashes of promising footwork - particularly after the introduction of an under-lapping full-back to take away some of the defensive focus - and Joao Felix scored a brace, Marc Guiu emphatically failed to make his mark.

The former Barcelona striker, whose punchy approach earned him six goals across his previous five appearances, ended the match with 11 touches. Even that paltry tally - the fewest of any outfield player to last the full 90 minutes - seemed far too high for the impact he provided.

Hidden in a mass of red shirts of Morecambe sunk into a block so low it veered into the Shed End at times, Guiu spent large swathes of Saturday's contest completely disconnected from the rest of his teammates.

At a time when Nicolas Jackson's dip in form may offer a route into the first team, Guiu did little to suggest he deserves a starting spot in England's top flight.