Chelsea easily beat Port Vale of League One to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
After impressing by eliminating Premier League side Sunderland to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since the 1953/54 season, Port Vale faced the daunting task of taking on the world champions.
The two teams had waited 97 years to play each other again, but the home fans had barely taken their seats when the Blues took the lead thanks to Jorrel Hato, who scored with a powerful shot from a corner, beating goalkeeper Joe Gauci.
This opening goal marked Chelsea's 49th consecutive home game in all competitions against lower-league opponents in the FA Cup. After a lacklustre first 20 minutes, Liam Rosenior's team doubled their lead.
Pedro Neto appeared to be tightly marked, but he deftly escaped the attention of the opposing defender, setting up João Pedro to score his eighth FA Cup goal in eight appearances, demonstrating remarkable composure in front of the goal.
In complete control of the match, the home team scored a third goal before half-time thanks to a beautiful one-touch combination between Malo Gusto and Pedro, creating an opportunity for Gusto to shoot low towards the visitors' goal. However, the ball was saved by the goalkeeper, creating an opportunity for Cole Palmer to score from close range after Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel's unfortunate touch.
The match continued as before after the second half began, with Estêvão immediately striking the post with a shot at the start of the second half.
Port Vale put up more of a fight in the second half than in the first, but in the 57th minute, Chelsea increased their lead when Tosin Adarabioyo headed in Gusto's cross, leaving Gauci unable to save.
Estêvão then hit the opposite post, but he quickly contributed to Chelsea's fifth goal when his corner was headed into the net by Andrey Santos at the far post.
Estêvão finally scored when he was not offside and tapped the ball into the net after Alejandro Garnacho hit the post, and Garnacho sealed the final score after being fouled by Tyler Magloire in the box before stepping up to take a successful penalty.
As a result, Chelsea have now won all 38 cup matches against lower-league teams since the 2015/16 season, securing their place in the Wembley semi-finals with a comfortable victory as expected.
The Valiants have proven themselves worthy of their nickname in an impressive FA Cup run, but now that journey has ended, Port Vale fans will have to face the harsh reality of relegation to the fourth tier, having won only seven of their 38 league games this season (with 10 draws and 21 losses).
