A man-of-the-match performance from Fernando Torres and a poignant goal from Gary Cahill have put Chelsea through to the FA Cup semi-finals after they beat Leicester City 5-2 at Stamford Bridge.
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| Fernando Torres |
Torres ended a barren spell of five months - nearly 26 hours of football - without a goal, scoring twice and setting up two.
Cahill - a former Bolton teammate of Fabrice Muamba - rose strongly to open the scoring. He headed in Juan Mata's corner in the 12th minute before lifting his shirt to reveal the words 'PRAY 4 MUAMBA'.
Torres, who showed signs of returning to his best form, set up Salomon Kalou for Chelsea's second after 16 minutes. 27-year-old Torres finally struck his first goal of 2012 in the 67th minute. Raul Meireles squared it to him on the edge of the box and he squeezed his shot in.
Leicester pulled a goal back through Jermaine Beckford before Torres headed in his second. Leicester would not give in though and Ben Marshall curled a fantastic goal into the top right corner from outside the penalty area on 88 minutes.
In injury time, Torres could have attempted a hat-trick but unselfishly squared the ball for Meireles in injury time for Chelsea's fifth.
The Spaniard said afterwards: "I needed those goals. I've been working so hard to get them."
Liverpool are also through to the last four after beating Stoke 2-1 at Anfield. Luis Suarez put the home side ahead before Peter Crouch scored against his former club. Stewart Downing's second-half strike set up a possible Merseyside derby semi-final if Everton win their replay with Sunderland.
FA Cup semi-final draw
Tottenham Hotspur or Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea
Liverpool v Everton or Sunderland
Ties to be played at Wembley on the weekend of April 14-15
Liverpool v Everton or Sunderland
Ties to be played at Wembley on the weekend of April 14-15
Source :yahoo news- sky sports
