Chelsea win big in FA Cup fourth round

MK Dons shocked by equalizing 1-1 at half-time, but then collapsed and lost 1-5 to the overwhelming visitors from the Premier League.

In a match that they dominated from start to finish, Chelsea only conceded once when Darren Potter's shot hit Matic's leg, leaving goalkeeper Courtois helpless. Apart from this situation, the match was completely under the control of the visitors from the Premier League.

Oscar scored a hat-trick in the first 44 minutes, before Hazard shone in the second half with a successful penalty he won himself and an assist for youngster Bertrand Traore to seal the 5-1 result.

Chelsea remains unbeaten under Hiddink. Photo: Reuters.

Victory over the Championship side, who are currently 20th in the Championship, booked their place in the fifth round, where they will face Manchester City, and extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight games since Hiddink took over as interim manager.

The FA Cup is the tournament where Chelsea have the best chance of winning a title this season and Hiddink is therefore very serious about the match at MK Stadium. He has lined up a near-strength squad, with only Ruben Loftus-Cheek being the only one not registered to play regularly in the Premier League.

With the class of the stars Hiddink put on the field, Chelsea quickly showed their dominance. If it weren't for the excellent performance of goalkeeper David Martin, MK Dons would have conceded one or two goals in the first 10 minutes, instead of waiting until the 15th minute to shake the net when Costa set up Oscar to open the scoring.

Potter's equaliser for MK Dons in the 21st minute did not dampen the visitors' spirits, but instead served as a catalyst for them to play better. Oscar concretised Chelsea's strong reactions to the loss with two goals, with a through ball from Loftus-Cheek beating goalkeeper Martin in the 32nd minute, and a shot from outside the box in the 44th minute.

Three first-half goals saw Oscar become the first Chelsea player to score a hat-trick for the Blues since Diego Costa, against Swansea, in September 2014.

Hazard returned to the starting line-up for the first time in more than three weeks with a groin injury and was Chelsea's bright spot, linking up well with Baba Rahman on the left. But it was not until the second half that the Belgian made his mark on the game, drawing Potter into a foul in the box and converting the penalty himself to make it 4-1.

The successful penalty helped Hazard score his first goal in 29 appearances for Chelsea this season, ending a 2,043-minute goal drought. Photo: Reuters.

Not stopping there, Hazard also had a spectacular acceleration, receiving a long pass from home and then setting up his junior Traore to score the winning goal for Chelsea, 5-1.

According to VNE