Chelsea ease pressure on Pochettino with classy Cup win at Villa

BIRMINGHAM, England: Chelsea responded to a troubling week with a superb 3-1 win at Aston Villa to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup and put a smile back on the face of Mauricio Pochettino on Wednesday (Feb 7).

Successive heavy losses in the Premier League had left manager Pochettino under intense scrutiny ahead of the fourth-round replay, but first-half goals by Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson put Chelsea in control before Enzo Fernandez delivered a sublime free kick after halftime.

Villa, who are on the fringe of the Premier League title race and 15 points above Chelsea, were outplayed pretty much from start to finish as their Cup hopes evaporated and Moussa Diaby's late effort was a mere consolation.

Eight-time FA Cup winners Chelsea will host Leeds United in round five in a throwback to the 1970 final.

Pochettino's pre-match news conference on Tuesday had seen the Argentine field questions about whether or not he still had the backing of the club's owners with his side in 11th place in the league despite a massive outlay on signings.

Bizarrely the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris St Germain manager also came under fire from the wife of his experienced defender Thiago Silva who took to social media calling for change after a 4-2 home drubbing by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Veteran Silva was left on the bench at Villa Park but Pochettino's young guns finally delivered the kind of sustained display that has been sadly lacking this season.

"I think so," he said when asked whether it was the best performance since he took charge last summer.

"I'm so happy with the performance. It's about being solid and consistent and that's the most difficult for a young team to find the balance. Today I was so pleased, the team were ready