Plymouth go down fighting

Out of FA Cup in fourth round

Plymouth are out of the FA Cup after they were beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. 

It was an entertaining first half at Stamford Bridge. The Pilgrims managed to score in the first 8 minutes of play - Romelu Lukaku was beaten to the ball by Macaulay Gillessphey who then scored his first goal for the Devonshire side. 

Chelsea started to ramp up their attacking efforts at that point but struggled to find any luck. Less than five minutes after Plymouth scored, the blues tried to put the ball to the back of the net, but the cross bar got in the way. 

The first and only yellow card in the first half was for the home side. Italian international and Euro 2020 winner Jorghino received the card after an altercation which resulted in him bringing Luke Jephcott down. 

Another opportunity arose for the blues to make some progress in the 21 minute. Callum Hudson-Odoi played the ball down the left-hand side of the pitch, but the ball was intercepted by James Wilson. 

Unfortunately for Chelsea, they struggled to find luck in the first half. Callum Hudson-Odoi finds where he’s meant to shoot but hits the crossbar. Five minutes later, Mateo Kovacic tried to score but embarrassed himself when the ball hit the post. 

Just five minutes from half-time, Mason Mount passed the ball to Cesar Azpilicueta who then put the ball past Plymouth’s Michael Cooper. 

The score at half-time was Chelsea 1, Plymouth 1. 

Only one substitution was made at half-time and that was for the home side. Marcus Alonso came on for Andreas Christensen. 

An opportunity came for Mason Mount ten minutes into the second half, but his kick was massively overpowered, and the ball ended up going into the north stand. Two minutes later, Cesar Azpilicueta backheeled the ball into the goal, but it was disallowed because he did it from an offside position. 

Shortly into the second half, Plymouth’s Niall Ennis came on for Luke Jephcott. Moments later, the atmosphere in the stadium changed when Kai Havertz took to the field for Chelsea, replacing Callum Hudson-Odoi. 

A freekick for Plymouth 7 minutes from full-time put the Piglrims back in control after Chelsea gave the ball away from an offside. The visitors were unable to make any progress. 

The score at the end of normal time was Chelsea 1, Plymouth 1. 

The game then went into extra time and 10 minutes in, Michael Cooper was shown a yellow card for what appeared to be time wasting. 5 minutes later, Chelsea put the ball past Cooper, but there was uncertainty as to whether it was offside - VAR found no offence. 

Five minutes from the final whistle in the second half of extra time, Ryan Hardy went down in the box meaning Plymouth were able to get a penalty. The Pilgrims were unable to use this last chance to their advantage as Kepa saved – the home stands went wild! 

The final score was Chelsea 2, Plymouth 1