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Chelsea secured their place in the FA Cup semi-finals with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Middlesbrough overcame Manchester United and Tottenham to reach the last eight, but Thomas Tuchel’s Premier League side did not have such difficulties at the Riverside Stadium.
Romelu Lukaku needed just 15 minutes to open the scoring before Hakim Ziyech added a second in the first half, while Boro managed only one shot on target, which came in the 85th minute, in response.
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Chelsea will now wait to find out the identity of their semi-final opponent in Sunday’s last-four draw, with the ties set to take place across April 16 and 17 at Wembley Stadium.
Mason Mount’s early cross just escaped the despairing dive of Christian Pulisic at the back post, but Chelsea were ahead shortly after.
A sweeping move out from defence offered space down the right for Mount, who whipped across for Lukaku to tap in.
Ziyech doubled the lead 16 minutes later when he finished into the bottom-left corner from outside the area following an offload from Mount.
Mount’s second assist of the game took him to 50 goal involvements for Chelsea across all competitions, while Anfernee Dijksteel cleared off the line from Lukaku before the break.
Folarin Balogun wastefully curled over and Duncan Watmore similarly missed the target as Chris Wilder’s side ramped up the intensity early in the second half.
Joe Lumley then denied a flicked Timo Werner header from Mount’s inswinging free-kick and Edouard Mendy turned away from Watmore as Chelsea eased to victory.
What does it mean?
The Premier League title appears a distant dream for Chelsea, who are third in the league after Manchester City and Liverpool turned the race into a two-team affair.
But Tuchel’s reigning European champions remain in contention to defend their Champions League title – facing Real Madrid in the quarter-finals – and are still in the hunt for the FA Cup, after progressing from the last eight for the 16th time in their last 20 quarter-final attempts.
What’s next?
Chelsea return to Premier League action after the international break at home to Brentford on April 2, while Middlesbrough visit Peterborough in the Championship on the same day.