The Liam Rosenior era at Chelsea began with a win after goals from Jorrel Hato, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu and Pedro Neto secured a 5-1 victory over Charlton in the FA Cup Third Round.
The former Strasbourg manager was officially confirmed as the Blues boss on Tuesday and his first outing with the London club was a happy one as they ran out comfortable winners at The Valley.
The scoreline perhaps did a slight disservice to the hosts, who for spells gave their Premier League visitors plenty to think about and pulled one back through Miles Leaburn.
But, in the end, Chelsea’s clinical edge proved the difference, adding sheen to the result late on to progress to the next round.
The Rosenior era begins in emphatic fashion
The hosts started brightly but the Blues eventually began to take control. The lively Jamie Gittens had a couple of efforts on goal early on before Josh Acheampong 25-yard drive was pushed round the post by the diving Will Mannion.
Gittens again went close before Hato scored the first goal of the Rosenior era when he lashed home Guiu’s header across the area from 15 yards out.
Five minutes after the break, the visitors added a second when Facundo Buonanotte’s whipped free-kick to the near post was guided past Mannion by Tosin.
But just when it looked like Chelsea were about to hit cruise control, The Valley erupted into raptures after Leaburn, a former Blues youth player, reduced the deficit when he smashed the ball in after Filip Jorgensen had kept out Lloyd Jones’ initial header.
The elation in the home end, however, proved short-lived. Five minutes later, Guiu restored the two-goal advantage, rifling into the net after Mannion had parried Buonanotte’s effort.
Substitutes Estevao and Fernandez then saw efforts saved by the Charlton stopper before the Argentine scored from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game after Neto had scored a few minutes earlier.
