That’s all from me. Here’s the match report again, just to be sure. Bye!
Louise Taylor has filed her match report from the Riverside:
Uncertainty and confusion may have made an unwelcome intrusion into Chelsea’s world but, for the moment at least, they show no signs of encroachment onto the pitch.
As a bewildering raft of prospective buyers waited to learn if they might be handed the keys to Stamford Bridge an amalgam of occasionally ruthless control and measured efficiency propelled Thomas Tuchel’s side into the FA Cup semi finals courtesy of goals from Romelu Lukaku and the excellent Hakim Ziyech.
Much more here:
Thomas Tuchel chats with the BBC. Of Chelsea’s future he says he hopes “the process will go through as soon as possible” so they can “see ourselves in a calmer situation”. Also:
We were very focused, very serious from the beginning, showed quality in decisive moments and scored two early goals, which gave us a comfortable lead. But the effort was huge, and we never let Middlesbrough get a foot back into the door. We came from a period with a lot of matches in a short period of time, and again you’re focused and get away with a deserved win, so I’m very happy.
I’m very impressed and I’m delighted [with our form]. We accepted the situation, because we did not cause it and nothing we can do can change it. So it’s not in our hands but what is in our hands is to stay focused. It’s a responsibility if you have such a talent and are privileged to play football for a profession. This is what we do and the culture in the club helps to support everybody, and it’s very good at the moment.
We saw they were brave. We were totally aware of their strengths, of their structure, that they push up high the wing-back on the right side, so we adapted to that and decided to play a 4-1 in the build-up and not our usual 3-2 shape, that we have a close connection between Malang Sarr and their right wing-back. We adapted to that and played with the ball a 4-1-4-1 formation. It’s impressive. It’s one thing to play according to the plan and show discipline, but we were aware of how they managed to beat Man United and Tottenham, of course.
Mason Mount is as impressive with a microphone in his face as with a ball at his feet.
It was never going to be comfortable. They’ve been on an unbelievable run, so it was never going to be easy coming here, with the fans behind them. But I felt like we let our football do the talking and really played good stuff, and that was the main goal for us tonight. We really have that winning mentality. Any competition, any game, we want to win. We just have to keep going.
It’s been a tough couple of weeks but we’re just very focused and ready to play. There’s a lot going on around us but within the group we try to block everything out and focus as much as we can on our football. Keep training, keep working hard, and get as many wins as we can. We’re all so hungry for a domestic title, and we just have to keep going. We’ve already had one final this season and lost it, so we’re hungry to win.
Chelsea were just too good. Mount’s cross for Lukaku’s opener was perfect, and the second goal pretty much sealed it. But also they defended superbly. Mendy was as busy as any goalkeeper could be given that he didn’t have a shot to save, and Thiago Silva’s positioning was predictably impeccable throughout.
Final score: Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea
90+4 mins: It’s all over! Chelsea are FA Cup semi-finalists once again!
90+3 mins: Another Chelsea free kick. Still no hurry.
90+1 mins: Chelsea play the ball around their defence. Boro try to harry them, and when Crooks eventually gets the ball he’s forced to play it back to his keeper. The fourth official holds up his big board, and we’ll have three more minutes.
88 mins: Chelsea win a free kick and take it with as much hurry as you’d expect of a team that’s a big knackered and 2-0 up.
85 mins: Coburn runs down the left, past Thiago Silva, but his cross also goes too close to Mendy.
84 mins: Harvey Vale comes on to replace Lukaku.
82 mins: Chelsea bring Kenedy on for Ziyech. Kenedy is not too far off a testimonial at Chelsea, if they still exist, and still hasn’t played his 30th game for them.
81 mins: And it nearly ends with a goal! Lukaku plays the ball through to Mount, whose low ball across goal hits a defender and runs to Werner, who controls, turns, and shoots into the desperately-flung leg of Sol Bamba.
80 mins: Chelsea are playing a bit of keep-ball.
77 mins: Boro are still working hard and creating space, but for one reason or another every cross goes to Mendy.
74 mins: Boro bring Josh Coburn on for Balogun.
73 mins: Chelsea win a free-kick on the left, which Mount sends onto the head of Werner, whose header is saved.
69 mins: More good play for Boro. Jones plays not one but two one-twos, gets into the area, and sends a low cross too close to Mendy.
69 mins: Chelsea bring Timo Werner and Ngolo Kante on for Pulisic and Kovacic.
68 mins: Dijksteel steals the ball off Pulisic 10 yards outside Chelsea’s penalty area, and Watmore curls a shot high and wide. They haven’t had a shot on target yet.
64 mins: Boro’s fans remain in fine voice despite the scoreline and their team’s general prospects in this match. In the league they’re two places and two points outside the play-offs, with two games in hand, and the likes of they and the side immediately below them in the table - Nottingham Forest, who play Liverpool tomorrow - still have a great chance of having more to celebrate come the end of the season.
Updated
60 mins: Bola gets to the byline but his cross loops off Azpilicueta and into Mendy’s arms. Bola jogs back and Azpilicueta goes down - looks like Bola booted him in the shin in his post-cross follow-through.
58 mins: Boro make some more substitutions, taking off Neil Taylor and Aaron Connolly and bringing on Marc Bola and Duncan Watmore.
57 mins: Again Boro work the ball to Jones, who this time cuts inside, gets into the area, and then passes to Malang Sarr.
54 mins: A nice pass from Howson puts Boro on the front foot, but when they move the ball wide to Jones his cross is abysmal. Goal kick.
53 mins: McNair leaves the field minus a boot, limping, and with a strapped-up left ankle. Lee Peltier comes on.
52 mins: McNair is down, and it looks like Boro will be forced into another substitution.
51 mins: Crooks carries the ball down the right and finds Balogun, who hoofs a shot over the bar.
49 mins: Boro move the ball very nicely to the edge of Chelsea’s area, but once there find all roads blocked, and Thiago Silva nicks the ball away.
46 mins: Peeeeeeep! Can Boro conjure a remarkable comeback here? There is an extremely small chance that the answer to that question is yes. Strap yourselves in!
The teams are back out, and Sol Bamba is on for Boro instead of Dael Fry.
Half time: Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea
45+2 mins: Boro have had their moments, but their delivery from wide areas (almost always the right) has been poor, and Chelsea have made the most of most of their attacking opportunities. Ziyech has caught the eye in particular, even if Joe Lumley might feel he could have done better for the second goal.
45+1 mins: A good Middlesbrough move ends with Dijksteel being caught offside, shortly before he anyway delivered a terrible cross.
44 mins: Rudiger passes to Pulisic, whose right foot slips and who goes down on his left knee. It looks potentially painful and he stays down for a while, before realising it actually doesn’t hurt after all and getting up again.
43 mins: Boro drop into a low block, a 3-1-4-2 formation. Chelsea play the ball around their defence under little pressure.
40 mins: Taylor brings Ziyech down and somehow gets away without a booking.
36 mins: So close to a third! A pass to a well offside Ziyech deflects to Lukaku, who rounds the keeper and rolls the ball towards goal only for Dijksteel to turn up at the last moment and clear it!
34 mins: Chelsea win a corner after pinging the ball around the edge of the area for a while without quite working a shooting chance. They are starting to enjoy themselves here.
GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea (Ziyech, 31 mins)
Ziyech’s shot from 20 yards doesn’t seem particularly powerful but it is deadly accurate, and dips wickedly past the keeper’s glove and in!
Updated
30 mins: Howson has a shot from 20 yards. It is not a good one.
27 mins: Jones wins another corner. Boro are doing good things down the right flank.
23 mins: Now Loftus Cheek does give the ball away, and Tavernier chips the ball into the area for Crooks but it drops onto his thigh rather than his foot, and from there runs away.
23 mins: Loftus Cheek lingers on the ball just outside his area and three red shirts swarm around him. He gets away with it, but only just.
22 mins: It’s not been a bad start for Boro, but it does already feel like this might be a long evening for them.
20 mins: Chelsea win a corner, which is headed towards goal by Thiago Silva. It was never going in, but Lukaku could have poked it home had Anfernee Dijksteel not been in the way.
18 mins: Ziyech times his pass through to Pulisic perfectly, and if he’d hit it with the outside of his left foot the American would have been clean through - but he hit it with the inside of his foot and it curled to Joe Lumley.
GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea (Lukaku, 15 mins)
Chelsea work the ball out of defence well and from there Ziyech plays Mount down the right and his low cross to Lukaku is perfect, and left the Belgian with an easy task!
Updated
12 mins: Excellent pressure down the right, particularly from Isaiah Jones, but he can’t find a forward with his cross.
9 mins: Another Chelsea move breaks down when the ball goes near Lukaku though on this occasion it’s more Kovacic’s fault because the ball didn’t go near enough.
7 mins: The delivery from the corner is excellent, but Mendy pushes the ball away.
6 mins: Lukaku meekly surrenders the ball on halfway, and Middlesbrough convert possession into a corner.
3 mins: A bright start for the home side, but then Chelsea break forward and Mount’s cross from the right squirms across goal, just out of Pulisic’s reach, and to safety.
1 min: Peeeep! The home side get the ball rolling.
The players emerge from the tunnel. Football imminent!
Chris Wilder has a chat with the Beeb.
It doesn’t come any easier, does it? Seeing off Man U, quite fortunate at times I thought, saw off Tottenham, and now we pull out the European champions. We look forward to it and we’ll give it a good go.
We’ve got to show from a physical point of view some quality, because that Premier League, it’s quick, it’s fast and they’re all incredible athletes. So we’ve got to put some miles in to get a result, but they understand that. From a motivation point of view, nothing needed. It’s a state of mind for me. What an opportunity. Quarter-final of the FA Cup at home, in front of 34,000 supporters and everything to play for.
Thomas Tuchel is asked whether, given everything off the field (which feels like it’s mainly being asked about things off the field, rather than being significantly impacted by actual things, though I could be wrong), this has been a difficult game to prepare for. “Not more difficult than the last games,” he says. “We proved that we were able to produce performances and find a way to win games and we will try the same again. No change in the preparation of the game so we should be ready.”
There doesn’t seem to have been a cloud above any part of England today. Middlesbrough in late afternoon, like Birmingham at lunchtime and my corner of north London all day, is basking in sunshine.
The teams!
Team news is in! Chelsea leave out Alonso, Christensen, Havertz, Jorginho and Kante and bring in Loftus-Cheek, Lukaku, Mount, Sarr and Ziyech. A clear later-in-the-alphabet bias there from Thomas Tuchel.
Middlesbrough: Lumley, Anfernee Dijksteel, McNair, Fry, Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor, Balogun, Connolly. Subs: Hall, Olusanya, Peltier, Watmore, Bamba, Bola, Daniels, Coburn, Boyd-Munce.
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Mount, Sarr, Ziyech, Pulisic, Lukaku. Subs: Alonso, Kante, Werner, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Barkley, Kenedy, Havertz, Vale.
Referee: Paul Tierney.
The #Boro line-up 🔴⚪️@unibet #UTB pic.twitter.com/bEKC69k3yp
— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) March 19, 2022
Your Chelsea team news! 🔵#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/3RTAC14KV2
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 19, 2022
Updated
Hello world!
Chelsea have already scored one own goal before their sixth-round tie even kicks off, after bizarrely requesting that it be played behind closed doors, an intervention that was swiftly rebuffed and that will motivate the home fans to be louder than ever. “I expect an FA Cup atmosphere, and I don’t think there’s any need for anything more hostile and I don’t think these are the words we should use in football and especially not in these times,” said Thomas Tuchel yesterday, a pretty smart riposte.
Boro have already knocked Manchester United and Tottenham out of this season’s FA Cup, but for all the issues at Chelsea they are playing at a different level. “I think Chelsea don’t get to the position they’re in, and Thomas doesn’t get into the position he is in as a manager by taking anybody lightly,” Chris Wilder said yesterday. “I’m certain they’ll have done as much on us as they did for Lille and as they would do if they were playing Man City. I am absolutely certain there will be no shocks for them. They’ll understand that because they’re winners - the manager, the players and the club overall. They’re a winning football club. The reason for that is they take every game as though it is the toughest.”
Could be a tasty Cup tie, this one. Welcome!
