A convincing first-half performance was enough to guarantee Chelsea a place in the fourth round of the Football Association (FA) Challenge Cup, having beaten Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday.

With their massive home advantage at

Stamford Bridge, The Blues pulled ahead from the sixth minute, when Callum

Hudson-Odoi cut inside the dismal Nottingham defence; firing low past goalie

Jordan Smith.

Enjoying the lion’s share of the possession,

Chelsea was nearly thrust into despair as a poorly timed challenged awarded

Forest a penalty in the 23rd minute.

The drama was somewhat anticlimactic,

following a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) review, the penalty on Forest’s

Mighten was overturned as offside – giving the home team a nervy let-off.

Chelsea reasserted its dominance and Ross

Barkley doubled the lead in the 33rd minute.

Hudson-Odoi attempted to make another cheeky

cut in from the right but Smith was alert, managing the save on this occasion. Sadly,

for Smith and Nottingham, the ball fell nicely in the way of Barkley, who converted

easily.

The match marked the fifth meeting between

Chelsea and Nottingham in the FA Cup’s 3rd round tie – with the Frank Lampard-led

outfit progressing in all.