Oscar Chelsea
Oscar gave Chelsea some breathing room with a goal in 71st minute, and the Blues defeated Derby 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday. Reuters

A goal apiece from Oscar and John Mikel Obi in the final 34 minutes of play powered a 2-0 Chelsea win over Derby in Sunday’s third-round FA Cup match at iPro Stadium.

Blues goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer saved all four of Derby’s shots on target, and Chelsea extended their FA Cup third-round winning streak to 16 matches. Chelsea will next face Stoke in the fourth round.

The Rams had lost just two of their previous 15 games with 10 victories, and stymied the Blues attack for much of the match before Mikel opened things up by converting Willian’s set piece cross into a header goal in the 66th minute of play.

It was Mikel’s fourth career goal for the Blues in his 300th appearance with the club, and Oscar created some breathing room five minutes later with a deft strike down the middle of the net. Upon regrouping for a throw in, Cesar Azpilicueta launched the ball in play to Eden Hazard who set up Oscar’s goal.

Ramires was issued Chelsea’s only yellow card in between the goals in the 69th minute, while Derby midfielder John Eustace was issued a yellow in the 30th and midfielder Will Hughes was booked in the 60th.

Used primarily outside of Premier League competition, the Australian Schwarzer earned his fourth clean sheet in all competitions for the season and has totaled 10 saves.

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Oscar goal (0-2) Derby County Vs Chelseaby niv131