Luiz Felipe Scolari breathed a sigh of relief after his Chelsea side came back from a goal down against a brave Southend side to win 4-1 at Roots Hall and reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Goals from Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard rescued the Blues after Adam Barrett had stunned them with a 15th-minute header in the third round replay - and eased the pressure on under-fire Scolari in the process.
Blues boss Steve Tilson decided to keep his defensive wall in midfield and replaced the suspended Alan McCormack with young Franck Moussa, and the Moose, along with the even younger Herd at left back, let nobody down.
When I heard the Chelsea team being read out; Cech, both Coles, Terry, Alex, Lampard, Anelka and so on, there was a feeling of, 'blimey, there thakng this a touch seriously.'
The match, which was called off because of fog early in the evening and then declared 'on' again when it lifted, came just days after Chelsea had been beaten 3-0 at Manchester United.
And Southend looked set for an incredible upset following a goal that took full advantage of Chelsea's nervousness over set-pieces.
Scolari switched to a zonal marking system in a bid to end his team's defensive misery but his players looked all at sea as the Shrimpers won their first two corners of the match.
Petr Cech flapped the first one to safety but when Junior Stanislas whipped in the second the Blues defence stood completely still as the unmarked Barrett thundered home a header from 12 yards.
It was a nightmare start for the Premier League giants and it could have been worse if Cech had not produced a stunning save to prevent Alex Revell heading home a Stanislas cross later in the first half.
But with Southend fans singing 'You're getting sacked in the morning' and Chelsea supporters replying with 'It's so foggy, call if off', the away side got a lucky break.
With seconds to go until half-time, Southend keeper Steve Mildenhall came out to make a straight forward clearance but clashed with centre half Peter Clarke and punched the ball straight to Ballack who volleyed home spectacularly from 25 yards.
From a possible 2-0 to 1-1 at the break, the writing was on the wall. However no blame should be placed on the 6ft 5 Mildenhall. He had already made a couple of point blank saves to keep the Shrimpers in the lead and without his amazing save at Stamford Bridge there wouldn't be a replay to write about.
When Kalou drilled home an angled shot on the hour mark the game was all but over and Anelka made sure, firing home from a Kalou pass in the 78th minute.
Joe Cole had limped off after what seemed a bad hamstring pull, it looked bad.
Lampard then curled home from the edge of the area in the 90th minute - making the final scoreline a little flattering because Southend had worked so hard and at one stage looked set for a memorable night.
We now have to see this form in the league starting with Stockport away.
However, let's give the players their night. They deserved the standing ovation they got from the packed Roots Hall crowd at the end.
Goals from Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard rescued the Blues after Adam Barrett had stunned them with a 15th-minute header in the third round replay - and eased the pressure on under-fire Scolari in the process.
Blues boss Steve Tilson decided to keep his defensive wall in midfield and replaced the suspended Alan McCormack with young Franck Moussa, and the Moose, along with the even younger Herd at left back, let nobody down.
When I heard the Chelsea team being read out; Cech, both Coles, Terry, Alex, Lampard, Anelka and so on, there was a feeling of, 'blimey, there thakng this a touch seriously.'
The match, which was called off because of fog early in the evening and then declared 'on' again when it lifted, came just days after Chelsea had been beaten 3-0 at Manchester United.
And Southend looked set for an incredible upset following a goal that took full advantage of Chelsea's nervousness over set-pieces.
Scolari switched to a zonal marking system in a bid to end his team's defensive misery but his players looked all at sea as the Shrimpers won their first two corners of the match.
Petr Cech flapped the first one to safety but when Junior Stanislas whipped in the second the Blues defence stood completely still as the unmarked Barrett thundered home a header from 12 yards.
It was a nightmare start for the Premier League giants and it could have been worse if Cech had not produced a stunning save to prevent Alex Revell heading home a Stanislas cross later in the first half.
But with Southend fans singing 'You're getting sacked in the morning' and Chelsea supporters replying with 'It's so foggy, call if off', the away side got a lucky break.
With seconds to go until half-time, Southend keeper Steve Mildenhall came out to make a straight forward clearance but clashed with centre half Peter Clarke and punched the ball straight to Ballack who volleyed home spectacularly from 25 yards.
From a possible 2-0 to 1-1 at the break, the writing was on the wall. However no blame should be placed on the 6ft 5 Mildenhall. He had already made a couple of point blank saves to keep the Shrimpers in the lead and without his amazing save at Stamford Bridge there wouldn't be a replay to write about.
When Kalou drilled home an angled shot on the hour mark the game was all but over and Anelka made sure, firing home from a Kalou pass in the 78th minute.
Joe Cole had limped off after what seemed a bad hamstring pull, it looked bad.
Lampard then curled home from the edge of the area in the 90th minute - making the final scoreline a little flattering because Southend had worked so hard and at one stage looked set for a memorable night.
We now have to see this form in the league starting with Stockport away.
However, let's give the players their night. They deserved the standing ovation they got from the packed Roots Hall crowd at the end.
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