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Chelsea through, Cardiff shocked in FA Cup

Holders Chelsea are safely through to the fourth round of the FA Cup but English Premier League strugglers Huddersfield and Cardiff bit the dust and Newcastle, Stoke and Southampton were forced into replays.

Cardiff had their opportunities against League One Gillingham but were sunk by a late goal from Elliott List as the home side reached the fourth round for the first time in 15 years.

"The crowd were excellent. They were noisy and got right behind us," Gillingham manager Steve Lovell said.

Alvaro Morata was on target for Chelsea.

Alvaro Morata was on target for Chelsea.Credit:AP

Josh Brownhill scored for Bristol City to condemn EPL side Huddersfield to a 1-0 defeat, while Newcastle needed a late penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw with Blackburn.

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League One Accrington also produced an upset as Billy Kee's goal 14 minutes from time was enough to beat Championship strugglers Ipswich 1-0.

Chelsea's Alvaro Morata broke the deadlock early in the second half and doubled the lead on the hour to secure a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forrest.

The 26-year-old former Real Madrid striker's troubles in front of goal have raised speculation that Chelsea might try and sign a striker in the transfer window.

But assistant coach Carlo Cudicini said Morata is still valued by the club and thinks he can start scoring on a regular basis once his confidence levels recover.

"I think Alvaro played an important part in today's performance, he was very good in terms of working for the team, offensively but mainly defensively," Cudicini told reporters.

"It was very important for him to score two goals which can only be good for his confidence. We are all pleased with his performance but we were even when he didn't score in previous games so hopefully it will be good for his morale that he scored, and hopefully he will be more free in his mind.

"For a striker it's difficult when you go through a spell when you don't score many goals, so his body language was a bit down, but in training he's working very hard.

"We all knew that sooner or later he would be able to turn the corner and start scoring goals. Thankfully he did it today."

Cesc Fabregas, captain for the day in what is expected to be his last game for the club before a likely move to Monaco, left the pitch in tears at the end of the game.

At Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer maintained a 100 per cent start to his reign as interim manager as Manchester United beat Reading 2-0.

Juan Mata, one of only two players to keep his place in the starting line-up from the midweek Premier League win at Newcastle, gave his side the lead from the penalty spot and Romelu Lukaku added a second in first-half stoppage time.

"Delighted we're through, 2-0 with a clean sheet again," Solskjaer said.

"But they made it tough for us and probably I made it tough for us because when you make nine changes, it's never easy for a team that's never played together."

Arsenal cruised to 3-0 win at Blackpool with a brace from teenager Joe Willock and a third from Alex Iwobi.

The Gunners' team bus was briefly delayed on the way to Blackpool after a home fan climbed onto its roof in protest at the Lancashire seaside club's owners.

The fan was photographed sitting on top of the coach at Arsenal's team hotel shortly before the London side were to depart for Bloomfield Road.

Supporters of third-tier Blackpool have regularly protested against club owner Owen Oyston and many are boycotting home games with gates averaging only 4,129 at their 17,000-seater ground, which hosted Premier League football in 2010-11.

Petr Cech makes a save for Arsenal.

Petr Cech makes a save for Arsenal.Credit:PA

The protest did not last long, according to the BBC, and the Arsenal team arrived in good time for kickoff.

Brighton beat Bournemouth 3-1 and West Ham beat Birmingham 2-0 but early goalscorer Marko Arnautovic reacted angrily to being substituted after just 20 minutes.

Burnley squeezed past Championship high-fliers Barnsley 1-0 thanks to a last-gasp penalty from Chris Wood while Swansea beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Villa Park.

Josh Magennis bagged a second-half hat-trick as Championship side Bolton beat League One Walsall 5-2, while Neal Maupay's second-half penalty was enough to earn Brentford a 1-0 win over Oxford.

Middlesbrough scored five unanswered second-half goals in a 5-0 win over Peterborough at the Riverside.

Everton grabbed 2-1 win over League Two Lincoln, Wimbledon earned a 3-2 victory at Fleetwood and West Brom beat Wigan 1-0.

Peter Crouch came off the bench to rescue a 1-1 draw for Stoke at Shrewsbury with his 18th goal in 45 FA Cup appearances, while Derby and Southampton must replay after battling out a 2-2 draw.

Sheffield Wednesday and Luton will also face each other again after playing out a goalless draw at Hillsborough.

Jordan Ayew scored in Crystal Palace's 1-0 over Grimsby, and 10-man Norwich paid the price for Grant Hanley's early red card with Andre Green scoring a stoppage-time winner for Portsmouth.

PA, with Reuters

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