Holders Chelsea eased into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 4-1 home victory over Championship side Cardiff City on Saturday while Portsmouth won by the same score at local rivals Southampton. Chelsea were up and running early in their noon kickoff with in-form Didier Drogba running on to a long ball from Jon Obi Mikel to tuck in the opener after two minutes.
The west London club looked comfortable but, with centre back John Terry off duty on special leave, their vulnerability to the cross was exposed again after 34 minutes when Michael Chopra was left unmarked to head the equaliser for the second division promotion hopefuls.
Chelsea were similarly quick out of the blocks in the second half when Drogba played in Michael Ballack and the German midfielder finished calmly seven minutes after the restart. Daniel Sturridge tucked in the third after 69 minutes and Kalou finished it off with a header four minutes from time. "We are fortunate to have a squad of players who we can changed. We took quality out and put quality in."
Portsmouth, bottom of the Premier League and fighting for their very existence in the High Court, were second best for a long time against League One (third division) Southampton in the first south coast derby for five years. Portsmouth's England goalkeeper David James made three good saves to keep the 2008 winners in the game before they went ahead with a nonchalantly executed curler by substitute Quincy Owusu-Abeyie after 66 minutes, only for Rickie Lambert to nod in the equaliser with his 25th of the season.
Arune Dindane restored Portsmouth's lead after 75 minutes and, after Nadir Belhadj got the third, man-of-the-match Jamie O'Hara started and finished a 70 metre counter-attack to give the Pompey fans a rare day of celebration. The fifth-round action continues later on Saturday with Manchester City against Stoke City (1715GMT) the pick of the games. In Sunday's matches Bolton Wanderers host Tottenham Hotspur in an all-Premier clash, Notts County fly the fourth division flag at Fulham while Crystal Palace take on Aston Villa.