Sunday 3 January: Telegraph Online
Chelsea 5 Watford 0
IT had been a performance to suggest that Chelsea do have the strength in depth to cope without their talisman Drogba.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti is hardly prone to outpourings of emotion but there was a warm hug for Sturridge and, in the post-match press conference, a real glow of satisfaction.
Sturridge's emergence is well-timed, although this was also a display that may just inflate a transfer fee that will be decided by tribunal this month after last summer's move from Manchester City.
With Anelka due to return for Saturday's trip to Hull, Ancelotti now has the comfort of several options.
"Anelka and Sturridge can play together," he said. "Sturridge played very well. Without Drogba, it was important to have him in good condition. I think that we can do a good January without the African players. I had good answers about other players."
One of those was Florent Malouda who, having begun the weekend with an outspoken interview in which he outlined his frustrations at a lack of first-team football, scored and provided a consistent threat. Actions speak rather louder than words in football and Ancelotti said that he had already cleared the air with his winger. "I have talked with Malouda and explained to him my position and he explained his position," he said. "It's normal that a player wants to play every game."
Ancelotti begun yesterday with a slight surprise by switching from the diamond formation that has generally served him so well this season, meaning Juliano Belletti played the holding position in front of the defence while Malouda and Joe Cole were the most advanced midfielders in support of Sturridge. The team adapted instantly as Sturridge took just five minutes to score his first Chelsea goal.
Frank Lampard floated a corner towards Alex, whose header was diverted by John Terry into the path of Sturridge. It looked like a straightforward chance, but the ball was travelling at a considerable speed and Sturridge's finish was both instinctive and clinical. Even at such an early stage in the game, the goal seemed to deflate Watford and, for the rest of the match, Henrique Hilário was a spectator in the Chelsea goal.
The second goal had a hint of farce but was just reward for Chelsea's dominance. Joe Cole had volleyed Malouda's cross into the Watford penalty area and triggered an extraordinary game of pinball. The ball cannoned between Adrian Mariappa, Frank Lampard and Scott Loach before finally bouncing off John Eustace for an own-goal.
There was also a slice of luck about Chelsea's third goal when Yuri Zhirkov's shot deflected off Malouda and beyond Loach. But then Lampard scored a cracker from outside the penalty area and Sturridge calmly converted Ashley Cole's cross for his second to seal an emphatic win.
With Alex, Belletti and Terry missing further chances, the full-time whistle was nothing less than an act of mercy for Watford.
Monday 4 January: The Sun
Manchester United and Liverpool please take note. This is how it is supposed to be.
BIG team draws little team in the FA Cup, batters them senseless and strolls into the next round.
Any romantics looking for a spot of Cup magic were wasting their time at Stamford Bridge as poor Watford were overwhelmed by the Premier League leaders.
After a month of uncertainty and upset, this was as straightforward a victory as Carlo Ancelotti could have wished for.
Two goals from Daniel Sturridge, his first for the club, John Eustace's own goal and further efforts from Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard were more than enough to book a fourth-round date at Preston.
Yet even a five-goal margin flattered the Championship visitors who were unable to take any inspiration from Leeds' heroics at Old Trafford just hours earlier or Reading's draw with Liverpool on Saturday.
Ancelotti could not have asked for more accommodating opponents for his first match without his absent African quartet.
For Didier Drogba and chums were not even missed as Chelsea kicked off the New Year in impressive style.
Three goals up within 21 minutes, this tie was over long before the final whistle and won with the minimum of fuss.
Ancelotti had been told in no uncertain terms that he must treat the FA Cup with utmost respect after the club had worked so hard to win the competition last year.
And the Italian did not disappoint as he sent out an impressively strong line-up to take care of business.
It took them just five minutes to shatter Watford's illusions when Sturridge turned in John Terry's wayward shot at the back post.
Sturridge, signed from Manchester City in the summer, had been waiting a long time for his breakthrough goal.
It was little more than an hour later that his second arrived, despatched in impressive style from Ashley Cole's deflected cross.
But Chelsea had scored three times in between those Sturridge goals as they equalled their biggest margin of victory under Ancelotti.
Watford were embarrassingly out of their depth and did not exactly help their cause with their haphazard approach to defending.
And nothing exposed their limitations more than Chelsea's second goal in the 14th minute.
Joe Cole's volley was pushed out by keeper Scott Loach and deflected straight back into the danger area by Adrian Mariappa.
Lampard bundled the rebound towards goal and Eustace, attempting to hook clear, booted the ball against his face and into his own goal.
It was a farce of a goal which needed about four TV replays to establish exactly what had happened.
And there was an element of uncertainty about Chelsea's third, a low shot from the impressive Yuri Zhirkov which deflected past Loach off Malouda's heel.
Monday 4 January: Daily Mirror
Chelsea 5-0 Watford
VUNERABLE without their African aces? Not the same when Didier Drogba is missing?
Pity nobody told Carlo Ancelotti, Daniel Sturridge and Chelsea that they are supposed to start falling apart now.
The only time Watford were safe at Stamford Bridge was when the final whistle was sounded, sparing them from any further punishment as they were battered black and blue.
And while there will be far more testing times for Ancelotti's side before Drogba and Co return from Angola, this was the opening to January that the Italian had promised when he declared the blip was over.
"I am a good magician, no?" pondered Ancelotti, after pulling the Sturridge rabbit out of the hat and watching the England under-21 striker flower with the perfect way to kick-start his Blues career.
Maybe not yet, Carlo, but if Chelsea were struggling for form before their great escape against Fulham last week, they emphatically put the bleak midwinter wobbles behind them as they eased through to round four.
Chelsea will finally discover how much they must pay Manchester City for Sturridge when the FA tribunal to assess the fee meets later this month.
That price may have gone up after the impressive close-range finishes which topped and tailed Ancelotti's easiest win as Chelsea boss, a comprehensive dismissal of a Watford side whose on-loan stars, Henri Lansbury and Tom Cleverley, made no impact at all.
It could have been more, too, and even if all three first half goals were scrappy, Watford were lucky to be only that far behind as poor Scott Loach was horribly exposed.
Watford contributed to their own downfall with shocking defending, failing to deal with Frank Lampard's left-wing corner which Sturridge eventually turned home for the first.
Then Joe Cole's strike across the face of goal from Florent Malouda's cross sparked a bout of pin-ball in front of Scott Loach's goal, completed as John Eustace farcically turned into his own net.
And when Malouda - embarrassed over pre-match suggestions, fiercely denied, that he had complained at Lampard's untouchable status within the club - diverted Yuri Zhirkov's strike past the stranded Loach, the contest was already over.
Ancelotti suggested the news from Old Trafford had helped his preparations. "What happened to United was a surprise, for sure," added the Italian.
"This showed that if you don't stay focused every game can be difficult.
"We put in a good performance, we stayed focused at the start and after that it was easy to win.
"I think that we can do a good January and have good performances without the African players."
At least Watford had a go at the start of the second half, skipper Jay DeMerit forcing Hilario into his first save of the game with a near-post header.
Watford shouldn't have bothered, with the chance stinging Chelsea into an effortless response that turned a thumping into a rout.
Lampard had not scored in open play since October 24 but there was nothing Loach could do as the England ace took aim from 25 yards out and launched a strike that bent like Jimmy Anderson's new ball deliveries as it found the top corner.
Three minutes later and it was five, Ashley Coke receiving from Zhirkov, with the alert Sturridge reading the deflected cross with a superb first touch, followed by an instinctive poke home with the outside of his left foot.
Sturridge was denied the chance of a hat-trick as Ancelotti sent on Fabio Borini in his place but by now it was nothing more than a damage limitation exercise for the hapless Hornets.
Thankfully for Mackay's men, there were no more, although Malouda was a fraction away from crowning the afternoon with a stunning sixth as Chelsea did the job with the minimum of fuss.
As New Year starts go, however, this was more than satisfactory for Ancelotti. He will expect it to be a springboard for more.
