Pressure on Pochettino eases as Chelsea wins 3‐1 at Aston Villa in FA Cup replay

So much for Chelsea being in cri‐ sis. A 3‐1 win at Aston Villa in an FA Cup fourth‐round replay on Wednesday extended Chelsea's strong run of results in the do‐ mestic cup competitions this sea‐ son, just as critics were getting on manager Mauricio Pochet‐ tino's back for the team's many dismal displays in the Premier League.

Chelsea arrived at Villa Park having been routed 4‐1 at Liver‐ pool and then overrun in a 4‐2 home loss to Wolverhampton, both in the league. The pressure on Pochettino had ramped up, with even the wife of defender Thiago Silva appearing to call out the Argentine when she posted on X, formerly Twitter, at the end of the Wolves game: "It's time to change. If you wait any longer it will be too late."

Chelsea's players delivered a performance to make their man‐ ager proud, with first‐half goals by Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson coming before an exqui‐ site free kick from Enzo Fernan‐ dez in the 54th that curled beyond his fellow World Cup winner from Argentina, Emi Martinez.

Villa has been virtually impreg‐ nable at its own stadium this sea‐ son but the hosts couldn't live with Chelsea's intensity. Their consolation came in the first minute of stoppage time through substitute Moussa Diaby.

Chelsea, which has reached the English League Cup final against Liverpool on Feb. 25, will host second‐tier Leeds in the fifth round — or last 16 — of the FA Cup three days later.

German Cup quarterfinal game between Saarbruecken and Gladbach called off after heavy rain

The German Cup quarterfinal game between Saarbruecken and Borussia Moenchengladbach was called off shortly before kickoff Wednesday after heavy rain left the field waterlogged.

Third‐division club Saar‐ bruecken, which already knocked out Bayern Munich ear‐ lier in the competition, was seek‐ ing another upset against Gladbach. The field had large puddles and quickly turned to mud in areas where players were warming up.

Referee Florian Badstübner said in televised comments that the field was not fit for play and represented an injury risk.

After the game was called off, Saarbruecken's players gathered in front of a stand filled with fans, some waving flares, to pay trib‐ ute.