Dennis Wise's fourth red card of the season overshadowed a stunning debut by
Mikael Forssell in which the teenager scored two spectacular goals.
Forssell struck twice in the first six minutes of the second half to kill off
brave Oxford and set up a 4-2 replay victory which earns Chelsea an away trip to
Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup fifth round.
But the Finnish sensation will lose the headlines to skipper Wise who now
faces a four-match ban and hefty FA fine, which will take the number of games he
has missed this season through suspension to a staggering total of 14.
Wise was booked two minutes before half time for a handball and then a
complaint to the linesman. But he got his marching orders after 75 minutes when
he blocked Dean Windass's shot with his hand and conceded a penalty from which
Windass made the score 4-2.
Bad boy Wise was first sent off this season in a friendly tournament in
Holland in August which earned him a three-match ban.
A red card followed in the Worthington Cup against Aston Villa on October 28
for which he received a four-game ban.
Then two more yellow cards at Everton on December 5 resulted in the mandatory
one match ban plus a further two games as punishment for his third red card of
the season.
Wise must surely owe an apology to the promising 17-year-old striker who made
his full debut at Stamford Bridge in this match.
He brought the game to life just 46 seconds into the second half when he cut
in from the left and curled the ball into the top far corner.
He followed that up after 52 minutes with a fierce dipping drive from 20-yards
which finally killed off the First Division minnows.
Oxford had stunned Chelsea with a goal inside the first five minutes. It was
almost a carbon copy of the goal which had given them a shock lead at the Manor
Ground a fortnight ago as this time a right wing corner from Jamie Cook was
headed in by Phil Gilchrist courtesy of a deflection off Marcel Desailly.
Gianfranco Zola, making his 100th appearance for the Blues, stood out for the
home side and set up an equaliser after 12 minutes. He found Wise with a low
cross from the left and the midfield terrier slotted home to become, incredibly,
the first English player to get on the scoresheet for Chelsea this season.
Wise returned the compliment after 39 minutes when he released Zola on the
right edge of the box and the Italian chipped the ball beyond the advancing
goalkeeper and in off the far post.
Then Forssell stole the show making up for a poor miss after 28 minutes when
Zola put him clean through, and he wasted a good chance when he rounded the
keeper but took the ball too wide.
Player-manager Gianluca Vialli dropped himself to give the man half his age
the chance and he was certainly left with something to think about in the
future.
But Vialli must first think a little more about the problems caused to him by
his loyal but headstrong skipper.
Teams:
Chelsea: De Goey, Petrescu, Desailly, Leboeuf (Terry 59),
Le Saux, Wise, Morris, Di Matteo (Goldbaek 74), Babayaro, Zola,
Forssell (Nicholls 66).
Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Newton.
Sent Off: Wise (75).
Booked: Babayaro, Wise.
Goals: Wise 13, Zola 40, Forssell 46, 53.
Oxford Utd: Jackson, Robinson, Watson, Gilchrist, Powell,
Banger (Remy 64), Gray, Tait, Cook (Beauchamp 51), Windass,
Murphy (Francis 59).
Subs Not Used: Wilsterman, Weatherstone.
Booked: Jackson, Tait.
Goals: Gilchrist 5, Windass 77 pen.
Att: 32,106
Ref: M Reed (Birmingham).