Chelsea needed two late goals by Joe Cole to beat Colchester 3-1 in the fifth round of soccer's FA Cup today after the third division side had taken the lead and threatened to hold on for a notable Stamford Bridge draw.
A Ricardo Carvalho own goal put Colchester ahead in
the 28th minute with Paulo Ferreira equalising nine minutes later.
Champions Chelsea looked increasingly nervous until substitute Cole scored in the 79th minute and the England midfielder then curled in a sublime second in injury time.
Manchester City snatched a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa as 17-year-old defender Micah Richards headed a deserved goal for City in injury time.
Earlier Middlesbrough won 2-0 at Preston North End and Birmingham City reached the last eight for the first time in 22 years with a 1-0 success at Stoke City that ended the first division's interest in the competition.
The results mean that there will be eight Premier League sides in the quarterfinals for the first time in 10 years.
Colchester hold a special place in FA Cup history thanks to their giant-killing 3-2 win over then-mighty Leeds United in 1971.
The Essex team were in the fourth division then, this time they are in the third and pushing for promotion. Their entire squad cost £15,000 ($39,473) compared with the £227 million of their billionaire-backed opponents on Sunday.
Colchester went close to taking a shock lead in the 22nd minute when on-loan Mark Yeates drove a low shot against a post.
Chelsea failed to heed the warning though and paid the price for more slack defending. A neat build-up sent Richard Garcia free down the right and when he drove in a low cross Carvalho clumsily turned it into his own net.
The equaliser came in the 37th minute when Carvalho got his shoulder to a corner and fellow Portuguese international Ferreira hooked the loose ball in from close range.
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, with an eye on Wednesday's Champions League game against Barcelona, started with Frank Lampard and Cole on the bench but threw both men into the fray for the second half and later added Hernan Crespo to the mix.
Colchester held out until 11 minutes from time when 37-year-old goalkeeper Aidan Davison, who had made several good saves, failed to hold a Crespo shot and Cole was on hand to drive in the rebound.
Cole capped things off for the Premier League leaders when he was left to pick his spot after Colchester had thrown everyone forward in a desperate attempt to fashion an equaliser.
Colchester coach Phil Parkinson, whose next job is to prepare his players for a trip to Barnsley, said of them: "They were excellent, I'm very proud. I could not have asked for any more.
"In the second half we had tired minds and tired bodies but I thought 3-1 flattered Chelsea -- they know they've been in a game today," he told Sky Sports.
Cole also had kind words for his opponents. "They showed lower league football is at a very high standard," he said.
"All credit to them, they came out in the first half and were flying but we showed a lot of character in the second half."
Manchester City were by far the better side at Villa Park but after missing a series of chances they fell behind to a Milan Baros shot from the edge of the box in the 72nd minute.
City kept going though and got their just reward in injury time when Birmingham-born teenager Richards rose to meet a Joey Barton corner with a thumping header.
"I just can't believe it," he told the BBC. "We missed so many chances."
On Saturday Liverpool beat last year's runners-up Manchester United 1-0 while Newcastle United edged second division Southampton by the same score.
Charlton Athletic beat third division Brentford 3-1 while Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United drew 0-0.
The draw for the quarterfinals takes place tomorrow.
- REUTERS
Chelsea needed two late goals by Joe Cole to beat Colchester 3-1 in the fifth round of soccer's FA Cup today after the third division side had taken the lead and threatened to hold on for a notable Stamford Bridge draw.
A Ricardo Carvalho own goal put Colchester ahead in
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