Torres on the mark at last as Chelsea ease past Leicester City

FERNANDO Torres ended the goal drought which had gone way past 24-hours of playing time, as Chelsea booked another appointment at Wembley with the minimum fuss.

The Spaniard (pictured) has endured all sorts of agonies since his last goals – which came against Genk in mid-October – and he was grateful for the simple chance set up by Raul Meireles on 67 minutes which made it 3-0 for Roberto Di Matteo's weakened line-up

The shot looked scuffed, and given the number of different ways the striker has contrived to miss chances over the months, it was almost a shock that it crept inside the right hand post. But it will do.

'He scores when he wants' proclaimed the Matthew Harding stand in mock imitation of Arsenal's Robin Van Persie chant.

The sense of relief was obvious in Torres himself and his team-mates were delighted to share the moment with their £50m colleague.

It was almost inevitable, in true London bus style, that another goal would arrive for Torres and five minutes from time, he headed home a Meireles corner to the near post.

Torres repaid the favour in the final minutes - passing up the chance of a hat-trick to unselfishly square for the Portuguese to tuck away.

Gary Cahill bagged his first goal for Chelsea on 12 minutes to put the Blues on their way, and Salomon Kalou added a second six minutes later to quickly pour cold water over any notions of a giant-killing harboured by away fans in a packed Shed End.

Torres' strike underlined home superiority as the last survivors from outside the top flight bowed out of the cup.

The Foxes had the consolation of scoring through Jermaine Beckford on 77 minutes after a shot from Neil Danns had cannoned back off a post into his path and again when sub Ben Marshall hit a great second City goal from 22 yards, two minutes from time.

In keeping with a weekend totally overshadowed by events at White Hart Lane on Saturday evening, though, it was inevitable that thoughts of Fabrice Muamba would never be too far away.

When Cahill headed in Juan Mata's inswinging corner to put the Blues ahead, the defender, a former team-mate of the defender at Bolton, lifted his shirt to reveal the words: 'Pray for Muamba.'

That feeling was shared around the ground before kick-off, with the player's name chanted by the Leicester fans in particular.

No-one was unaware of the harrowing collapse of the 23-year-old which caused the Spurs v Bolton tie to be abandoned – or of the midfielder's now desperate fight for survival in an east London hospital.

After Kalou had neatly put away the second, beautifully set up by Torres, it seemed to be more about whether the former Liverpool striker could end his goal famine.

In setting up the second goal, Torres was not keen to suggest he is re-inventing himself as a mere provider and he reacted angrily when Daniel Sturridge went for goal instead of pulling the ball back to him inside the six yard box.

The Spaniard went close with a header straight at keeper Kaspar Schmeichel after Mata had floated a cross in from the left and then worked a yard of space for himself on the edge of the D before clipping in a shot that Leicester's keeper had to turn aside.

Was it to be yet another of those days for him? This time, no.

Leicester had spirit, but carved few real openings. Beckford curled wide from outside the area early on, while Lloyd Dyer scampered past Cahill before flashing a low shot wide just past the hour. But the Blues were never really out of their comfort zone.

Unsurprisingly, Di Matteo opted for seven changes from the starting line up involved in the midweek epic against Napoli, and even if the selection was some way short of maximum potency, it still proved more than capable of getting the job done.

Line up: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic (Luiz 76), Cahill, Bertrand; Meireles, Mikel, Kalou (Essien 64); Sturridge, Mata Malouda h/t), Torres. Subs not used: Hilario, Lampard, Drogba, Ferreira.

Attendance: 38,276