Still angry at how his young millionaire players played in this FA Cup match, MAURICIO POCHETTINO found it hard to celebrate afterward. Eight of his starters were 22 years old or younger, but the Argentine coach thinks that wasn’t an excuse for being cocky, which put their chances of staying in the competition at risk.

All of Chelsea’s goals came after halftime, after Pochettino gave them a big boost.

Their shaky mid-table Premier League form means that the cups are their best chance of getting back to European football next season. Pochettino wants his players to keep this in mind for Tuesday night’s League Cup semi-final first leg away match against Middlesbrough in the northern Championship.

“This game showed us how important it is to respect every team,” he said. We should not play the game the same way we did against Preston. In the first half, we didn’t have the right attitude or drive. I was upset and let down by that, but the players were also let down.

“I was unhappy with every player in the first half, but everyone made me happy in the second.” Middlesbrough is going to be tough. They just put Aston Villa through a lot of trouble in the FA Cup. They work well together. 

The score was unfair to Chelsea because they were playing a team in a lower league that was having a hard time, and their manager, Ryan Lowe, was under a lot of pressure. The Corkman captain Alan Browne was a great leader for Preston in the first half, when they played well enough to win. And Will Keane, who is also from Ireland, looked the most lively in attack when he got close with a good long shot.

In the end, though, Chelsea was better, and some of their big-money signings were inspired by young players like striker Armando Broja, who started out with the club in the under-9s. He scored the first goal with a beautiful shot and could have scored three more.

Pochettino told his young forward, who had been hurt for a long time but was now healthy, to show that he loves being a star player for Chelsea.

Broja agreed, which was a good thing. The 22-year-old has had a hard time getting playing time since the club made some expensive signings. It might be even harder for him if they go after Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.

Winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who gets a lot of bad press, helped start the scoring spree when he crossed the ball for Broja to score in the 58th minute. In the eighth minute, Thiago Silva, who had just been substituted, headed in a corner kick. Raheem Sterling finished off a hard-working effort with a well-taken free kick in the 69th minute. In the 85th minute, Enzo Fernandez scored the fourth goal after a long VAR offside call.