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The match started with both teams vying for superiority. There ensued a rather messy free-for-all first quarter, with neither fans having much to be concerned about. The first bit of excitement came on about 16 minutes, when Terry produced a week shot that James held comfortably.
James then expertly distributed the ball to the speeding Sinclair, who ran up the left wing with his sights set on goal. As his hopeful shot flashed across the front of Cudicini's goal, a spark was lit which was to grow to a fire in the second half as the game began to come to life.
Both sides had chances in the opening half an our, with West Ham offering more potency. Stanic had one other noteworthy chance, but Kitson had the better opportunity, only to be denied by none other than Terry.
The Hammers finally broke the deadlock on 38 minutes, following good work up the right wing involving Schemmel and Lomas. The Northern-Ireland international crossed for Kitson, but Terry cleared the ball only as far as Defoe. Jermain then scissor-kicked the ball (interestingly, a carbon-copy of the technique Paolo di Canio used for his Goal of The Season against Wimbledon a couple of season's ago) speculaticely towards Cudicini's goal, only for the ball to deflect off Terry and onto the bar and in the goal.
Cue an explosion of delight from three-quarter's of the partially empty stadium. The ecstasy was only shortlived however, in typical West Ham fashion.
Repka was the original culprit for West Ham, with a needless (but then again, aren't they all?) free-kick given away on the edge of the area for a blatant handball. Poll took his time to book the Hammers defender, and then had a chin-wag with Hasselbaink whilst standing over the ball.
James, sensing no danger whilst Poll was in Jimmy's way took care to arrange his wall carefully. Then, with no warning, whistle, or justice, Poll moved out of the Dutch striker's way, who struck the ball within milliseconds of the referee moving. James had no chance, being on the other post organising his wall, and was caught out by the Poll-Hasselbaink manouvere.
West Ham were caught out by the ref's diversion of attention, and went in at half time with the score harshly level.
The second half started with West Ham fired up for a match that had only just begun. They attacked Chelsea's goal and regained the lead within five minutes of the restart. Hutchison shot fiercely at the goal, moments after preventing Stanic at the other end, and Cudicini could only parry the shot to Defoe, who instinctively knocked the ball in the back of the net.
West Ham maintained their pressure for a few more minutes, before reverting into the defensive mentality they had gone into after Defoe's first. It was only 15 minutes before Forsell made the scores level, after Hutchison made a diabolical defensive error. When a clearance would have been the better option, the Scottish international headed weakly back to James, only for Mikael Forsell to intercept and nutmeg James.
Chelsea almost went three - two up following a powerful Forsell shot, but James saved well, as well as expertly stopping Hasselbaink with his follow-up. Hutchison almost made up for his earlier error at the other end, but his header was well-saved by the Chelsea keeper.
Moments later Don was replaced by Labant, who took a superb free-kick within minutes of his appearance. Dailly met the ball and Hammers fans rejoiced around the ground when the ball had seemingly gone over the line, but for fortune to somehow come to Chelsea's rescue. A combination of the post and Cudicini miraculously for Chelsea kept the ball out of the goal, and the Blues carried on attacking.
In the final moments, James saved expertly from Stanic, to put the ball behind for a corner. Lomas prevented the first corner from amounting to anything, but in doing-so gave away another. From the resulting kick, Terry headed home to send the Chelsea contingent into the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Player Ratings:
David James 7 - An impressive performance in front of the England manager, with little he could do about any of the goals. The first was down to the referee, the second Hutchison, and the last was a bloody good header. Communication could still improve though - following noticeable confusion with both Repka and Hutch.
Nigel Winterburn 8 - Vintage performance from a vintage star. He played his all, and linked up with Sinclair really well all night. Some very nice play in their half, and was only caught out once in defence. Still got the legs for a whole game at this level.
Christian Dailly 7 - I watched Christian closely last night, and thought he played very well. Following the jeers of earlier this season, he has turned his game around to become a solid consistent defender at the Boleyn. If only he and Tomas could reproduce that form on the road.
Tomas Repka 6 - Disappointing from Tomas today. Normally plays well at home, but gave away a needless free-kick under pressure from Petit which lead to their first goal, in addition to almost putting Chelsea through for a second following a mix-up with James. Solid at times, but a weak-link at others.
Sebastien Schemmel 9 MOTM - Awesome performance from our French right-back tonight. He tore up the right wing, linking well with Hutchison, Defoe and Kitson. Had a hand in both the goals, and was not at fault for any of the goals, although his defensive side is his Achilles' heel. Joint Man of the Match with Jermain today. A bargain buy by Glenn for certain.
Don Hutchison 7 - The great Hutchison debate. He played very well in first half, and was running well both up the right wing (with Schemmel), and through the middle. He was fighting for it, and didn't give up. However, a catastrophic error in the second half led to Chelsea's second half, and then his head seemed to drop, before being subbed - albeit due to an 'injury'.
Joe Cole 6 - A poor performance from Joe on a day when it was important that he gave a great one - both for himself with Sven watching, and for the club. Possibly the difference between being in the next round and not, he did little today, with poor distribution in conjunction with poor movement. Disappointing display, with one effort on goal that went tragically wide. Maybe he just needs a rest.
Steve Lomas 7 - I am not a fan of Steve, but he has fitted back into the side like a size 10 foot into a size 10 shoe. He tackled hard, and his distribution seemed to be better than Joe's last night - a worrying statistic. Was given the captain's armband in di Canio's absence, and played like one, leading by example.
Trevor Sinclair 7 - Some great work up the left wing from Trev, and a perfomance that could only bring cheer to the watching England boss. His highlight came early on with a break-away attack which threatened to break the dead-lock, but flashed across the Chelsea stopper's goal. Linked really well the Nige at the back.
Paul Kitson 6 - The surprise inclusion on the teamsheet, following another Freddie Kanoute hamstring issue. He didn't have a bad game, and won a few header's up front for West Ham, but shot poorly with a first half effort. Worked hard, and was better than his replacement.
Jermain Defoe 9 MOTM - Two goals against Chelsea is not an easy achievement, and di Canio's absence was not so severely noticed with Jermain playing. His first goal, though lucky, was a great effort, with power and technique learnt no doubt from Paolo. His second was a poacher's strike that even Lineker would have been proud of. Joint Man of the Match with Seb.
Subs
Vladimir Labant (for Hutchison) 7 - A great free kick from Vlad the Impaler, which almost led to Dailly scoring the potential winner for the Hammers.
Svetoslav Todorov (for Kitson) 5 - I would have kept Kitson on. 'Nuff said.