Southend Utd 1 Chelsea 4

Luiz-Felipe Scolari lives to fight another day after Chelsea avoided embarrassment in an FA Cup tie against Southend but the result, a 4-1 victory, could not hide all his team's problems.
Goals from Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard earned the Blues victory in the 3rd round replay at Roots Hall after they had astonishingly gone behind to a team that play in the third tier of English football.
The relief on Scolari's face was clear as the final whistle blew, not least because a meeting of the club's board tomorrow could have proved very uncomfortable if the result had been any different.
But the shaky nature of our first-half display, especially in defence, leaves his critics with plenty of ammunition for the future.
Make no mistake, this was a crucial match in Chelsea's season even though it was played out at a tiny 12,000-capacity ground in the backwaters of Essex and against a team currently sitting half-way down League One.
Chelsea went into the game after Southend had produced a shock 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago and under the glare of the media spotlight following an horrendous run of form which culminated in a 3-0 defeat at title rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
Rumours of off-field rows have also added to the pressure on Scolari, the latest involving striker Didier Drogba who was not included in the squad for this match following rumours he tried to engineer a January move to his former club Marseille.
The fact that Drogba produced such a poor performance at Old Trafford surely influenced Scolari's decision-making, too. But his absence from the bench suggests there could be more to it than that.
Certainly, Scolari, who is one of the most respected coaches in the world and a former World Cup winner with Brazil, is being made to look hapless by some of his recent decisions.
Having seen his side concede so many goals from set pieces, including two in the 3-0 drubbing at United, Scolari made a big fuss of letting everyone know he was changing from a man-to-man system to a zonal one for this match.
Whichever system was used looked totally ineffective when Southend were handed their first corner of the match after only 15 minutes.
The kick was flapped to safety by goalkeeper Petr Cech but when Junior Stanislas took a second corner from the opposite flank Southend defender Adam Barrett rose completely unmarked to head home past a static defence.
The embarrassment in the Chelsea ranks was evident and as Southend supporters begun chants of 'You're getting sacked in the morning', it seemed the consequences our Brazilian manager could be far more significant than just the end of another cup dream.
Thankfully for him the team found an escape clause with an assured display in the second half but it wasn't always easy.
Southend could have gone further ahead when Alex Revell thundered in a flying header from an excellent Stanislas cross but Cech's point-blank save proved a turning point for the Blues.
Chelsea, who had created a string of chances but been denied by last-ditch defending, eventually found a breakthrough a minute before half-time when goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall punched a clearance straight to Ballack, whose half-volley from the edge of the area provided Scolari some respite.
In the end Premier League class did tell, however. And when Kalou drilled home an angled shot for 2-1 after an hour the threat of the sack seemed to be easing for Scolari, even if the glint of knives could still be seen glittering behind him.
Kalou then set up Anelka to finish smartly for 3-1 after 78 minutes and Lampard curled home from the edge of the area in the last minute to underline the superiority the team had belatedly displayed.