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Chelsea had to wait until extra-time to edge past League One outfit Plymouth Argyle 2-1 as Marcos Alonso sent them to victory at Stamford Bridge.

The visitors scored first from a corner, before Cesar Azpilicueta equalised in the first half. But the Blues had to wait until extra-time before putting the tie to bed.

Andreas Christensen was the sole change to a potent Chelsea starting XI to face the Pilgrims, with Thiago Silva unavailable after international duty.

Chelsea reprised the back four that underpinned the 2-0 win over Tottenham on January 23, with Malang Sarr again starting at left-back.

Brazilian defender Kenedy took a seat on the bench following his return from a loan spell at Flamengo.

Plymouth made three changes to face the Blues, with a likely 3-5-2 set-up to be employed.

Danny Mayor, Panutche Camara and Jordon Garrick all started for the visitors from League One.

First-team coaches Arno Michels and Zsolt Low took charge for Chelsea with Thomas Tuchel testing positive for Covid-19.

The German will also face a nervous wait to see if he can join Chelsea for their Club World Cup campaign next week.

Chelsea are due to fly out to Abu Dhabi on Saturday night, following the cup tie with Argyle.

Tuchel will not be on that flight, but still hopes to link up with the Blues in due course. Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final will be held in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

“Thomas Tuchel has tested positive for Covid-19,” read a Chelsea statement.

“The Chelsea head coach will now follow necessary self-isolation protocols and hopes to join up with the team in Abu Dhabi later next week. The team fly out for the Club World Cup following this afternoon’s FA Cup clash with Plymouth Argyle.”

The Blues manager’s trusted long-term assistants ran the game from the touchline, but Michels revealed the Chelsea bench would keep in touch with Tuchel throughout the match.

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Tuchel in contact 

“First of all he cannot come today because he tested positive, so he has to follow the government guidelines and restrictions and we will see what happens in the next few days,” Michels told Chelsea’s website.

“He was fully in charge throughout the whole week with the preparation for the game, so he knows exactly what’s going on today and we will stay in touch with him during the game also, so it’s all good.”

Argyle sent their fans into early delirium by stealing a 1-0 lead inside eight minutes.

Macaulay Gillesphey nodded home from a corner to stun the hosts, who had made all the prior running but were punished for loose marking at the set-piece.

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta flicked Chelsea level at 1-1 with a cute backheel with half-time fast approaching.

A well-worked move saw Azpilicueta convert Mason Mount’s low cross after a neat approach pass from Jorginho.

Chelsea had struck the woodwork three times in chasing an equaliser, with Mateo Kovacic twice hitting the frame of the goal as well as Callum Hudson-Odoi’s header rebounding off the bar.

Eight minutes after the break Hakim Ziyech and Mount exchanged a one-two with the former drilling a low cross towards the far post. All it needed was a touch to put the Blues in front but the ball is just out of the reach of Romelu Lukaku.

Ten minutes later Chelsea did have the ball in the net. Azpilicueta flicked in after Lukaku headed down Mount’s corner but the right-back had strayed into an offside position and the assistant’s flag was up.

On 68 minutes Chelsea should have taken the lead. Lukaku prodded through for Mount, who chipped over Cooper towards the far corner.

His effort was trickling wide. But sub Kai Havertz arrived to tap home, but somehow managed to poke the ball wide.

Cooper then denied Azpilicueta his second of the game Ziyech after parrying his shot behind for yet another Chelsea corner.

Kepa Arrizabalaga then just managed to kick away the ball from Ryan Hardie after the Plymouth man tried to slide it through his legs.

Extra-time strike

Moments later Cooper again denied Chelsea with a diving save to stop Mount.

Chelsea won their 18th corner of the game on 88 minutes, but Marcos Alonso stooped to head it wide. 

Plymouth managed to get to 30 minutes of extra time after a determined rearguard action.

Mount had an early chance in extra time, but his low right-footed strike was just wide of Cooper’s goal.

On 102 minutes Cooper was deemed to be wasting time by the referee and shown a yellow card. But the drive Chelsea showed in normal time had dissipated.

But three minutes later they got their noses in front.

Havertz exchanged passes on the left flank with fellow sub Timo Werner before making it to the byline. He pulled the ball back for Alonso who slide a right-footed strike into the bottom-right corner.

But with just three minutes to play Plymouth won a penalty. Sarr showed a lapse in concentration, and when Hardie burst into the area, he bundled him over.

But Arrizabalaga saved the spot-kick. Hardie fired towards the bottom-right corner, however Arrizabalaga guessed the right way.

READ MORE: Chelsea labelled ‘too predictable’ with Lukaku, as pundit picks preferred front three

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