LONDON, Feb 15: Striker Jose Antonio Reyes scored twice to help Arsenal end Chelsea's FA Cup hopes for the fourth successive year with a 2-1 victory in a feisty fifth-round tie on Sunday.
Adrian Mutu put Chelsea ahead before halftime but Spaniard Reyes smashed in a spectacular equaliser, his first goal for the club, and grabbed the winner five minutes later to keep the premier league leaders on course to win the Cup for the third year in a row.
"They gave us problems in the first half. In the second half, we pushed up more," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told reporters. "Our team play was good, our passing was good and we were mentally strong. The players wanted to win."
First division Sheffield United beat Colchester of division two 1-0, striker Paul Peschisolido heading the winner for last season's semi-finalists after 61 minutes.
Romanian striker Mutu gave Chelsea a deserved lead after 40 minutes, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to drill in a crisp left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Chelsea would have led 2-0 at the interval if winger Jesper Gronkjaer's header had not been controversially ruled out for off-side. The second half started quietly but the match was ignited after 56 minutes by the 20-year-old Reyes, starting in the absence of Arsenal's injured leading scorer Thierry Henry.
Collecting the ball from a clearance just outside the Chelsea penalty area, he jinked inside before unleashing a stunning left-foot shot from 20 metres that flew into the top corner of the net.
Shortly afterwards, the player signed last month for around 17 million pounds ($32.26 million) from Sevilla put Arsenal ahead. Midfielder Patrick Vieira released him with a neat pass and Reyes produced a deft finish to beat Chelsea goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, who had just come on as a substitute for the injured Carlo Cudicini.
"There's a lot to work on but you can see there's talent there," Wenger said. "His work rate was absolutely outstanding today. The number of runs he made was fantastic."
The visitors never really threatened to get back into the game as Vieira and Sol Campbell led a typically miserly Arsenal defensive effort and Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink became the seventh player booked as his team's hopes faded.
Manchester United, Millwall and Tranmere Rovers reached the last eight on Saturday, when Fulham drew 0-0 with West Ham United and Sunderland drew 1-1 with Birmingham City. The quarterfinal draw takes place on Monday.
