06/02/2002  West Ham 2 Chelsea 3
 
The FA Cup lived up to its billing as great drama when John 
Terry emerged as Chelsea's unlikely hero as East End slapstick 
exceeded West End farce in an error-strewn fourth round 
replay.

In a game plagued by mistakes, both defences seemingly 
attempted to outdo each other in their largesse as they traded 
self-imposed wounds to stand at 2-2 at Upton Park.

After Jermain Defoe's half-volley received a huge 
deflection off Terry, Hammers keeper David James was caught 
napping by a quickly-taken Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 
free-kick.

However, while his mistake was outdone by Chelsea keeper 
Carlo Cudicini's error in handing an open goal to Defoe, 
midfielder Don Hutchison returned the favour to substitute 
Mikael Forssell.

The match looked bound for extra-time before Terry put 
aside his recent tribulations, involving a charge of assault - 
which he denies - and a suspension from international 
selection, to force home a late winner.

It was the perfect antidote to his early deflection and 
having forced a fifth round tie at home to Preston, Chelsea 
could look back on their second unlikely comeback in the space 
of just four days.

Having initially recovered against Leicester last weekend 
to similarly triumph 3-2, they repeated the feat while playing 
just as badly.

Then again, Claudio Ranieri will argue that he is due a 
turn of good fortune.

That luck began when the team-sheets were handed in and 
Frederic Kanoute joined the suspended Paolo di Canio on the 
sidelines due to injury.

That meant Paul Kitson was paired alongside Jermain Defoe, 
while Chelsea fielded the most potent strike duo in the 
Carling Premiership, in Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

None of them received a look-in in a dreary opening 
half-hour, however, before the Hammers' opening goal came out 
of the blue.

Terry failed to clear Steve Lomas's cross properly and when 
the ball dropped to Defoe, his half-volley looked to be 
heading off-target until it struck Terry and flew in off the 
underside of the bar, leaving Cudicini stranded.

That at least sparked an otherwise dreary game into life 
and Chelsea were soon level after Tomas Repka had been 
penalised for handball.

James was still lining up his defensive wall when referee 
Graham Poll stepped aside from in front of the ball.

Hasselbaink, who similarly struck with a fierce free-kick 
against Spurs in the Worthington Cup semi-final, did not 
hesitate as he blasted the ball into the opposite corner while 
James struggled to make up lost ground.

The Dutchman also came close soon afterwads with a 
long-range drive, while West Ham only just survived after the 
restart when James flapped at a corner to spark a goalmouth 
scramble.

However, Cudicini had no such luck when he spilled 
Hutchison's low cross straight into the path of Defoe, who 
needed no help this time to force the ball home from close 
range.

The visitors responded by bringing on strikers Gianfranco 
Zola and Mikael Forssell, who had similarly cme on at Filbert 
Street when their side were behind.

Within a couple of minutes, the move had again worked - but 
only after Hutchison virtually handed Chelsea their equaliser 
on a plate.

Albert Ferrer's deep cross was heading nowhere until 
Hutchison attempted to head the ball back to keeper James and 
thereby allowed Forssell to nip in and clip his shot past the 
exposed West Ham keeper.

James recovered to smother Hasselbaink's follow-up effort 
after spilling Forssell's initial drive, while Cudicini also 
partially redeemed himself in tipping over Hutchison's 
header.

Both sides came close to a winner, with Defoe and Zola just 
off target, while Christian Dailly struck the inside of the 
post and James produced a fantastic reaction save to deny 
Mario Stanic.

However, the best drama demands a twist in the tail and 
that was duly provided when Terry rose to head home a corner 
to seal Chelsea's unlikely success.