19/02/2006  Chelsea 3 Colchester 1
 
Cole came off the bench at half-time and grabbed two late goals to spare the blushes of the Premiership champions in the FA Cup fifth round.

Ricardo Carvalho had put the visitors into a deserved lead in the first half with an own goal.

But Paulo Ferreira scored his first-ever goal to level before the break.

Phil Parkinson's team were brilliant for the first 45 minutes, taking the game to the Blues and showing no fear.

They could have scored more in the first half but once Frank Lampard and Cole came on at half-time, Chelsea were always stronger.

Cole struck his first in the 79th minute when Us keeper Aidan Davison failed to hold a shot from Hernan Crespo.

The England midfielder then added a second in stoppage time to produce a slightly unfair scoreline.

The Blues go into the quarter-finals but Mourinho will not be happy with the way his team were knocked out of their stride by the Us.

The Chelsea manager had John Terry and William Gallas suspended but he also rested some of his key men to keep them fresh for Wednesday's European showdown with Barcelona.

It looked like it could backfire as his starting XI struggled to cope with Colchester but Parkinson's men eventually ran out of steam.

Mourinho had blasted his team for their sloppy defensive performance in the 3-0 at Middlesbrough on their last outing.

He warned them that anyone failing to match their usual high standards could forget about playing against Barcelona.

But the Chelsea boss looked on through the drizzle as his players were terrorised time and again by Colchester in the first half.

Colchester came to Stamford Bridge brimming with confidence after 20 wins from their last 24 games and they were not overawed.

The Us tore Chelsea apart more than once in the first half and thoroughly deserved to take the lead in the 28th minute, even though it came with a slice of luck.

Ex-West Ham striker Richard Garcia takes the bulk of the credit for the goal which Carvalho booted into his own net.

Garcia won the ball in the air and played it wide to Greg Halford on the right.

Halford lifted a first-time pass over the head of stand-in left-back Glen Johnson and Garcia burst onto the return.

He could have gone for goal but opted to smash the ball square into a crowded goalmouth.

Carvalho, racing back towards his own net, stumbled as the ball sped towards him and could only deflect the ball past his helpless keeper, Carlo Cudicini.

It was no more than the Us deserved after their positive approach to a cup tie they started as 33-1 outsiders.

Carvalho's own goal sent 6,000 travelling fans wild in the Shed End.

Parkinson's team have an average home gate of just over 3,600 but nearly twice as many made the journey from Essex.

They greeted their team with hundreds of yellow balloons which settled behind Davison's goal in the first half.

The match ball was soon lost in the balloons and ballboys were sent out with forks to burst them.

It could have been a disastrous start for the visitors, however, when Davison fluffed a clearance in the fourth minute and gave the ball straight to Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The England winger dashed towards Davison but his weak finish was saved gratefully by the keeper, diving to his right.

Colchester shrugged off the close shave and settled into the sort of high-tempo football which has made them genuine contenders for promotion to the Championship.

Garcia went close with a dipping 25-yarder and Mark Yeates came within inches of breaking the deadlock.

Yeates arrived at the back post to me a Karl Duguid cross. His effort beat Cudicini but smacked against the foot of the post.

Chelsea lifted their offensive game after going behind. Davison had to save twice from Paulo Ferreira but could not stop the Portuguese full-back in the 33rd minute.

Ferreira pounced to turn the ball in from close range for his first Chelsea goal after Carvalho had leapt high to win Damien Duff's corner.

Mourinho's superstars showed more purpose in the second half, boosted by the arrivals of Lampard, Cole and Crespo, who came on later for Damien Duff.

Davison made the save of the game to deny Crespo but could not keep Cole's effort out 11 minutes from time.

England ace Cole made it 3-1 in the first minute of stoppage time, collecting a pass from Robert Huth and firing a curler into the top corner.