Chelsea analysis: Nathan Ake impresses on Stamford Bridge return as Branislav Ivanovic signs off in style

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Simon Johnson28 January 2017

Branislav Ivanovic scored on his potential farewell appearance as Chelsea beat neighbours Brentford 4-0 in the FA Cup fourth round at Stamford Bridge.

Brentford, 15th in the Championship, took Chelsea to a replay four years ago, but there was little prospect of a repeat as the Blues claimed a 10th successive home win.

Willian, Pedro and Michy Batshuayi, with a penalty, were also on target for the Premier League leaders, whose only concern came when Willian went off midway through the second half after earlier holding his ankle.

Simon Johnson assesses the key talking points...

Ake impresses on his return

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The Netherlands Under-21 international showed why coach Antonio Conte decided to end his season-long loan at Bournemouth prematurely with a fine display.

Fielded at left wing back for the rested Marcus Alonso, Ake looked calm in defence and assured in attack.

He may have a slender frame, but the 21-year-old demonstrated he can be tough in the tackle by winning possession off Maxime Colin twice in the space of 30 seconds.

Ake, who was making his first appearance for Chelsea since May 2015, was also good in possession.

One measured pass from the back to Willian sparked another counter attack for the home side.

Clearly, Alonso is first choice at left wing back, but Ake will provide useful back-up in the next four months.

If this is Ivanovic's last game, he has had a great send off

Branislav Ivanovic has been a fantastic servant for Chelsea over the past nine years, but he is another who could be on his way out in the next few days.

The Serbia international, who has won eight major trophies at Stamford Bridge, is already in talks with Zenit St Petersburg and has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs.

One of those is West Brom and significantly, manager Tony Pulis was here to watch Ivanovic in action.

He came on in the second half and made a dramatic impact when the Blues were struggling to hold on to their 2-0 lead.

Ivanovic scored the third with a fine finish to the left of Bentley and then won the penalty which Batshuayi scored from.

The 32-year-old looked a bit emotional following his goal and while it wasn't quite as important as the winner in the 2013 Europa League Final, at least his Chelsea career has the possibility to end on a high note.

No wonder Chelsea want Llorente

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It is unlikely Swansea will allow Llorente to join Chelsea before the transfer window closes on Tuesday night, but Chelsea's interest is understandable.

Michy Batshuayi was given another chance to impress here and fluffed his lines against the Championship club.

An offside flag denied him a goal on a couple of occasions in the first half and to be fair, it was his pass that led to Chelsea's second.

He was gifted an opportunity to end his afternoon on a high from the penalty spot and took the spot kick with aplomb.

But overall the Belgium international, signed from Marseille for £33.1m in the summer, looked rusty and lacking in confidence.

Chelsea will continue to hope top scorer Diego Costa stays fit or they somehow persuade Swansea to change their minds over Llorente because Batshuayi doesn't look ready to lead the line for them against tougher opposition.

Loftus-Cheek should go on loan

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Conte wants to keep the England Under-21 international, but the midfielder needs to leave in order to get more first team football.

As Ake has shown at Watford and Bournemouth over the last 18 months, playing regularly elsewhere can improve your game markedly.

Loftus-Cheek reminded everyone this afternoon why Chelsea think he is an Academy graduate with a lot of potential.

There were flashes of skill from the midfielder and but for keeper Daniel Bentley and the crossbar, he would have got on the scoresheet.

One mazy run in the second half looked certain to end in a goal, but his finish deflected wide.

But with Conte extremely unlikely to play him in the title run-in, there is little point Loftus-Cheek watching from the sidelines.

Begovic shows why Conte is reluctant to let him go

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Chelsea have so far blocked Begovic's desire to join Bournemouth this month because he wants to find a replacement first.

The club have had better back-up keepers in recent years like Petr Cech or Carlo Cudicini, but Begovic has performed reasonably well when called upon since joining from Stoke in 2015.

Asking a keeper to sit on the bench week after week while Thibaut Courtois takes centre stage is a difficult position to fill.

Chelsea are exploring their options and have made a bid for Celtic's Craig Gordon, but Begovic demonstrated today why it won't be such a bad thing if he stays for the rest of the season.

With the score at 2-0, Begovic made key saves from Lasse Vibe and Nico Yennaris to prevent a resurgent Brentford from getting back into the game in the second half.

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