Holders Chelsea went into their fixture with Ipswich Town hoping to begin their 2010-11 FA Cup campaign with a comfortable victory.
After an excellent start to the season, Chelsea's form had dipped heading into the winter months, and they entered the Stamford Bridge showdown with the Tractor Boys on the back on a 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As for Ipswich, a record of four points in nine league fixtures wasn't the best preparation for Ian McParland's side's trip to West London, and the expectation was that Chelsea would enjoy an easy afternoon against the Suffolk-based team.
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti opted to leave the likes of Michael Essien, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba on the bench, while handing starts to fringe duo Josh McEachran and Patrick van Aanholt.
The changes resulted in Chelsea taking their time to find their usual fluency, leading to Ipswich having the better of the opening exchanges, with Jason Scotland forcing Petr Cech into a decent save with a driven attempt.
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When Chelsea did find their stride, however, it was one-way traffic, and their first goal of the afternoon came from Salomon Kalou, who capitalised on Martin Fulop failing to deal with a Nicolas Anelka shot to tap home from close range.
The advantage was doubled a minute later through Daniel Sturridge, who marked just his second start of the campaign by flicking the ball into the net from a Jose Bosingwa cross.
All of a sudden, the visitors needed half time, but their task was made tougher before the break when Frank Lampard's free kick was deflected into the net by the unlucky Carlos Edwards to give Chelsea a 3-0 lead.
The Blues need just four minutes of the second half to strengthen their imposing dominance, with Anelka taking advantage of a defensive slip from the Ipswich backline to score his first goal in 10 games.
It was turning into a disastrous afternoon for caretaker boss McParland, who had been promoted to first-team manager on a temporary basis following the departure of Roy Keane, and it got worse for his team three minutes later.
Sturridge had looked like a man eager to impress his manager, and the winger gave Ancelotti further reason to hand him a prolonged spell in the starting lineup by curling the ball into the far corner to give Chelsea their fifth goal in the space of 19 minutes.
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Ancelotti took the opportunity to hand playing time to youngsters Gael Kakuta and Jeffrey Bruma, but it didn't have a detrimental effect on Chelsea's performance, and they added to their growing tally as Lampard got in on the act in the final 15 minutes.
The England international's first came from a driven shot from the edge of the penalty area, before he added his second soon after by bundling the ball into the net from a Branislav Ivanovic cross.
Lampard, or Sturridge, couldn't complete their hat-tricks during the closing stages, but the pressure on Ancelotti had been partially lifted after their disappointing form in the Premier League.
Chelsea's run in the competition ended in the next round when, after a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, they suffered defeat in a penalty shootout against Everton after Leighton Baines had netted an equaliser in the 119th minute.
A six-match unbeaten run after the arrival of Paul Jewell helped Ipswich finish in 13th position in the Championship standings, despite ending the campaign with three defeats in their final four games.
Darren Plant
