Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso got our goals, the latter’s winner coming in extra-time after the Pilgrims of League One had taken a shock lead early on. Chelsea spent much of the rest of the game on the front foot, as you would expect, but it still needed a late penalty save from Kepa to stop an entertaining tie going to spot-kicks.

Full-backs to the fore

It was not just in front of goal where Azpilicueta and Alonso made their mark. The Spanish duo were crucial in much of our build-up play, too, as we utilised the wide areas to try and exploit the space between Plymouth’s three central defenders and their wing-backs.

In the first half, Malang Sarr was at left-back, and even though he still saw a good chunk of the ball, most of our best work came down the right-hand side of the pitch. There, Azpilicueta, Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount ganged up to pick holes in the Plymouth rearguard, creating overloads and crossing dangerously.

Between them, that trio were in possession for almost a third of the first half (31.8 per cent). Mount and Ziyech registered six key passes between them, including the former’s assist for Azpilicueta’s inventive finish. Ziyech was successful with four take-ons in the first half alone, eventually racking up seven by full-time. That was five more than anybody else.

Off the bench and into the thick of it

Nobody spent more time in possession from half-time onwards than Alonso. Indeed, only three players finished with more touches than his 109, and he ranked fourth for passes, too.

In his 75 minutes on the pitch, Alonso recorded five shots, a figure topped only by Ziyech (eight) and Azpilicueta (seven). It was when players drifted infield from wide areas that we looked most threatening as we tried to prise open the stubborn Pilgrims.

Patience pays in front of goal

For long periods we laid siege to Plymouth’s goal in search of first an equaliser, and then a winner. A combination of bad finishing and great keeping and defending kept us at bay until the 106th minute of the game, but it was certainly not for the want of trying.

We had a remarkable 41 shots overall. That is our second highest figure ever since Opta started collecting data in 1992. We mustered 42 against Stoke City in a Premier League game in January 2009.

It is also the 10th-highest figure for any English team in all competitions since Opta started collating such information. The team joint-fourth on that list, incidentally, is Bayern Munich, who registered 43 shots on our goal during the 2012 Champions League final.

Yesterday, 29 of our attempts came from inside the box, 18 were blocked, and a further 11 on target.

Plymouth’s back five made 51 clearances between them, and 10 interceptions. In total the Pilgrims racked up 30 blocks in total.

They weren’t afraid to get forward too, though, and hit the target with five of their 11 attempts on a shot-laden afternoon in SW6.