Barnsley had previously knocked out Norwich City to set up this tie at Oakwell, with Chelsea being the visitors after defeating Luton Town towards the end of January in the fourth round.
Captain N’Golo Kanté made his first start for the Blues since recovering from a hamstring injury, with youngster Billy Gilmour joining him in the midfield. Former Chelsea academy player Brad Collins made his third successive FA Cup start in goal for the Tykes and Victor Adeboyejo replaced Dominik Frieser up top for the home side.
Barnsley were the much better team in the first half which lacked any clear-cut chances. They continuously pressed the Premier League side, showing good organisation throughout the opening 45 minutes.
They also had the first real opportunity of the game when Callum Brittain got on the end of a cross, only to be denied by a great point blank save from Kepa.
Chelsea should have had a penalty soon after as Toby Sibbick fouled Tammy Abraham in the box. It originally appeared to be a good challenge from the defender but replays show he did not get the ball in the tackle and instead clipped the striker’s foot. Despite this there was no VAR at the ground, so therefore no review of the incident occurred.
The hosts had another chance to open the scoring just before the break. A well-worked corner routine found Brittain in the box, but his strike on target was deflected behind by his teammate Adeboyejo.
Chelsea made two changes at the start of the second half, with Antonio Rudiger and Reece James replacing Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso respectively. These changes appeared to make Chelsea switch from their 3-4-3 formation to a 4-3-3 lineup.
After a poor first half, the Blues were keen to improve in the second. Callum Hudson-Odoi made a great run cutting inside from the left flank and saw a shot go narrowly past the post. Rudiger also saw a header go just wide shortly after, with Chelsea slowly but surely getting more chances.
Finally, after 64 minutes, Chelsea took the lead. Billy Gilmour picked up the ball in midfield and sent a nice pass out towards the right wing and into the path of James. The young right-back then drilled a low ball into the box, where Abraham was there to tap it into an empty net.
The Blues striker was called into action again about 10 minutes later, this time in defence. A free-kick was sent into the box, with substitute Michael Sollbauer getting a strike on goal, only for Abraham to head it over off the line and behind for a corner.
Barnsley had a late flurry of chances in the final minutes but Chelsea ‘keeper Kepa wasn’t tested and looked comfortable between the sticks, as he did for most of the game.
The Championship side gave last season’s finalists a run for their money but weren’t able to find the back of the net. Chelsea appeared to struggle against the intensity of their opponents and didn’t seem to adapt to the poor state of the pitch, having been used to playing on top-quality surfaces.
They weren’t able to secure the win in style but made it four victories from five under Thomas Tuchel, as well as picking up another clean sheet. For Barnsley, that means they are now winless in their last three games and will be hoping to pick up three points against Brentford on Sunday in the league.
Chelsea will play Sheffield United at home in the quarter-finals of the cup, which is due to be played the weekend of 20-21 March.
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