Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2
Chelsea will visit Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals after a fifth-round victory at the Riverside Stadium.
Both their goals came in the second half, with Ramires’ shot deflecting in off Fernando Torres before Victor Moses netted with 17 minutes remaining.
There was a touch of good fortune about the opener, which came six minutes after the break.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Jason Steele was left with no chance when Ramires’ shot struck Blues striker Torres and looped in.
The second goal, however, was the result of a moment of brilliance from substitute Eden Hazard.
He tore through the heart of the Boro defence and then teed up Moses, who tapped home.
Earlier, Oscar missed Chelsea’s best chance of the first half when he was unable to capitalise after Moses pulled the ball back for the Brazilian.
Middlesbrough threatened when Scott McDonald headed Nicky Bailey’s right-wing cross wide of the target after Ramires had given the ball away.
And the Championship team finished the half strongly, with Petr Cech unconvincingly palming away Mustapha Carayol’s effort before John Terry cleared the danger.
Under-fire interim manager Rafael Benitez made eight changes to Chelsea’s starting line-up, with Paulo Ferreira and Yossi Benayoun among those selected.
Skipper Terry returned along with Torres, while Dutch teenager Nathan Ake was handed his full debut.
Ake, 18, was deployed in a defensive midfield role and underlined his potential with an impressive display.
Boro, to their credit, kept going after Moses’ all-important goal and Ishmael Miller missed a late chance to pull one back when he volleyed over.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Bertrand; Ake, Ramires; Moses (Luiz 76), Oscar (Marin 80), Benayoun (Hazard 58); Torres.
Subs not used: Turnbull, Cole, Lampard, Ba.
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This post was last modified on 27/02/2013