Fourth round: Chelsea 3 Luton 1, January 24

A Tammy Abraham hat-trick was not enough to save Chelsea's all-time top scorer Lampard from the impending sack as manager. Lampard would pay the price for his struggles to find quick-fire fluency from the Blues' potent squad just two days later. But the weekend before his dismissal, Abraham fired a vital treble to ease Chelsea through without issue. Werner missed a penalty and appeared disconsolate, but the Blues pressed on undeterred.

Fifth round: Barnsley 0 Chelsea 1, February 11

Abraham again delivered for the Blues, who were put under the pump by Valerian Ismael's well-drilled Tykes. This was Tuchel's fifth game at the Chelsea helm, which produced his fourth clean sheet – a sign of the hugely-impressive defensive stability to come.

Quarter-finals: Chelsea 2 Sheffield United 0, March 21

Hakim Ziyech's late goal put the seal on another big win for the Blues, who had profited from the luckless Oliver Norwood's own goal to lead 1-0 at the break. Chelsea were never required to hit top gear, and duly eased to the win, despite the Blades wasting several good chances that had Tuchel feeling twitchy on the touchline.

Semi-finals: Chelsea 1 Man City 0, April 17

Morocco forward Ziyech delivered again as Chelsea produced a masterclass performance to end City's bid for an unprecedented quadruple. Tuchel got the better of rival boss Pep Guardiola as Chelsea completely contained a City side that was left frustrated by the inability to find any attacking rhythm.