Chelsea moved a stepped closer to winning the Capital One Cup by defeating Leeds United of the Championship 5-1 at Elland Road in the quarter-finals this evening.

At half time it looked as though Rafael Benitez's side could be heading out of the competition as hosting Leeds held a 1-0 lead.

However, second-half goals from Juan Mata, Branislav Ivanovic, Victor Moses, Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres sealed Chelsea's spot in the final four of the competition.

Below, Sports Mole looks back over the action to determine if the result was a fair one or not.

Match statistics:

Leeds:
Shots 10
On target 5
Possession 45%
Corners 5
Fouls 10

Chelsea:
Shots 19
On target 16
Possession 55%
Corners 7
Fouls 6

Was the result fair?

Leeds certainly competed throughout the match and they could argue legitimately that they did not deserve to lose by such a big margin. However, football is a cruel game at times and Chelsea were devastating after the restart with some slick football and clinical finishing. There's no doubt that they deserved to advance, but Leeds played their part.

Leeds's performance

As mentioned above, the Whites were well in the tie for around 60 minutes or so. In the end though they struggled to live with some of Chelsea's football and were well beaten. Neil Warnock can be proud of his players though, particularly for the way that they performed during the first half. They were lively and got about the Chelsea midfield.

Chelsea's performance

You will rarely see such contrasting halves from the same team. Chelsea looked lacklustre during the first half and were at times wasteful in possession. Whatever Benitez said during the break worked though and from that point on they played some really good football along the ground. The Spanish boss will no doubt be delighted to see five different players get the names on the scoresheet.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Juan Mata: On a cold and wet Wednesday night in Yorkshire, some players may not fancy not it - not Mata. The pint-sized Spaniard always kept the ball moving and never stood still. He also scored the important equaliser just one minute into the second half.

Biggest gaffe

Jamie Ashdown was almost faultless tonight. Unfortunately for him though, his one error allowed Chelsea to level up proceedings. Mata's shot was decent enough, but Ashdown got down well enough to meet it, only for the ball to squirm underneath his hand and into the net.

Referee performance

All the build-up to this match suggested that this could be a fiery fixture. It didn't prove to be that though and as a result Andre Marriner had a straightforward match officiate. He dished out a couple of bookings to Chelsea players, both of which were warranted.

What next?

Leeds: Warnock's side have another home match on Saturday afternoon when Middlesbrough head to Elland Road.

Chelsea: The Blues return to Premier League action on Sunday when Aston Villa make the trip to Stamford Bridge.