Chelsea assistant coach Arno Michels admitted relief after their FA Cup win against Plymouth Argyle.

Goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso saw Chelsea win 2-1, with the Pilgrims spurning the chance to take the game to a penalty shoot-out when Ryan Hardie was denied by Kepa Arrizabalaga from 12 yards.

"We had 60 minutes where we could also lead 3-1 with many opportunities, crosses from the side and touches in the box," Michels said.

"We were a little bit unlucky with the crossbar and the post, and then at the same time we scored more or less an own goal, which brought us some difficulties.

"We put ourselves in trouble with the penalty at the end but everybody would say in the FA Cup the most important thing is to go through and that's what we did."

On Kepa, he added: "It's not about his penalty save but also about his performance, which was very good. Since the last matches, I found him very reliable in his game so we're very happy with Kepa. He deserves our trust because he's a fantastic guy who is doing constantly very good and reliable work in training.

"He has these strengths to save penalties and has shown it a few times now, in the Carabao Cup twice and against Villarreal [in the Super Cup]. Even in training, it is hard to beat him. He has the ability to read the mind of the player and what he's going to do so we're pleased he could save us today."