Anelka hits treble

Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka (2nd from L) hooks the ball home acrobatically to score against Watford in their FA Cup clash at Vicarage Road on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Nicolas Anelka scored three times in the last 15 minutes to lift Chelsea to a 3-1 victory at Watford on Saturday and avoid embarrassing FA Cup defeat.
When Hungarian forward Tamas Priskin broke away from the Chelsea defense to give the second tier League Championship side the lead in the 69th minute, the wealthy west London club appeared in danger of becoming one of the upset victims of soccer's oldest and most famous club competition.
After firing coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich sat next to Guus Hiddink, the man who is replacing Scolari until the end of the season, while the Watford fans cheered for a major upset.
But Anelka equalized with an overhead shot off Frank Lampard's corner in the 75th minute and headed home Ashley Cole's leftwing cross for the second two minutes later.
After Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech blocked what would have been a Watford equalizer by Jobi McAnuff, Chelsea broke away and Anelka scored the third in the final minute with a low left-footer.
The result made Chelsea the first team into the quarterfinals because Saturday's other four fifth-round games were tied and will go to replays.
Christopher Samba scored a last minute equalizer in Blackburn's 2-2 draw with Coventry, another Championship club. West Ham and Middlesbrough drew 1-1 in a meeting of two Premier League teams, but Hull was held 1-1 by Sheffield United and Fulham tied 1-1 with Swansea.
Manchester United, which holds a record 11 FA Cup titles, visits League Championship side Derby on Sunday and Everton hosts Aston Villa in the highlight game of the fifth round.
On Monday, Arsenal hosts last season's runner-up Cardiff in a fourth-round replay that was postponed because of heavy snow. The winner faces Burnley.