Chelsea reached the FA Cup quarter finals with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Championship side Barnsley on Thursday. Centre forward Tammy Abraham scored the winner as the Blues notched up their fourth win in five games under new manager Thomas Tuchel.

Abraham also denied Barnsley a late equaliser when he stretched to get a head to substitute Michael Sollbauer’s goal-bound flick.

The Londoners started with 10 changes from their last Premier League match and struggled to find any rhythm in the first half as Barnsley, mid-table in England’s second tier, refused to be cowed by their big-name opponents.

The hosts created the better chances and Tuchel responded at half-time by switching to four in defence, bringing on full back Reece James to replace Marcos Alonso and centre half Antonio Rudiger for Andreas Christensen who had suffered a head injury.

The decisions paid off in the 64th minute when James, fed by 19-year-old Billy Gilmour, raced into space and his cross set up Abraham for an easy finish.

“I knew that chance was going to come eventually and I just had to be in the right place at the right time,” Abraham said.

He said his goalline clearance harked back to his childhood days as a defender.

“I saw the ball come in and I said ‘I have to do this, I have to try something’, and it worked.”

Barnsley were left to rue missed chances in the first half when Callum Brittain shot straight at Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga from close range and another Brittain shot was deflected just wide.

At Wolverhampton, second-half goals from Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong earned Southampton a 2-0 win against Wolves.

The victory lifted Southampton after four successive Premier League defeats, Ings firing them ahead in the 50th minute with a freakish goal after they dominated the first half.

Wolves goalkeeper John Ruddy saved the striker’s close-range shot from a tight angle but the ball ricocheted off Ings and trickled over the line. The goal was initially ruled out for offside but awarded after a VAR check.