Chelsea didn't have it all their way in the FA Cup on Thursday night.Despite having made a strong start to life under Thomas Tuchel, a much-changed Blues side laboured in their attempts to qualify for the cup quarter-finals with a difficult trip to Barnsley.In fact, with Chelsea failing to make a breakthrough and the hosts producing the better opportunities during the first-half, Tuchel took the decision to hook Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen.

Barnsley vs Chelsea

And it proved to be an inspired decision with Reece James, who entered the fray at half-time with Antonio Rudiger, providing the assist for Chelsea's opening goal after the hour mark.

However, it came under controversial circumstances with Tammy Abraham first appearing to be in an offside position when James played the ball across Barnsley's penalty area.

Nevertheless, the goal was allowed to stand with the match officials deeming Abraham to have been onside with no support from VAR, which isn't used in the FA Cup at non-Premier League grounds.

Abraham's goal looked 'offside'

At first, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that Abraham was indeed offside with the first set of images appearing to show that the Chelsea striker had quietly literally overstepped the mark.

Would VAR have given the goal, though? Well, before we deep dive into the answer, have a go at making the decision yourself by checking out the goal at first glance down below:

An inspired offside call

Let's face it, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Chelsea had profited from the lack of VAR, but the assistant referee actually deserves some serious credit for seeing things clearer than most.

BBC replays confirmed that the officials did indeed get the decision correct with graphics showing that Abraham remained behind James by the finest of margins when the ball was played.

The game's crucial moment

In a world where VAR has made refereeing even more controversial, it's a timely reminder that there is undoubted quality amongst the people who make the highest levels of English football tick over.

Besides, while it might seem clear from the BBC replay that the initial 'offside' appearance was inaccurate, assistant referees don't have slow-motion footage or computer graphics to help them.

But refereeing decisions aside, it was a much-needed strike for the Premier League giants and one that sends a clear message to Tuchel if your name is Abraham.

With Olivier Giroud and Timo Werner yet to score since Frank Lampard was given the sack, perhaps Abraham adding to his hat-trick from the previous round will be enough to woo the new coach.

And it proved to be the winning goal on the night with Abraham adding to his night's work with a goal-line clearance as Chelsea booked themselves a quarter-final clash with Sheffield United.