Quickfire goals from George and Buonanotte helped Blues recover
Earlier Rob Street had put the hosts ahead in the 42nd minute
The hosts hit the post in the second minute at LNER Stadium
Tyrique George scored one and set up another in the space of two second-half minutes as Chelsea came from behind to beat Lincoln City 2-1 in the EFL Cup.
A dismal first-half display by the Blues on Tuesday saw them fail to generate a shot on target, with Lincoln's impressive performance rewarded when Rob Street put them ahead in the 42nd minute.
The hosts hit the post in the second minute at LNER Stadium, with Lewis Montsma frustrated by the woodwork.
But Lincoln deservedly hit the front when Ivan Varfolomieiev pounced on a poor Chelsea free-kick, with Street finishing coolly.
Chelsea came out firing after the restart, though, with George drilling home from the edge of the box after latching onto a loose ball.
Just over two minutes had passed before George turned provider, showing quick feet to find Facundo Buonanotte, who brilliantly dribbled his way through a crowd of players and prodded in for his first Chelsea goal.
Unconvincing goalkeeping from Filip Jorgensen almost gifted Lincoln an equaliser, before Freddie Draper thumped wide, but the League One team's cup run ultimately came to an end.
Data Debrief: Chelsea see off another minnow
Chelsea have now progressed through 26 of their last 27 EFL Cup ties against lower league opposition, including each of their last 18, since a penalty defeat to Burnley in the 2008-09 fourth round, when the Clarets were in the Championship.
They did it the hard way at times, though, and Enzo Maresca will have been far from impressed with his team's first-half performance, as Chelsea posted just 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Lincoln's 1.11.
In their first meeting against the Blues since 1910-11, the Imps did themselves proud, but Chelsea just had too much quality in the second half, with the visitors finishing with 2.15 xG, showing how much they upped their level after the break.
