Chelsea Beat Spurs On Penalties To Reach Carabao Cup Final

David Luiz scores the decisive penalty past Paulo Gazzaniga to send Chelsea through.

Image Credit: KBC

By Lee Clow 24 January 2019 | Carabao Cup

Chelsea booked their place into the final of the Carabao Cup against Manchester City, after beating Spurs on penalties in a dramatic second leg at Stamford Bridge.

After a dramatic, intense tie which ended 2-2 on aggregate, the semi-final was settled by the fate of penalties. Eric Dier rocketed his strike over the bar and Lucas Moura saw his penalty saved allowing David Luiz to step up and send Chelsea into the final of the competition for the eighth time.

Going into the game, Chelsea were trailing by a one goal deficit from the semi-final first leg at Wembley, however it did not take them long to draw level on aggregate. From a corner, N'Golo Kante was left unmarked on the edge of the box to drill a first time shot, through three pairs of legs, into the back of the net (27).

Tottenham added another player to their mounting list of injuries as Ben Davies left the field on 33 minutes, being replaced by Danny Rose. It soon got worse for Spurs as Eden Hazard, applied the finishing touch to Chelsea's slick move to put the hosts ahead on aggregate for the first time (38).

Tottenham, who were without their key stars Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min, managed to find a goal five minutes into the second half to draw the tie level once again. Substitute Danny Rose broke forward down the left hand side and whipped in a brilliant cross which was powered into the back of the net by Fernando Llorente (50). That goal ignited the cup tie with more chances being created and tempers starting to rise.

Llorente and Moura missed big chances for Spurs before Chelsea piled on the pressure in the search for the winning goal. Giroud had the clearest chance to send Chelsea to the final in the third minute of stoppage-time, but he glanced a header wide as the tie went to penalties.

The spot kicks were to be taken at the Chelsea end as Spurs went first. Eriksen, Willian, Lamela and Azpilicueta all dispatched their penalties, but it was Dier who was first to fail. Dier, well known for scoring the winning penalty for England in the World Cup quarter final, fired his kick over the bar into the Chelsea stand. Jorginho gave Chelsea the advantage with an unorthodox penalty before keeper Arrizabalaga saved Lucas Moura's effort giving Chelsea match point.

It was David Luiz who was responsible for taking the match winning penalty and he cooly slotted it in past Spurs keeper Paulo Gazzaniga. The victory for Chelsea sends them to Wembley to face the high scoring Manchester City, which will be highly anticipated final. For Spurs, the defeat slips them to a fifth defeat in their last six semi-final appearances.

After the game, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino gave his thoughts: "Disappointing to lose in that way, but it can happen. We fought, were brave and played really well. Until we conceded the game was under control. I can only feel proud given all the circumstances and can only congratulate my players, that's the way we wanted to play and show we can compete at this kind of level."

Maurizio Sarri was quick to praise his his players after the criticism he gave them in the last game against Arsenal. "The players reacted really well. I didn't attack my players, I only said we had a problem. We need this motivation to continue now. I was very happy with the performance before the penalties. If there had been a different outcome I would have still been happy."

What's next?

Both sides are back in their fourth-round FA Cup ties on Sunday, with Chelsea hosting Championship side Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham travelling to Crystal Place.