Finishing off the job on Wednesday night across the capital, Chelsea booked their spot in the final of this year’s Carabao Cup with a 1-0 victory away at Tottenham.
Making the trip to north London sat in pole position after their 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge last week, Thomas Tuchel’s side will have to wait to see who they will meet at Wembley as Liverpool and Arsenal meet for their rearranged first-leg on Thursday.
Dominating Spurs in both meetings and wrapping up a 3-0 aggregate victory over their local rivals, we have taken a look at the main talking points as Chelsea reached their third final under Tuchel since he arrived 12 months ago.
A Carabao Cup repeat for the Blues
Breezing their way to a 2-0 first-leg meeting against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge last week, Chelsea made the trip to north London on Wednesday night simply hoping to avoid what would have been a real collapse.
Despite tinkering with his squad once again in midweek and with a substitute’s bench worth in the region of £200million, Tuchel didn’t have to wait long to see his side extend on their advantage.
With Antonio Rüdiger’s glanced attempt coming off the back of his head and going past a stranded Pierluigi Gollini after just 18 minutes, the former PSG boss saw his side get asked few questions in midweek.
Heading down the tunnel for the half-time break with 71% possession to their name, Chelsea’s traveling support would have been thrilled by another routine display against Spurs.
With Romelu Lukaku wasting a golden chance in the opening exchanges, many Tottenham fans would have been fearing that their side could have been on the end of a real hammering on home soil.
Now reaching their third final under Tuchel in what has been a stunning rise for the defending European champions, the Blues would have also been glad to have seen Thiago Silva make his return for a second-half cameo appearance.
Conte’s fringe stars fail to impress again
Suffering what was a deserved 2-0 defeat in their first-leg meeting at Stamford Bridge last week, there is no doubt that large sections of Tottenham’s support on Wednesday night would have been hoping for some alterations here.
However, while Spurs might have managed to avoid a real FA Cup scare against League One strugglers Morecambe last weekend, Antonio Conte once again elected to trust his fringe first-team stars.
Despite handing starts to the likes of Gollini, Matt Doherty and Giovani Lo Celso, the one-time Chelsea boss would have been left concerned by another flat display on home soil in midweek.
Heavily critical of his new squad over the past weeks and dominated for large spells on Wednesday, Conte did cut a frustrated figure on the touchline.
Despite having three separate VAR calls go against them, including a second-half strike from Harry Kane that was correctly ruled out for offside, there were some murmurings of discontent at the final whistle.
Still in an uphill battle to secure a top-four return this season, Spurs will be desperately seeking a boost when they meet bitter rivals Arsenal in north London on Sunday.
Chelsea extend on rampant record against Spurs
Only asked a handful of routine questions in both of their meetings over the past week, Chelsea have continued on what has become a remarkable romp against Tottenham over recent years.
Once again set to faceoff against Spurs when the two sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Premier League duties in a fortnight’s time, Tuchel should be eagerly awaiting another London derby this month.
Eventually leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a 3-0 aggregate win to show for their troubles, Wednesday’s win across the capital now means that Chelsea are unbeaten in each of their last 11 matchups against the Lilywhites across all competitions.
Holding London bragging rights over Conte’s new squad since January 2019, the Blues will be desperate to keep up their midweek momentum when they travel to the defending champions on Saturday lunchtime.
In what looks set to be a heavyweight showdown this weekend, Chelsea will have what appears one final chance to make up some ground in the title chase when they will face a high-flying Manchester City.
Match Report:
Tottenham: Gollini, Emerson Royal, Tanganga, Sánchez, Davies, Doherty, Højbjerg, Winks, Lo Celso, Kane, Moura
Subs: Skipp, Gil, Sessegnon
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rüdiger, Sarr, Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Lukaku, Werner
Subs: Silva, Ziyech, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso
Goals: Rudiger 18′
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
Referee: Andre Marriner
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