Chelsea lost the first leg of the League Cup semi-final 1-0 at English second division side FC Middlesbrough. In the second leg, the Blues left nothing to be desired and reached the final after a 6-1 win
After the 1-0 draw in the first leg, Chelsea were naturally under pressure on Tuesday and desperately needed a win at home. And that’s exactly how the hosts performed. The first chance came in the eleventh minute through Chilwell, who headed over. The winger was also hit by keeper Glover, but the referee’s whistle remained silent and there was no VAR in this round.
But the lead for the Blues was not long in coming: After a combination via Chilwell and Sterling, the ball ended up with Broja, Howson tried to clear and put the ball into his own net (15th). Middlesbrough were clearly outplayed in the first half, but had the chance to equalize immediately after going behind, but Rogers did not finish accurately enough with the visitors’ only chance in the first 45 minutes (15).
Chelsea get serious before the break
Other than that, it was all in the hands of the Blues, who wanted to leave no doubt as to who would progress to the final. Fernandez opened the scoring before the break and put the favorites 2:0 ahead – the 0:1 from the first leg had already been reversed (29′). Chelsea got serious, continued to play forward – and scored the third goal through Disasi after the visitors lost possession (36′). Middlesbrough were now completely out of sorts and made the next mistake through Barlaser, who lost the ball to Palmer in his own penalty area. The midfielder didn’t need to be asked twice and made it 4:0 at the break (42′).
In the final phase, it’s all over again
The semi-final duel was already decided at the break. Chelsea did not let the game get away from them after the break. The hosts controlled the encounter with plenty of possession, but did not do more than was absolutely necessary. Middlesbrough stood very deep and were probably keen to prevent anything worse from happening. As a result, the game was drifting towards its conclusion. But then the Londoners turned up the heat again. First Palmer made it 5:0 and scored a brace (77′), then substitute Madueke made it 6:0 (81′). The final goal belonged to the visitors, however, as Rogers scored the consolation goal with a fine shot (88′).
Chelsea deservedly progressed to the final with a clear 6:1 victory and will now face Fulham or Liverpool FC on February 25. The second semi-final will take place on Wednesday, with the Reds winning the first leg 2-1 at home
