Chelsea FC are through to the semi-finals of the League Cup. The Blues won a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Newcastle on ex-Leipzig man Nkunku’s debut. Trippier was the unlucky one
Less than a month ago, Chelsea fell to a 4-1 defeat at Newcastle United in the Premier League. The Blues were out for revenge in the League Cup quarter-finals – and the Londoners got their revenge. Mauricio Pochettino made just one change after the 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the league, with Fernandez coming in for Mudryk. However, the Argentine was forced off the pitch after 32 minutes, Broja replacing him.
At this point, the Magpies were already 1-0 up as Wilson took advantage of several Chelsea mistakes. He was set up by Cowill in the first place, Thiago Silva only provided cover and Badiashile ultimately tripped over his own feet. Wilson thanked him and finished to take the lead (16′).
The Blues then attacked furiously at times, with Newcastle defending deep and hardly allowing anything. After Gallagher had only hit the crossbar after seven minutes, it was only Sterling who posed any danger in the remainder of the first half. First, the Englishman put the ball just wide on the right (28′), then Guimaraes blocked a shot from the left winger in front of the goal line (29′).
Mudryk capitalizes on Trippier’s mistake
Chelsea were also unlucky with their finishing after the restart. Once again it was Sterling who this time failed to beat Dubravka. Shortly before that, Jackson shot narrowly wide from a turn (56′, 57′). However, these chances were the Blues’ only ones for a long time as the Magpies’ defense held firm.
Even after the introduction of Nkunku, who made his competitive debut for Chelsea following his knee injury, the home side lacked the final spark. However, the CFC were relentless in their pursuit of the equalizer, which came shortly before the end: substitute Trippier laid the ball back to Dubravka after an inaccurate cross, and Joker Mudryk intervened to score in the second minute of stoppage time
Newcastle already had one foot in the semi-finals, but still had to go through to a penalty shoot-out. There it was Trippier again who showed nerves. The Englishman missed to the left. Because the Blues, including Nkunku, sank all of their penalties and Petrovic scrambled Ritchie’s shot out of the right-hand corner, Chelsea ultimately celebrated their progress to the next round]
The Blues continue their Premier League campaign with an away game at Wolverhampton on Sunday (2pm). Newcastle are already in demand on Saturday (4pm) at promoted Luton Town.
