Chelsea established a 2-0 advantage in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final clash against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening.
The Chelsea squad was heavily rotated. Star duo Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kanté missed the fixture after testing positive for Covid1-19 earlier that day. Chelsea made a really good start to the clash. The European champions took the lead in the 5th minute when Marcos Alonso intercepted a loose pass from Japhet Tanganga, and the left-back set through Kai Havertz to calmly slot past Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea doubled their lead in the 34th minute after a bizarre own goal from Spurs. Japhet Tanganga failed to clear a Chelsea free-kick, heading straight into teammate Ben Davies and the ball ricocheting into the net.
Antonio Conte’s return to Stamford Bridge did not go to plan at all and now the Italian manager has plenty of work to do if they’re to scale a comeback in the second leg. While Chelsea have one leg in the EFL Cup final.
Chelsea player rating
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6
Kepa is likely to start the next few fixtures with Edouard Mendy’s involvement in the AFCON. Did not have much to do in the whole game. But made some important saves from a Harry Kane free-kick and a shot from Lo Celso last in the game.
Cesar Azpilicueta 7
The right-back looked very solid for the whole game. He switched to the right-sided centre-half position when Chelsea moved to a back five.
Antonio Rudiger 7
The German defender looked solid yet again and did not let Harry Kane have any real joy in the game.
Malang Sarr 7
Coming in for the veteran Thiago Silva, but the young defender did not look out of place.
Marcos Alonso 8
Alonso assisted the first goal of the game and always looked on the front foot, keeping the Spurs midfield and defence pushed back with his constant forward runs down the left flank.
Saul Niguez 8
A very positive performance by the on-loan midfielder. H looked comfortable in possession and moved the ball quicker and picking out teammates with laser-like precision.
Jorginho 6
Created a solid pivot in the middle of the park alongside Saul, allowing the attacking unit licence to roam and attack.
Mason Mount 7
Mount linked the midfield to the attack with his consistent running and passes. Kept things moving in the attacking third.
Hakim Ziyech 8
Very good response by the winger after missing out on Morroco’s squad for AFCON. It was his free-kick that led to the Spurs bizarre own goal.
Kai Havertz 7
Havertz scored the opening goal of the game and enjoyed loitering in pockets of space until he was withdrawn with injury at the interval.
Romelu Lukaku 6
The Belgium striker did not look sharp on his return to the starting line-up. Caused a few problems for the Spurs backline when he dropped deep and into the channels. But failed to have any real impact on the proceedings.
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