Carabao Cup 2018/19: Three reasons why Chelsea beat Tottenham in the semi-finals
Chelsea reached the Carabao Cup final after a thrilling win over Spurs in the 2nd leg of the Semi-Final. Tottenham won the first-leg by 1-0 and entered the 2nd leg needing just a draw to qualify for the finals.
N’Golo Kante fired home the equalizing goal in the 2-legged fixture and Eden Hazard scored the second one to almost ensure Chelsea’s progress to the finals. But Fernando Llorente had other plans as his second-half goal took the tie into a penalty shootout.
Kepa denied Lucas Moura and Eric Dier in the penalty shootout while every Chelsea shootout taker scored to book a place in the finals.
The win was important for Sarri who during the weekend had demanded passion from his players. His public rant was not seen as a good one by the pundits across the globe, but the reaction shown by his team shows that it worked.
Here are the three reasons why Chelsea won.
#1. Players respond to Sarri’s rant
Maurizio Sarri had a tough press conference after the Arsenal game. He failed to control his emotions and conveyed that his team had failed him. Sarri's team has been a mixed bag this season. The lack of a consistent striker has failed the team in many matches.
Hazard in the no.9 role was looking frustrated. But not on Thursday, as the team rallied to the manager’s call, ought for every ball and eventually came out winners. David Luiz played through pain in the match when he had got a knock from Eric Dier and that showed how much Chelsea players wanted this win.
As for Pochettino, trophies are still far away and no tangible success after doing such an amazing job at Spurs will not bode well for his CV. Hazard looked like the old Hazard dictating play at every opportunity. Even under Mourinho in 2005, the Chelsea revolution started with the League Cup and fans would hope another starts with this win under Sarri.