Chelsea 7-1 Grimsby Town: 4 Talking Points | Carabao Cup 2019/20
Chelsea progressed from round three of the EFL Cup in style as they claimed their first win at Stamford Bridge under Frank Lampard in a 7-1 mauling of League Two side Grimsby Town.
The night began with Chelsea going 2-0 up within the first 7 minutes, with Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi on the scoresheet. Although it appeared like Chelsea would just about run away with it, Grimsby Town clawed their way back into the game. They brought a threat of their own to the tie and when Matt Green struck in the 19th minute, the pendulum of momentum truly appeared to have swung.
As the half progressed, Chelsea were forced back on many occasions and were handed a break by Matt Green himself who brought Kurt Zouma down in the box, and Pedro converted from the spot.
Whether it was beacause of Frank Lampard's half-time team talk, or whether it was the settling effect of the third goal, Chelsea looked like they had control in the second half. They went on the create chance after chance and scored four in the second 45 minutes, with the goals coming from Kurt Zouma, Reece James, Batshuayi with his second, and Callum Hudson-Odoi getting on the scoreboard.
#4 A game of growth
Chelsea began the game with a line-up of players who don't play games very often with each other. Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who're just returning from injuries are being eased back into the team as well. Christian Pulisic started a Chelsea game after a while, and Marc Guehi and Billy Gilmour earned their first Chelsea senior team starts.
Given so many changes, a fluent start was a bonus, but the lack of team chemistry started to show. Grimsby Town were able to push Chelsea back and prevent them from keeping possession for too long. Most of Chelsea's attempts to play out were broken down near the halfway line.
As the game progressed, though, things started to click into place for the home side. Players started to find each other, Gilmour confidently took on the press and came out on top, Reece James made more successful forays forward, and Callum Hudson-Odoi started to take on defenders and push the ball past them. All those little things adding up to Chelsea really growing into the game and finishing off their chances.
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