Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (5-4 pen): 5 hits and flops as Mourinho's men reach quarter-finals | Carabao Cup 2020-21
A thrilling London derby kicked off the Carabao Cup Fourth Round as Jose Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur hosted Frank Lampard's Chelsea. The game promised to be exciting and it certainly did pan out that way.
Sergio Reguilon made his debut for Tottenham, while full-back Ben Chilwell and new goalkeeper Edouard Mendy made their first starts for Chelsea.
Chelsea were totally dominant in the first half and kept possession for most of those 45 minutes. It was their new star striker Timo Werner who opened his Chelsea account after an amazing finish.
Chelsea kept passing and tried to open the Tottenham defense, but couldn't really create any other clear-cut chances. The second half started in a totally different fashion, with Mourinho's team on the front foot.
New Chelsea 'keeper Mendy was tested a couple of times, but he was up to the task. It was a late Erik Lamela goal which took the game to penalties, which Tottenham won 5-4. Keeping all that in mind, let us look at the hits and flops from this game:
#5 HIT - Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)
The goalkeeping department at Chelsea hasn't been up to the mark for a long time now. But with whatever little we saw of Mendy tonight, there are maybe happier days to come for Lampard and the fans.
While they weren't out of this world saves, Mendy made a few good saves in the game. He was confident when claiming crosses and high balls into his box, which is a huge plus for the Blues.
The 28-year-old had the opportunity to become an instant fan favorite, but he did not save a penalty in the shoot-out. It was a promising debut and Mendy could solve Chelsea's goalkeeping issues, for this season at least.
#4 FLOP - Steven Bergwijn (Tottenham)
It wasn't the best of nights for Tottenham's Steven Bergwijn. Deployed in a more advanced role tonight, the Dutch international had little to no impact on the game.
He was given a solid 75 minutes to make something happen, but the winger wasn't up to the mark. The 22-year-old didn't do anything wrong as such, but a lot more was expected from him.
He put in plenty of work for Tottenham but struggled to make it count in the final third. Bergwijn was rightly subbed for Lucas Moura late in the second half.