Walsall 1-4 Chelsea: Highlights and 5 Talking Points
Chelsea beat Walsall 4-1 in the Capital One Cup with Kenedy getting on the score sheetChelsea started their Capital One Cup defence with a trip to the West Midlands, facing League One outfit Walsall. It was a throughly accomplished performance from the holders as they held off spirited Walsall to book a match with Stoke in the next round. The Blues have now made it three wins out of three, scoring ten goals and conceding one.Ramires opened the scoring with a simple header before setting up Loic Remy to power Chelsea into a two-goal lead. Walsall briefly threatened to stage a comeback, not unlike one staged by Bradford last season when they pulled a goal back and attacked. However, Kenedy restored Chelsea’s two-goal cushion with his first goal for the club after brilliant play from Mikel and the impressive Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Pedro also came off the bench to score towards the end.This match signified a home-coming of sorts for Walsall’s Milan Lalkovic, back to his former club. Papy Djilobodji also came on late in the game to mark his Chelsea debut. me>
#1 Loic Remy could benefit from Diego Costa\'s suspension
Following the 3-match suspension of Diego Costa, Jose Mourinho opted to give both Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy a chance to prove themselves. Falcao started up top while Remy played on the right flank.
Falcao showed great movement and positioning off the ball to get into good positions but he kept fluffing his lines. He miscontrolled a few good passes which could have led to good chances and he had two one-on-ones that were cleared off the line.
The Colombian striker also missed another great chance late in the game when he slipped while taking a free kick. It just wasn’t his night, though he could still have a role to play this season if his finishing improves.
On the other hand, Remy has most likely played himself into getting the nod on the trip to Newcastle this weekend. He made some good driving runs and doubled Chelsea’s lead with a fine run and a thumping finish. The French international also came close on a number of occasions as his pace and trickery was too much for the Walsall defence.
Costa and Falcao both haven’t had an ideal start to the season and that may pave the way for Remy to get ahead in the competition for the lone striker role.