Chelsea played hosts to Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge earlier tonight looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final encounter. The Pensioners began the match on the offensive and managed to make the breakthrough in the 27th minute courtesy of NGolo Kante’s powerful strike. Eden Hazard doubled the home team’s lead just 11 minutes later to put Chelsea in a commanding position at half-time.
However, Mauricio Pochettino’s men managed to level the tie early in the second half when Fernando Llorente scored from close range. Both teams fought hard but couldn’t add to their goal-tally as the match finished 2-1 in favour of the Pensioners while the tie was locked at 2-2 on the night.
Maurizio Sarri’s players performed well under pressure to win a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out and book their place in the Carabao Cup final.
Let’s take a look at how each Spurs player performed during the match against the Pensioners.
GK: Paulo Gazzaniga – 5.5/10
The Tottenham keeper conceded two goals during the game which won’t please him. He couldn’t do much about Hazard’s goal, but he should have done better while attempting to stop Kante’s long-range strike in the first half.
RB: Serge Aurier – 6/10
The French defender tried his best to cope up with the threat of Hazard. He was also a good outlet for Spurs down the right flank.
CB: Toby Alderweireld – 7/10
The Belgian centre-back made a few last-ditch challenges to keep his team in the contest.
CB: Jan Vertonghen – 7/10
He kept Olivier Giroud quiet during the encounter and commanded his own box well by making some strong interceptions.
LB: Ben Davies – 5/10
The Welsh left-back had to go off with an injury in the first half.
CM: Eric Dier – 6/10
The English international put in a solid shift for Tottenham while operating as a holding midfielder. However, his missed penalty in the shootout turned out to be the difference in the game, much to the relief of the Chelsea supporters.
CM: Moussa Sissoko – 6/10
He worked his socks off for his team but was not creative enough going forward.
CM: Harry Winks – 6/10
It was another solid performance from the English talent. Although he kept things ticking for Spurs in midfield, yet his through balls lacked accuracy which let him down.
CAM: Christian Eriksen – 7/10
The Danish star created some glorious chances for his teammates and also stepped up to score the opening penalty in the shootout.
ST: Fernando Llorente – 6.5/10
The Spaniard took his chance well in the second half to level the tie. However, he didn’t do much else during the match.
ST: Erik Lamela – 6/10
The Argentine showed a few glimpses of his brilliance, but he was mostly left frustrated by some resolute Chelsea defending during the clash.
Substitutes:
LB: Danny Rose – 8.5/10
The English full-back completely changed the game after coming off the bench for the injured, Ben Davies. He was Tottenham’s biggest weapon down the left flank and also played his part in the lead up to Llorente’s goal in the second half.
CAM: Lucas Moura – 5/10
The Brazilian squandered some excellent opportunities to score. He also missed the penalty which knocked Spurs out of the Carabao Cup.
CB: Davinson Sanchez – 6/10
He didn’t put a foot wrong after coming on for the final 10 minutes of the match.
