Carabao Cup
Result: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (2-2 agg. - Chelsea won 4-2 on penalties)
Date: 24 January 2019
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Chelsea edged Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 on penalties to seal a place in the Carabao Cup final with Manchester City. Spurs held a slight advantage after winning the first leg 1-0, but they had to make do without the services of Harry Kane and Dele Alli. The Blues enjoyed good possession early, and a good delivery fell straight to Antonio Rudiger inside the area, but the defender was unable to tuck home on 15 minutes. However, N'Golo Kante levelled up the overall tie when he drilled home from the edge of the area inside 27 minutes to make it 1-0 on the night. Tottenham were forced to make a first half change subsequently through injury inside 33 minutes as Danny Rose came on for Ben Davies. In the 38th minute, the Blues seized advantage to add a second through the boot of Eden Hazard after meeting Pedro's cross to put the hosts 2-1 up on aggregate. After leading comfortably at halftime, the five-time English champions let the visitors in after patient build-up involving Rose picked out a well-positioned Fernando Llorente to nod home on 51 minutes. The Blues edged close to restoring their two-goal cushion when Kante's through ball set Hazard on his way, but the Belgian sent the final delivery way off target on 58 minutes. Fresh from bringing Tottenham back to the contest, Llorente was removed by Mauricio Pochettino for Brazilian playmaker Lucas Moura minutes from the midway stage. Astounding distribution from Gazzaniga sent Moura behind the defence, but the latter fired into the side-netting from a tight angle after 69 minutes. With ten minutes to full-time, Matteo Kovacic was brought on to stabilise the overall proceedings for Ross Barkley. No goals nor clear-cut chances were forthcoming from then on, and penalties were needed to decide the overall winners. After successfully converting the first three spot-kicks, Moura's place-kick was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga while David Luiz sent the ball past Gazzaniga to take the Blues to the final.
