Chelsea vs Tottenham LIVE: Carabao Cup result, final score and reaction after Ben Davies’ own goal
Follow live reaction from Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final between the London rivals
Chelsea seized control of their league cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, beating their London rivals 2-0 in the first leg on Wednesday thanks to an early strike by Kai Havertz and an own goal by Spurs defender Ben Davies.
The Blues swamped their visitors right from the kickoff and, after a mix-up in the Spurs defence in the fifth minute, Havertz fired an angled shot that was goal-bound before it went in off the foot of Davinson Sanchez.
Half an hour later, the dominant hosts got their second goal, albeit with a slice of luck, when Japhet Tanganga headed away a Hakim Ziyech free kick, only for the ball to rebound into the Spurs net off Davies’ shoulder.
The win dented the hopes of Spurs, under former Chelsea coach Antonio Conte, of winning a first trophy since lifting the league cup in 2008. In that time, Chelsea have won 12 major trophies including three Premier League and two Champions League titles.
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel restored record signing Romelu Lukaku to the team having dropped him for Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool as punishment for the Belgian saying in an interview that he was unhappy with his role at Stamford Bridge.
Lukaku went close with a first-half header, created a chance for Ziyech after the break which the Moroccan wasted and hit an injury-time shot straight at Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea 2 - 0 Tottenham
40 mins: Better from Spurs! Emerson Royal gets forward on the right side and flicks a cross over to the far side of the box. Matt Doherty keeps the attack going with a header into the middle and Kepa Arrizabalaga comes out to claim it. He drops the ball though and Lucas Moura almost capitalises on the mistake but the ball bounces away from him and the Chelsea goalkeeper manages to bring it back under control.
Chelsea 2 - 0 Tottenham
37 mins: That was an unfortunate error for Spurs. It’s difficult to see them coming back from two goals down in this game now. They may have to just limit the damage and take the tie back to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
Chelsea have been brilliant, they’ve haven’t let Tottenham have any of the ball. I don’t think Spurs have created a chance from open play yet.
GOAL! Chelsea 2 - 0 Tottenham (Davies OG, 34’)⚽️
34mins: Lukaku takes on Sanchez on the right wing and dinks the ball around the defender. He recovers it but is brought down for a free kick. The set piece is swung into the box and Tanganga is free to deal with it. He tries to head it back out of the box but whacks it straight at Ben Davies. The ball hits Davies inside the six-yard box and ricochets off him into the back of the net!
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
32 mins: Chance! Chelsea win a corner and it gets whipped in towards the back post. Rudiger leaves his marker and takes the ball away from Tanganga. He runs a little close to the byline which narrows his angle at goal and his shot hits the Tottenham defender and finishes on the outside of the side-netting.
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
29 mins: Jorginho floats a pass into the box from the inside right and aims for Lukaku in the box. Lloris comes off his line to deal with the cross but seems worried about Lukaku. He jumps over the striker and punches the ball away but doesn’t look at all convincing with the clearance.
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
26 mins: Tottenham need to get some time on the ball, they’ve been defending for the majority of these opening 25 minutes with Chelsea passing it between them with relative ease.
Lucas Moura gets back to help out Emerson Royal and together they take the ball off Marcos Alonso but it comes loose and rolls out for a Chelsea throw in.
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
23 mins: Chelsea try a different method of attack as Mount makes a run in behind as Malang Sarr flicks a long ball over the top. The pass it too far away from Mount though and bounces safely out of play before he can get to it.
Spurs then win a free kick in Chelsea’s final third. It’s played short to Royal who slots a pass to the byline that Son chases down. He sends the ball into the box but Chelsea deal with it easily enough. Better signs for the visitors though.
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
20 mins: A diagonal ball from Saul out to Alonso on the left almost sees Havertz played into the box. Alonso wins the ball in the air and heads it into the penalty area. Havertz makes a run in behind Sanchez but the defender just manages to bring the ball under control before it skips through to the Chelsea forward.
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
17 mins: Chelsea have had six shots with two on target already. In contrast Tottenham have had just one touch in the opposition’s penalty area. The Blues have taken the initiative from the start.
Havertz is given the ball on the inside left and plays a nice one-two with Mount before laying the ball across to Ziyech. He drifts inside from the right wing and has a go, curling a left-footed effort wide of the far top corner.
Chelsea 1 - 0 Tottenham
14 mins: Jorginho and Alonso combine on Chelsea’s left wing work the ball up the pitch with some fluid one-touch passes. Alonso knocks it inside to Havertz who whips a cross into the box but sends it over everyone’s heads and out of play.
The Blues recover the ball quickly and attack through Ziyech on the opposite wing. He passes it inside to Mount who shoots again from outside the box and wins a corner as his effort is deflected behind.
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