Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
What’s the very last thing you want to do in a Cup Semi-Final against your former team? Defend like a Sunday League pub team. But for Antonio Conte, that’s exactly what happened!
This EFL Cup semi-final tie was billed as a return for Conte to the club he won the Premier League with, but for the Spurs boss, it turned out to be a horror show as his backline contrived to hand the Blues with a huge advantage.
The four-time Scudetto winner is renowned for moulding teams with world-class defences, but tonight his side defended like amateurs as Chelsea raced into a two-goal lead.
The pre-match Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur 2022 betting odds promised a hard-fought game and it started at a high tempo as Kai Havertz gave the Blues an early lead, but a comedy own goal from Ben Davies made it two and had Conte staring in disbelief.
Thomas Tuchel was happy enough as his Chelsea took control while Tottenham’s 13-year wait for a trophy looks like it may well go on. The Whites are still in the tie but they need a brilliant performance in the second leg to turn this around.
Highlights of the game
So the Battle for the Pride of London is at the halfway stage, but it took the Blues just five minutes to grab the initiative when a perfect example of high pressing undid the Spurs defence.
Japhet Tanganga aimed a pass at Emerson, but there wasn’t enough pace or precision on the ball. Marcos Alonso nipped in and slid a perfect ball through to Havertz, who fired home via the outstretched foot of Davinson Sanchez.
Spurs were rattled and Havertz had a glorious chance to double the lead after more chaotic defending, but when the ball broke to him ten yards out he snatched at his shot to give Hugo Lloris an easy save at his near post.
But the Blues did make it two thanks to a shambolic piece of Spurs defence. Chelsea wide man Hakim Ziyech swung in a free-kick which Tanganga, instead of putting it out for a corner, headed the ball into the face of his defensive partner Ben Davies and the ball flew into the net.
With SBOTOP odds of 1.99 to win this leg, Chelsea now looked like excellent value thanks to the calamitous Spurs defending. And at the break, the Blues had registered ten shots to Tottenham’s nil.
Chelsea continued to dominate in the second half. Timo Werner flashed a shot wide, and then Lloris made a fine save to stop the German after he latched onto a brilliant through ball from Ziyech.
Finally, Spurs came out and attacked. Lucas Moura had a decent effort with a volley which flew narrowly over the bar. Ziyech fired a first-time effort over at the other end of the pitch.
Spurs’ best effort came in the dying minutes when Kepa was forced into a fine save from Gio Lo Celso, but it was much too little and far too late for Conte’s men.
Key statistics
The previous Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur results, in this part of West London, gave us a hefty hint as to which way this tie might go. Spurs had won only once in 35 visits to Stamford Bridge and their defence tonight were in no shape to buck that trend, so Chelsea are now unbeaten in eight games and 11 at Stamford Bridge.
Tottenham had a go in the second half but made little impression as Chelsea had per over 60 cent possession and won the final shot count by 19 to five.
What’s next?
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal, scheduled for Thursday, is off following an outbreak of Covid in the Liverpool camp so the fixture pile up for the Reds continues.
Back in the Premier League, Chelsea and Liverpool put on a spectacular show to kick off the New Year with a 2-2 draw, but that meant Manchester City stretched their lead at the top to ten points.
The Blues have a chance to close the gap when they visit Pep Guardiola’s champions on 15th January, but equally they could fall 13 points adrift and that would surely be the end of their title hopes.
In the run up to that do-or-die encounter in Manchester, they have an FA Cup tie at home to national league side Chesterfield and then, of course, they head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the second half of this semi-final.
Before Conte meets up with his former side again, Spurs host League 1 side Morecambe in the FA Cup Third Round and then the Whites continue their top-four push in a Premier League date with fierce rivals Arsenal in yet another huge London derby.
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