Chelsea booked their place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup with a dramatic victory over Newcastle United on Tuesday evening.
Having handed Callum Wilson an opening goal with some of the worst defending imagineable, Chelsea snatched an equaliser in stoppage time through Mykhailo Mudryk, whose 92nd-minute effort sent the tie to penalties.
Chelsea netted all four but Kieran Trippier struck wide and Matt Ritchie’s decisive effort was denied by goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, whose safe hands steered Chelsea through to the final four.
How the game unfolded
Conor Gallagher struck the crossbar from range with the game’s first real chance six minutes in. Lurking on the edge of the box, the England international collected possession and curled a beautiful effort which thundered away off the frame of Martin Dubravka’s goal.
Newcastle fired themselves ahead ten minutes later. Catching Chelsea on the counter after Levi Colwill’s misplaced pass, Wilson ran directly through the Blues’ entire back line but looked to have ceded possession to Benoit Badiashile, who somehow failed to control the ball and handed it back to the Newcastle striker to fire home. A comedy of errors from start to finish.
Raheem Sterling struck wide as Chelsea searched for a response, before the winger’s thumping effort was cleared a few yards in front of the line by Bruno Guimaraes.
The offside flag denied Armando Broja an equaliser in the 38th minute. The substitute striker questioned the call after dinking the ball into the back of Dubravka’s net but replays showed it was clearly the correct decision.
The story of the first half could be summed up perfectly by the stats – Chelsea had 76% possession in the first 45 but had just one shot on target.
There was more life about Chelsea after the break (which is hardly saying much) as they roared forward in search for parity, but Dubravka remained largely untested in the Newcastle goal.
Christopher Nkunku’s introduction with 20 minutes remaining was supposed to be the catalyst for change for Chelsea, but the Frenchman struggled to get involved too much as the Blues continued to knock aimlessly on the Newcastle door.
In stoppage time, however, it was another substitute who saved the day. Mudryk pounced on another mistake, this time from Kieran Trippier, to slot home and send the tie to penalties.
Cole Palmer shushed the crowd after scoring the first, but Wilson tied things up. Gallagher crashed home and Trippier’s nightmare run of form continued as he skewed wide to hand Chelsea the advantage two rounds in.
Nkunku converted, as did Guimaraes and Mudryk, but Ritchie’s effort was denied by Petrovic, who was the hero as Chelsea booked their place in the semi-final.
GK: Djordje Petrovic – 6/10 – Hung out to dry for Wilson’s goal but was otherwise uninvolved before saving the penalty.
RB: Axel Disasi – 5/10 – Regularly overlapped but the fact he’s the most centre-backy centre-back around made it pretty useless. Can’t be blamed.
CB: Thiago Silva – 6/10 – Had some nice moments but definitely played a part in the series of mistakes that led to Newcastle’s opener.
CB: Benoit Badiashile – 4/10 – A really off night. His mistake for the goal seemingly tanked his confidence and it never returned.
LB: Levi Colwill – 5/10 – Lost the ball for the opener while trying to play left-back yet again. He’s a great defender but, when asked to play such an attacking role, is clearly not a good fit.
DM: Moises Caicedo – 7/10 – Involved in a lot but was lucky to get the chance after a nasty challenge on Gordon early on. Perhaps could have seen red had VAR been in action. Another solid box-to-box performance to build on.
DM: Conor Gallagher – 7/10 – Struck the bar with a glorious effort early on and enjoyed plenty of possession.
RM: Cole Palmer – 6/10 – Came in central after Fernandez’s withdrawal which allowed him to get more involved. Led Chelsea’s creativity but struggled to find the final ball.
AM: Enzo Fernandez – 5/10 – A quiet start before being withdrawn on the half-hour mark. Reports suggest he was feeling unwell.
LM: Raheem Sterling – 6/10 – Some dangerous moments running at Newcastle’s defence. Wasted a glorious chance to set Nkunku up for his dream debut.
ST: Nicolas Jackson – 5/10 – Spent most of his time on the pitch as a left winger after Fernandez’s withdrawal and really struggled to get involved.
Substitutes
SUB: Armando Broja (32′ for Broja) – 5/10 – Very lively but could do with a refresher on the offside law.
SUB: Malo Gusto (45′ for Colwill) – 6/10
SUB: Christopher Nkunku (69′ for Jackson) – 5/10
SUB: Ian Maatsen (78′ for Disasi) – 5/10
SUB: Mykhailo Mudryk (78′ for Sterling) – 6/10
Subs not used: Marcus Bettinelli (GK), Lucas Bergstrom (GK), Alfie Gilchrist, Alex Matos
Manager
Mauricio Pochettino – 4/10 – When your only natural winger is a mis-firing Sterling, you should probably play some full-backs who can actually contribute something out wide. A horrible tactical choice that made players look worse than they are. That being said, can’t be blamed for the calamitous goal, which set the tone of the game.
GK: Martin Dubravka – 6/10 – Barely involved despite the constant wave of pressure sent in his direction.
RB: Emil Krafth – 5/10 – Put in a real shift but appeared to tire quite early. Unsurprisingly hooked at the break.
CB: Jamaal Lascelles – 6/10 – Had some nervy moments when Chelsea’s forwards started running at him but never gave up and defended admirably.
CB: Sven Botman – 7/10 – Fans were delighted to see Botman back and rightly so. The Dutchman was excellent before being protected by a half-time substitution.
LB: Tino Livramento – 7/10 – Really impressed when he had to dig in and do his defensive work. An occasional threat going forward but this performance was disciplined and impressive.
DM: Bruno Guimaraes – 6/10 – Sacrificed a lot to help out defensively. Made a crucial block but also ended up becoming a meme after getting torched by Broja. Objectively funny to watch.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 5/10 – Very quiet in possession but was part of Newcastle’s effort to overload the midfield battle.
CM: Lewis Miley – 6/10 – Not his most impactful game but still looked very composed in possession. Has clearly earned the trust of his boss.
RW: Miguel Almiron – 3/10 – Really ineffective. Newcastle struggled to involve him but Almiron failed to make the most of any opportunities on the ball.
ST: Callum Wilson – 7/10 – No idea how he scored but Wilson’s finish was thoroughly impressive.
LW: Anthony Gordon – 3/10 – Similar to Almiron but that was perhaps due to Caicedo’s nasty challenge. Went down early in the second half and had to be replaced.
Substitutes
SUB: Kieran Trippier (45′ for Krafth) – 3/10
SUB: Dan Burn (45′ for Botman) – 6/10
SUB: Matt Ritchie (52′ for Gordon) – 5/10
Subs not used: Mark Gillespie (GK), Loris Karius (GK), Paul Dummett, Lewis Hall, Alex Murphy
Manager
Eddie Howe – 5/10 – A tricky one to grade. This Newcastle performance was thoroughly uninspiring but perhaps Howe was happy to accept that, given the lack of options available to him.
Player of the match: Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
