Chelsea defeated Middlesbrough with a dominating performance, ultimately winning 6-1,and 6-2 on aggregate to determine the first semifinalist for this season’s Carabao Cup final. In their home half of the match, the Championship team narrowly prevailed 1-0, but once the Blues got going, they were unable to keep up.
Morgan Rogers scored a late consolation goal after Jonny Howson’s early own goal was increased by Enzo Fernandez, Axel Disasi, Cole Palmer twice, and Noni Madueke in a masterful display. The final matchup for the Blues will now take place in late February, either against Fulham or Liverpool. Chelsea has now advanced to the Carabao Cup final 10 times in their history; only Liverpool has done so 13 times.
“We were quite clinical in front of the goal today. We were upset that we missed that in the first leg. “I think the difference is that we were really good today,” Pochettino said to Sky Sports.
Aston Villa presents a formidable fourth-round contest for Pochettino’s squad on Friday, as they continue their FA Cup campaign.
Key Moments of the First Half of the Match
Chelsea’s opening five to ten minutes were not very impressive, but things quickly improved. Ben Chilwell was absolutely clattered by the goalie, but he narrowly missed the goal (there was no VAR to overturn the no-penalty ruling). In the 15th minute, Armando Broja made no mistakes, and in the next 15 minutes, neither did Enzo. However, Broja’s goal was modified to an own goal.
A few minutes later, Axel Disasi made it 3-0 for the evening, and a few minutes after that, Cole Palmer made it 4-0, this time not allowing a gift of a turnover go to waste like he did in the first leg.
Even though Chelsea didn’t play spectacular football in the first half, but they show no mercy on Middlesbrough, who were horrible last night.
Key Moments of the Second Half of the Match
Given the scoreline, one would have expected the second half to be far more ceremonial and low-key. While Madueke was making a lot of effort to try to make things happen, Disasi had the opportunity to have his own second, but he missed it. Cole Palmer eventually earned a second one in 77th minute in the game, and Madueke also received one in 81st minute.
Boro had a brief window of opportunity for a consoling goal, but it was properly disallowed for offside. However, Rogers’ well-placed strike in 88th minute beyond Petrovic gave them a consolation goal that lasted.
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Cole Palmer is named as Man of the Match
Cole Palmer, who has 11 goals this season across all competitions, secured his position as Chelsea’s man of the match with two goals in this match.