Chelsea validate ticket to final by dismissing Tottenham

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Scoring three goals for the Blues is in itself a very complicated challenge but Thomas Tuchel did not take this return match lightly this Wednesday, January 12, despite the advantage of two goals in the first leg, fielding a team very close to his eleven -type. Antonio Conte, who had to do without Heung-min Son, injured for several weeks, had for his part chosen to leave Hugo Lloris, holder in the first leg, on the bench, in favor of Pierluigi Gollini, in the cages.

A decision he may have regretted in the 18th minute when the Italian goalkeeper was a little short in his aerial exit against Antonio Rüdiger, who opened the scoring with a header from the back of the head (0- 1). “It’s good to help the team, to be important and what is essential for me is to lead by exampleRüdiger reacted after the match. The away goal rule has not been applied in the Coupe de la Ligue since 2019, this did little to change the situation for Spurs, who stormed the opposing cages, but in a sometimes confused way.

A strike from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, deflected by the back of Andreas Christensen (33rd), immediately followed by a deflection of the head of Davinson Sanchez, on the consecutive corner, which Harry Kane was a few centimeters to push to the bottom , at the far post, would have completely restarted the match before the break.

A beautiful header from Emerson Royal, on the edge of the hour mark, well repulsed by Kepa – flawless in Chelsea’s goals for his interim Edouard Mendy, who left for CAN – would also have deserved a better fate. And to make matters worse, the VAR has three times dampened the enthusiasm of the locals by canceling two penalties whistled by Andre Marriner then an equalizer from Kane, for an offside position (63rd).

Probably feeling the wind of the ball, Tuchel brought in in the 66th minute Thiago Silva in place of Christensen and especially Marcos Alonso in place of Timo Werner to return to a system with three central defenders, which gave him back control of the debates for the last twenty minutes. “II have the feeling that we played with fire, we conceded opportunities by making silly mistakes and clumsiness. We have sinned by overconfidence. (…) We were still lucky not to concede a penalty, to have decisions (favorable, editor’s note) of the VAR. No, we can play a lot better than that, we have to play a lot better than that“, Tuchel said after the meeting.

The German coach will therefore have a second chance to win a domestic trophy after the FA Cup final lost to Leicester last season (1-0). A title that will obviously weigh infinitely less than the Champions League, but with a final that promises to be a very good poster, on February 27, since it will put them at stake with Liverpool or Arsenal, who face each other Thursday in a match. go to Anfield.

Originally scheduled for the Emirates last week, the confrontation had been postponed by a week and the order of matches reversed due to too many absences from the Reds, due in particular to cases of Covid-19 .


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