Chelsea take a two goal lead to Tottenham Stadium after a dominant performance in the first leg of the Carabao semi-final at home
By Kehinde Okeowo
Antonio Conte suffered his first defeat as Spurs manager after Chelsea deservedly beat his team 2-0 in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final played at Stamford Bridge.
Kai Havertz gave the home side a 1-0 lead in the 5th minute when he ran onto Marcos Alonso’s through pass and fired home with Davinson Sanchez unable to keep the shot out on the line.
The Blues doubled their advantage in a comedy fashion in the 34th minute, after Japhet Tanganga headed the ball into team-mate Ben Davies’ shoulder and it flew into the net.
Romelu Lukaku, back in the team after being dropped in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool for comments made in a controversial interview, had several chances to make it 3-0 but failed to and headed wide from close range on one of the occasions.
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Spurs, who changed to a back four after a torrid first half, became more competitive in the second half, and Harry Kane tested Kepa Arrizabalaga in Chelsea goal in the 50th minute with a well taken free-kick.
But the hosts were still more dominant in goalmouth actions with Hugo Lloris denying Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech, and the returning Timo Werner.
Chelsea takes a two goal advantage to Spurs in a week, but the visitors will need a much improved performance in the second leg to have any chance of reaching the finals at Wembley.
Liverpool and Arsenal play in the other semi-final on 13 and 20 January respectively, after the first leg was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak and Injury cases in the Liverpool camp.
