Chelsea booked their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup courtesy of a win on Wednesday against Aston Villa following a tense penalty shootout.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
Both sides looked threatening early on when going forward through on goal but were unable to find the opening goal and take the lead.
Timo Werner, deputising for Romelu Lukaku in the central striking role for the hosts Chelsea, did cause problems for the Aston Villa backline with his pace as Tuchel’s frontline options upped the pressure.
Chelsea handled a couple of nervy moments just before the break with Ben Chilwell and Kepa coming to their side’s rescue as Villa’s El Ghazi-Archer duo hoped to break the deadlock.
Following the start of the second half, Chelsea looked the more dominant of both sides and a Reece James delivery into the box was headed home by the lurking Werner to make it 1-0 for the Blues.
The lead, however, did not last for long as Aston Villa’s Archer also got his head at the end of a brilliant Matty Cash cross to level the scoreline.
Tuchel brought on attacking reinforcements off the bench in the dying moments of the game but even Lukaku’s arrival could not prevent the match from going into a penalty shootout.
Reece James scores! Chelsea win the shootout! 👊
C: ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️ ❌ ⚽️
AV: ⚽️ ❌ ❌ ⚽️ ⚽️(4-3) | #CarabaoCup
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 22, 2021
Lukaku, Mount and Barkley did not miss from the spot and it all came down to Reece James for the winning penalty with the full-back slotting it in the top corner to win the game for his side.
