It was another win for Chelsea following a tense penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup with Thomas Tuchel’s men handing a defeat to Southampton on Tuesday evening at Stamford Bridge.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
Saul Niguez came close to giving Chelsea an early lead as he was left unmarked and headed Ross Barkley’s delivery towards the goal only to be denied by a fine save from Forster.
Forster was called into action again with Chelsea’s striker Kai Havertz creating trouble for the Saints backline and the German tested the visitor’s shot-stopper with a driving effort.
On the other end of the pitch, Adam Armstrong could not get on the end of a Che Adams flick and Kepa’s first save came from a Stuart Armstrong strike following which Chelsea broke the deadlock.
The hosts were awarded a corner and Kai Havertz made no mistake in meeting Ziyech’s delivery into the box to get it past Forster and make it 1-0 for the Blues on the brink of half-time.
Chelsea were in for a torrid opening to the second period, however, with Tuchel’s men conceding as Adams got the better of Kepa to level the scoreline.
Forster denied the likes of Havertz and Barkley and both teams geared up on the attacking front with the game ultimately heading into a penalty shootout.
Walcott and Smallbone missed for the Saints while Mount’s effort was saved by Forster as it came down to Reece James for the winning effort and take Chelsea through to the next round.
