Chelsea got eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Tottenham Hotspur after Jose Mourinho’s team beat Lampard’s side 5-4 in penalties. Mason Mount missed the only penalty to help Tottenham advance to the quarters after both the teams were held to a scoreline of 1-1.
Frank Lampard’s side got the lead in the game after their German striker, Timo Werner scored against a much-altered side of Mourinho, whose players were exhausted by the fixture. They had four matches in 8 days and came to play after playing a match just less than 48 hours ago.
Mourinho complained about the fixture that his team has got which made him prioritize Thursday’s Europa League tie against Maccabi Haifa. But still, he put up a strong first XI which saw debutant Sergio Reguilon who joined as a Real Madrid loanee, Tanguy Ndombele who is the record signing of the club, and captain Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea started their new keeper from Rennes, Edouard Mendy who was promising enough between the sticks and made a couple of brilliant saves. Werner was the only one who was retained from the last game’s squad and he took the opportunity this time.
Timo Werner netted his first Premier League goal in 19 minutes and looked convincing enough to send the team through the fourth round. This was a mistake from the new signing, Sergio Reguilon as he gifted the ball to Chelsea’s captain, Cesar Azpilicueta whose low cross fell into Werner’s feet and he fired it into the bottom corner of the goal.
Mourinho’s side responded very well as they tried to come back in the match. Kurt Zouma’s last-minute intervention denied Jedson Fernandes a goal for Tottenham.
On the three previous occasions when Lampard met Mourinho, the Chelsea coach won all the three. As the game progressed, there was a heated exchange between the two coaches on the touchline in the first half. More words were exchanged between the two in the dugout which saw Mourinho being aggressive as he complained about outspoken Lampard.
On the ground, Mourinho’s side was better than Lampard’s as Mendy made crucial saves from Lamela and Reguilon. Tottenham brought more firepower in the attack by introducing their star striker, Harry Kane from the bench before 20 minutes from the final time.
There was a washroom emergency by DIer who straight went down the tunnel while the match was going on and furious Mourinho followed him to call him back, being unaware of what happened. This reduced Spurs to 10 men and Chelsea who was sitting just in the defence didn’t take the opportunity to seal the game.
𝗟𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗱: 'At 1-0, one goal finishes it and we didn’t get that.’
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 30, 2020
Just seven minutes from the final whistle, the scenario changed as Erik Lamela equalized for the Spurs. The game went to the extra time and eventually to the penalties.
The pressure was huge for Chelsea’s Senegalese goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy. Tottenham’s Eric Dier, Lamela, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane- all scored from the spot. Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, and Emerson successfully kicked the ball to the net. None of the players from both the teams missed any spot-kick in the first nine penalty shots.
Then came youngster, Mason Mount for the 10th penalty. He clipped the outside of the left post which prevented Chelsea to progress. German striker, Timo Werner didn’t take the penalty for Chelsea. He informed the coach that he will not be able to take the spot-kick as he was receiving treatments on the sideline so Lampard didn’t put his name in the penalty list of five takers.
It was a match of drama where any one of the teams could have progressed but Mourinho was the one to have the last laugh in this tie.
