Chelsea cruised into the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup this evening, although they had to do it the hard way.
Summer signing Antonio Rudiger opened the scoring with a fine looping header in the first half to give the home side the lead.
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The Blues then doubled their in the 93rd minute, as Willian linked up well with Cesc Fabregas before the Brazilian fired home.
The Toffees halved the deficit thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin a minute later, however they failed to find an equaliser as Antonio Conte’s side secured a place in the next round.
Man of the Match
Chelsea’s Argentine shot-stopper Willy Caballero will take the plaudits tonight, as the former Man City ace made a number of world-class stops to deny Everton on numerous occasions.
Everton had many chances throughout the second half to level the scoring, however Caballero was equal every time as he almost single handedly made sure the Blues were in the hat for the next round.
He was so good, even his manager Antonio Conte singled out his performance post-match
Conte also highlights the performances of Drinkwater and Caballero, but the boss is frustrated we couldn’t keep a clean sheet. #CHEEVE
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 25, 2017
Flop of the match
Chelsea’s Brazilian winger Willian had an absolute shocker tonight despite his goal.
Time and time again the winger misplaced his passes and lost the ball in dangerous areas despite his side being only one goal to the good.
His strike did end up sealing the Blues’ place in the next round, however if he’s to find a way into Conte’ starting line up in the near future, he’s going to have to perform a lot better than he did today.
We are playing our reserve team and Willian is still our worst player on the pitch.
— MrBlueGuy (@ItsMrBlueGuy) October 25, 2017
Stat of the Match
Ethan Ampadu made Blues history tonight, and something tells me this isn’t the last time we’ll be hearing his name.
HISTORY: Ethan Ampadu tonight becomes the first ever player born in this millennium to start for Chelsea. ? pic.twitter.com/jfcEd0X16b
— Talk Chelsea ? (@talkchelsea) October 25, 2017
Player ratings:
Chelsea: Caballero 8, Rudiger 7, Christensen 7, Cahill 6, Zappacosta 7, Drinkwater 7, Ampadu 6, Kenedy 6, Willian 6, Batshuayi 6, Musonda 6 / Subs: Fabregas 7, Pedro 6, Morata 6
Everton: Pickford 6, Baines 5, Williams 6, Jagielka 6, Kenny 7, Baningime 6, McCarthy 6, Davies 7, Lennon 6, Mirallas 6, Rooney 6 / Subs: Lookman 7, Calvert-Lewin 6, Niasse 6
Reaction
These Chelsea players were all obviously happy with the result
A bit of luck, a lot of spirit & dedication until the end ???? great to win that fight !! Congrats to everyone, we move on ?? #CFC ? pic.twitter.com/kRvpwTDr7K
— Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) October 25, 2017
#AlwaysBelieve?? Next round and pretty happy about the 1st goal for @ChelseaFC ??#Hustle #CFC #CHEEVE pic.twitter.com/jygVXRk8D1
— Antonio Rüdiger (@ToniRuediger) October 25, 2017
And some fans were all praise for Caballero following his Man of the Match performance
This is Caballero’s world & we’re just living in it
— ? (@HazardEdition) October 25, 2017
Caballero cost us nothing, and he’s better than Begovic.
— Chelsea Activity (@ChelseaActivity) October 25, 2017
Antonio Conte, meanwhile, took time off from complaining about how many competitions Chelsea are in to state his desire to go on and win the League Cup this term
Conte on winning cup:”To go to the next step is important. Last season we stopped vs West Ham and now we want to fight for this competition.
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) October 25, 2017
And finally, Everton winger Yannick Bolasie clearly enjoyed this superb combo of crunching tackle and nimble footwork from young debutant Beni Baningime, retweeting the clip on his personal account…
Angleterre ?? : Everton s’incline 2-1 face à Chelsea mais le jeune congolais Beni Baningime a livré une copie très intéressante. pic.twitter.com/4wdgn3BilX
— Leopard Leader Foot (@leopard243) October 25, 2017