Hello, and welcome to tonight’s liveblog.
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Kick off for both games is at 7.45pm.
So who do you think will go through this evening?
Poll Results:
A reminder of the goal that separates the sides ahead of this evening’s tie…
⚪️ 🔵 A 1-0 lead from the first leg to take to Stamford Bridge this evening. #COYS pic.twitter.com/qf8bp22SDz
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 24, 2019
Confirmation of tonight’s teams…
Team news is in! 🙌
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 24, 2019
Here's how the Blues line up against Tottenham... #CHETOT pic.twitter.com/own55a2UWJ
#THFC: Gazzaniga, Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen (C), Davies, Dier, Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Lamela, Llorente @WilliamHill odds (18+) - https://t.co/49uAJz16PP #COYS pic.twitter.com/5PbC6LTQzA
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 24, 2019
We’re under way….
It’s been a frenetic, scrappy opening.
As I type, Pedro charges forward in plenty of space, but Alderweireld does well to block his goal-bound shot.
In case you’ve forgotten…
Remember!
— Jan Aage Fjortoft (@JanAageFjortoft) January 24, 2019
No away-goal-rule tonight
No extra-time
Straight to penalties with draw after 2 Games
Eric Dier has just clattered into David Luiz.
It looks a sore one and the Brazilian defender has been receiving treatment for quite a while now.
After that Eric Dier foul on David Luiz, Maurizio Sarri did the imaginary card wave to the fourth official and earned a telling off from Mauricio Pochettino. The 4th official also telling Sarri not to do it again.
— Jack Pitt-Brooke (@JackPittBrooke) January 24, 2019
Alderweireld has just been penalised for chopping down Eden Hazard.
There have been quite a few cynical fouls in the opening stages.
Could we be set for a repeat of the infamous May 2016 encounter at Stamford Bridge, when Chelsea officially killed off Spurs’ faint title hopes amid a chaotic 2-2 draw?
Tottenham’s attack has struggled to really get going so far, though they are adopting a somewhat cautious approach on account of the lead they established in the first leg.
Llorente in particular has looked a little rusty, as he did against Fulham at the weekend.
CHELSEA 1-0 TOTTENHAM (KANTE 27)
Llorente heads a corner to the edge of the box.
It falls to Kante in plenty of space, and the France international’s powerful strike takes a slight deflection off Sissoko and finds the back of the net through the legs of Gazzaniga.
Tottenham have started this game really nervously.
Their captain, Vertonghen, has just put the ball straight out of play for a corner.
Chelsea’s lead is certainly deserved.
They’ve controlled the play so far and approached the game with a level of conviction that Spurs have conspicuously lacked.
Spurs’ injury problems show no sign of abating.
Ben Davies has just hobbled off the pitch and is replaced by fellow left-back Danny Rose.
Hazard easily drifts past Sissoko on the left-hand side of the area.
The Belgian’s cross finds Giroud, but the striker can’t adjust his feet properly and fails to get a decent contact on the ball.
CHELSEA 2-0 TOTTENHAM (HAZARD 38)
Eden Hazard scores his 13th goal of the season as Chelsea completely cut Spurs open.
Pedro finds Azpilicueta in acres of space down the right, and his cross is slotted home from the edge of the area by the unmarked Belgian.
Chelsea lead for the first time in the tie and it’s no more than they deserve.
Tottenham’s attitude has been poor — they’ve sat back and allowed Chelsea to play all the football, ultimately paying the price for allowing their opponents to seize the initiative.
The Blues, meanwhile, have impressed. Maurizio Sarri has surely got the reaction he was looking for after heavily criticising the side following their weekend defeat to Arsenal.
7 - Since the start of last season, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has been directly involved in seven goals in his eight League Cup games (4 goals, 3 assists). Talisman. pic.twitter.com/fxdo6G7MNZ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 24, 2019
Alderweireld gives the ball away to Hazard.
The Chelsea star then sprints through on goal.
The Belgian defender, however, makes a risky and desperate last-ditch challenge to win the ball back.
The ref waves play on despite the crowd’s protests.
HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 2-0 TOTTENHAM
Eden Hazard may not be a leader, but he's been an inspiration so far for #CFC. Looks a player properly liberated now that he has been relieved of No9 duties.
— Dominic Fifield (@domfifield) January 24, 2019
So half-time and the scoreline is an accurate reflection of Chelsea’s superiority.
Hazard, Giroud and Pedro have all been lively and Chelsea took their goals well.
Spurs, by contrast, have been poor. They’ve offered little in attack and have been overly cautious in their approach to the game.
Both the goals were avoidable and Spurs’ display in general has been uninspired and error-prone, with their midfield struggling to have any impact on the play and resorting to kicking their opponents instead of being constructive on the ball.
The second half has begun…
Chelsea start the first half in a similarly positive manner to the way in which they played most of the first.
A corner is punched clear by Gazzaniga. It falls to Jorginho, whose attempt is straight at the goalkeeper.
Moments later, down the other end, Alderweireld hits an audacious volley from outside the area well over.
CHELSEA 2-1 TOTTENHAM (LLORENTE 50)
Llorente has had virtually no service so far, but the Spaniard has capitalised on a rare good move from Tottenham.
The ball is worked out to Danny Rose on the left wing. The England international’s delivery is perfect and the former Juventus striker evades the challenge of David Luiz and heads the ball into the corner of the net out of reach of Kepa’s despairing dive.
Sarri has just been booked for protesting too vehemently on the bench.
For the first time in this match, Chelsea look a little under pressure.
Spurs were bottling again it but are now no longer bottling it because somebody scored with a header. #bottlewatch
— Raphael Honigstein (@honigstein) January 24, 2019
Kante has just been booked for a mistimed challenge on Danny Rose.
There is a palpable tension to this game that has threatened to boil over at times.
Kante plays through Hazard and the attacker fires his golden chance just wide from a tight angle.
Chelsea have responded well to the concession of that goal.
8 - Fernando Llorente has scored eight goals in his last five starts for Tottenham in all competitions. Deputy. pic.twitter.com/uDLvRpC8Iz
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 24, 2019
Emerson goes down amid Chelsea claims for a penalty.
The ref waves play on and replays reveal that it was both outside the box and a dive.
Giroud is played through but his shot on goal is blocked by Vertonghen.
Down the other end, Tottenham counter. Eriksen plays a brilliant cross-field pass to Llorente, but the Spanish striker control miscues his attempted volley when he had time to take a touch.
Shortly thereafter, more panicked last-ditch defending from Spurs eventually ends with Pedro stabbing a shot straight at Gazzaniga.
This has turned into a very entertaining match.
Tottenham make a change.
It’s Spurs’ goalscorer, Llorente, who is replaced by Lucas Moura.
Gazzaniga picks out Moura with an impressively accurate kick out.
However, the substitute’s powerful strike on goal from a tricky angle only finds the side netting.
Sissoko has just been booked for a rash challenge on Jorginho.
Moments later, Hazard finds space on the edge of the area and shoots just wide.
Less than 20 minutes remain, with a goal from either side required to prevent penalties.
Chelsea make a change, as Pedro is replaced by Willian.
The former Barcelona man had a good first half, but faded slightly as the game developed.
Chelsea continue to dominate possession and territory.
The hosts have been the better side for the majority of this match, but Spurs have at least offered a degree of counter-attacking threat, which was sorely absent from their first-half performance, since the break.
With 10 minutes remaining, both sides make a change.
Sissoko hobbles off to be replaced by Sanchez for Spurs.
Chelsea’s switch, meanwhile, sees Barkley make way for Kovačić.
Sanchez does well to block Emerson’s cross out for a corner.
Chelsea are finishing the stronger.
You get the feeling Spurs will be the happier of the two sides if it goes to penalties.
With the exception of a couple of bright second-half moments, they’ve been under the cosh for most of the game.
There will be four minutes of stoppage time…
Giroud can’t quite connect with Emerson’s cross, before Willian’s follow-up shot is blocked by a Spurs defender.
Moments later, Emerson breaks forward and picks out Giroud with a sumptuous cross, but the French star’s header goes narrowly wide.
Once again, Spurs breathe a sigh of relief.
FULL-TIME: CHELSEA 2-1 TOTTENHAM (2-2 ON AGGREGATE)
So we’re set for penalties.
Chelsea were the better side for much of the 90 minutes.
Tottenham looked a bit leggy and played in quite a negative fashion for much of the contest.
The fact that the visitors will probably be happy enough to get to penalties, however, arguably makes them slight favourites to prevail.
2 – After losing seven consecutive penalty shoot-outs in all competitions, Spurs have won their last two, both of which came in the League Cup. Turnaround.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 24, 2019
Eriksn scores. 1-0 Tottenham. Right into the corner of the net.
Willian scores. 1-1. Straight down the middle.
Lamela scores. 2-1 Spurs. Perfectly in the corner.
Azpilicueta scores. 2-2. In the top corner.
Dier blazes it over. Still 2-2.
Jorginho scores. 3-2 Chelsea. Cheeky penalty rolled in.
Moura’s penalty is saved. Still 3-2 Chelsea.
David Luiz scores. Chelsea win
CHELSEA BEAT TOTTENHAM 4-2 ON PENALTIES
So that’s that.
Chelsea win on penalties.
They were the better side for much of the game and so certainly deserve to go through.
Tottenham rarely got going tonight. Their approach from the outset was negative and they seemingly missed their star attackers in Kane and Alli.
Right, that’s all from me.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
We’ll have more reaction to follow.
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