Spurs Knocked Out by Superior Chelsea Side in Semi-Final Second Leg

Wednesday 12th January 2022

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 1 Chelsea (Aggregate: 0-3)

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: Competition: EFL Carabao Cup Semi-Final (second leg)

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Spurs are somehow still in with a chance after a dreadful performance in the first leg last week. If we come out all guns blazing and score an early goal, then another could be on the cards, then suddenly it's 2-2 and back to square one. On the other hand Chelsea could turn up and dominate again, and we just roll over and slump out of the competition... lose that trip to Wembley. I want to see a bit of fight from the players. Every one of them gives a 100% and we get it back to 2-2, take it to penalties, and win on penalties."

That pre-match optimism was already beginning to diminish as the line-ups were announced and our almost out of contract captain Hugo Lloris, who came out after the shambles last week and criticised the team for lacking aggressiveness, was dropped to the bench. Gollini picked in goal ahead of him... A very interesting move from Conte. As a result, Kane captained the side, and there were two other changes from the team that slumped to a 2-0 defeat in the first leg, with Winks coming in for Skipp, and Lo Celso for the injured Son.

7' Some good work from Lo Celso on the edge of the area resulted in him winning a free-kick in a dangerous position. Unfortunately Kane stepped-up and blasted it straight into the wall. An early chance wasted.

The fans were responding to the calls for a 12th man today and were in fine voice.

11' Long ball hoisted upfield by Rudiger, it was taken down brilliantly on the chest of Lukaku as he held-off Davies and made room to get a shot away that Gollini did well to save down low. The rebound hit Sánchez and almost resulted in another comical own goal, thankfully it trickled wide of the post and out for a corner.

18' GOAL! Mount whipped in a corner. Gollini made the decision to fly out and attempt to win it with a double-fisted punch, but he completely missed the ball, and Rudiger connected to head into the back of the net. 1-0 Chelsea on the night, 0-3 on aggregate.

23' Hudson-Odoi cut in and fizzed a shot low across goal, Gollini had to dive and push it wide for a corner. Chelsea well on top.

32' Kane was tackled in the box, it fell kindly to Højbjerg on the edge of the area, he curled one toward the top right corner, but his effort was deflected just wide.

The resulting corner was delivered well by Lo Celso, Sánchez nodded it on and Kane was inches away from sliding in to tap it home at the far post. He just couldn't get enough on it and had to watch it fall agonizingly wide.

40' Højbjerg snuck in down the right side of the box, Rudiger slid in to halt his progress and bought him down. The ref pointed for a penalty but VAR intervened and adjudged the foul to have been outside of the area - decision changed from a penalty to a free-kick.

Lo Celso clipped the free-kick toward the top corner but it was deflected behind by a jumping head in the wall.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Exactly what we didn't want - Chelsea scoring the first goal and pretty much putting the tie to bed. Frustrating that it came from a Gollini error, a player who many were amazed to see start ahead of Lloris. It's going to take a miracle for us to overturn a three goal deficit in the second half. Seems like damage limitation time already."

56' Lovely driving run forward from Kane, Moura raced up beside on his right, Kane slid him in but the pass was a tad overhit, and it allowed the keeper a head start to rush out and beat Moura to it. Surprisingly the ref pointed for a penalty for a second time, unfortunately VAR intervened and the decision was overturned to deny us a penalty for a second time.

60' Much Better spell from Spurs, and a Davies cross found Royal with a free header from around the penalty spot. He generated decent power on the effort, but it was too central and saved by the keeper.

64' Arrizabalaga casually played it out to a defender on the edge of his area and Hojbjerg pounced on him to nick it and nudge to Moura. He was quick to find Kane in behind the keeper, who took a touch before nestling it away into the bottom left corner. Quite unbelievably VAR intervened yet again to deny Spurs a way back into the tie. This time Kane was deemed a fraction offside... Spurs just couldn't catch a break.

There was a lengthy pause in the match as it seemed a spectator had fallen ill in the stands.

90'+8' Kane strived to find some sort of consolation by himself, working his way by the by-line in the area. He was tackled and it broke to Sessegnon whose shot was saved from close range. The ball was refusing to go in for Spurs.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Massively disappointing. 0-1 on the night, but we had two penalties and a goal overturned by VAR. Can't deny that Chelsea were clearly the better side over the two legs though, and it only emphasizes the fact that we need to make signings in this window. On to Sunday - Arsenal at home."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 22. Pierluigi Gollini – 3 – Flapped at the corner that allowed them to score that crucial first goal. Didn't do much else to redeem himself.

• 25. Japhet Tanganga – 4 – Struggled again. Looks nervy whenever he plays now. Many would like to see him head out on loan at this stage.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 5.5 – Looked shaky again, especially with the ball at his feet. Won a couple of headers.

• 33. Ben Davies – 6.5 – Decent defensively and got forward on occasion too. Our most reliable defender at the moment.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 6 – Pretty heavily involved again. Had a chance in on goal in the first half that he fluffed. Got himself into a good position to win a header he arguably should have done better with. Majority of his crosses were wasteful again.

• 8. Harry Winks – 5 – Did ok at times. Not incisive enough though. A long pass to absolutely nobody and a wild long range effort that sailed high and wide are the two things I remember him doing.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 7 – Another dogged performance from Pierre. Won a lot of tackles and worked hard for the team.

• 2. Matt Doherty – 3 – Looks so uncomfortable on that left side. We've seen him struggle enough on his preferred right, on the left he's even less effective, and it was a relief to see Sessegnon come on for him in the second half.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 6 – Golden chance to play in Kane or Gil at one point, indecision in the final third meant he played in neither, and that summed up what we've been lacking for a while now.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 6.5 – Started the game well, looked determined to put in a performance. Failed to make any real impact though and eventually subbed for Gil.

• 10. Harry Kane – 8 – Disappointing free-kick early on. Worked his ass off all night though. Felt frustrated for him the amount of times he came to collect the ball and make something happen. Shame he didn't have more attacking options around him.

Substitutions:

• 2. Matt Doherty ⬅ 65' ➡ 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 5 – Looked hungry. Didn't amount to much though.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso ⬅ 71' ➡ 11. Bryan Gil – 5 – Good touches one minute, giving it away the next. Got stuck in which is good to see, but seems to get over-excited on the ball sometimes.

• 8. Harry Winks ⬅ 81' ➡ 29. Oliver Skipp – N/A – The game was already gone. Perhaps he should have started.

Man of the Match – Harry Kane