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In an extraordinary night at the Wembley, Manchester City beat Chelsea in the penalty shootout after a roller coaster game to lift the Carabao cup. Chelsea came into this game with hopes of restoring some of their lost pride when they were humiliated 0-6 in the Premier League by Manchester City. After a hard-fought victory against Schalke in the Champions League, Pep Guardiola’s men were hoping to put on another clinical display against Chelsea.
Guardiola made two changes to the starting lineup that played against Schalke. Gundogan was benched and Fernandinho reprised his role as a defensive midfielder. The young Ukrainian Zinchenko started in the left back position. Maurizio Sarri, who has come under a lot of criticism for lack of creativity in his team selection decided to start with Emerson and deployed Hazard in a false nine role.
Right from the opening minute, City displayed their superiority and retained possession for the majority of the first 45 minutes. Chelsea defended well as a team and David Luiz showed a lot of composure whenever Manchester City pressed high and Kante dropped deep to make some vital interceptions and tackles.
In the second half, Chelsea gained a lot of momentum in the match due to some brilliant work from Hazard and Willian in the left flank. Chelsea grew in confidence and created more goalscoring opportunities after the introduction of Callum Hudson-Odoi. Higuain was substituted for Pedro but did not have much impact on the proceedings.
In the added time, Pep Guardiola substituted Danilo for Fernandinho while Sarri introduced Ruben Loftus-Cheek in place of Barkley. After 120 minutes of play, the scoreline read 0-0 and the match went into the penalty shootouts. Finally, Raheen Sterling hit the winning penalty as Manchester City won the EFL cup for the fourth time in six years. Here are the 3 reasons why Chelsea lost the game:
#1 Lack of goal threat
Even when Chelsea were on an unbeaten streak during the early stages of this premier league season, they did not score a heap of goals and the lack of an in-form goalscorer is troubling the team. Hazard himself has admitted that he is more of a creator than a splendid striker and it will take time for Higuain to settle in a new environment. Hazard was fabulous with his dribbles and ball control in this game but whenever he went into the box, he struggled to find someone in a goal scoring position. This Chelsea team lacked variety in their front three as Pedro, Willian and Hazard fit into the same fashion. Kante almost scored a goal after making a menacing run into the box but other than that no one in this team took up the responsibility of finishing inside the box. Sarri might gamble and play both Giroud and Higuain in the upcoming games to register more shots on target per game.
#2 Jorginho’s role
When Jorginho moved to Chelsea during the previous summer, there was a lot of hype about his passing expertise and the crucial role he will play in Sarri’s system. But right now, he is the weakest link in this team and in this match he was once again man marked and bullied by the opposition midfield. His lean frame makes it easy for the opposition players to press hard and win back the ball and he contributed very little in defense when his team is in trouble. In this match, he lost the ball easily when he moved forward to create passing lanes. Kante’s magnificent box to box performance today raises questions as to whether he should replace Jorginho in the defensive midfield role. At the moment, teams are finding it really easy to shut down Jorginho and soon Sarri might be forced to find another place for Jorginho in his system.
#3 Kepa Arrizablaga’s refusal to come off
Chelsea’s magnificent performance during the last hour of this game was overshadowed by Kepa Arrizablaga’s refusal to come off during the dying stages of this match. Kepa was suffering from cramps and Sarri decided to replace him with Caballero. But more drama unfolded as Kepa Arrizablaga refused to come off and directly disobeyed the words of his manager. A furious Sarri could scarcely believe the behavior of Kepa Arrizablga as substitute keeper Willy Caballero was the hero for Chelsea when they faced Liverpool in the 2016 EFL cup semifinal. Kepa went into the shootout without being fully fit and in the end, saved only one penalty. Caballero saved three penalties in the above-mentioned match versus Liverpool and Kepa should have respected Sarri’s words and come off. An incident like this has probably not happened in the history of professional football and Kepa Arrizablaga has completely spoiled a top-class performance from Chelsea against one of the best teams in Europe.
