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Chelsea progressed from round three of the EFL Cup in style as they claimed their first win at Stamford Bridge under Frank Lampard in a 7-1 mauling of League Two side Grimsby Town.
The night began with Chelsea going 2-0 up within the first 7 minutes, with Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi on the scoresheet. Although it appeared like Chelsea would just about run away with it, Grimsby Town clawed their way back into the game. They brought a threat of their own to the tie and when Matt Green struck in the 19th minute, the pendulum of momentum truly appeared to have swung.
As the half progressed, Chelsea were forced back on many occasions and were handed a break by Matt Green himself who brought Kurt Zouma down in the box, and Pedro converted from the spot.
Whether it was beacause of Frank Lampard's half-time team talk, or whether it was the settling effect of the third goal, Chelsea looked like they had control in the second half. They went on the create chance after chance and scored four in the second 45 minutes, with the goals coming from Kurt Zouma, Reece James, Batshuayi with his second, and Callum Hudson-Odoi getting on the scoreboard.
#4 A game of growth
Chelsea began the game with a line-up of players who don't play games very often with each other. Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who're just returning from injuries are being eased back into the team as well. Christian Pulisic started a Chelsea game after a while, and Marc Guehi and Billy Gilmour earned their first Chelsea senior team starts.
Given so many changes, a fluent start was a bonus, but the lack of team chemistry started to show. Grimsby Town were able to push Chelsea back and prevent them from keeping possession for too long. Most of Chelsea's attempts to play out were broken down near the halfway line.
As the game progressed, though, things started to click into place for the home side. Players started to find each other, Gilmour confidently took on the press and came out on top, Reece James made more successful forays forward, and Callum Hudson-Odoi started to take on defenders and push the ball past them. All those little things adding up to Chelsea really growing into the game and finishing off their chances.
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#3 Poised for a good cup run
Frank Lampard has indicated repeatedly over the summer and since the Premier League season began that he will give Chelsea's youth a chance. While that has been entirely true of Chelsea's league season so far, he took it to another level in the EFL Cup, playing a starting XI of youngsters interspersed with experienced professionals, with Ross Barkley being the most experienced player on the pitch.
In an excellent showing at the Bridge, the youngsters really turned up. If they're able to consistently perform at this level and Chelsea find a way to shore up their defence, they can really go on some season defining cup runs in this campaign. Even if the EFL Cup is largely played by the youth players for Chelsea, they may just have a big chance at a cup this season.
#2 Chelsea's left-back problem
With Emerson Palmieri ruled out for nearly a month, Marcos Alonso appears to be Chelsea's most obvious choice at left-back. The Spaniard has repeatedly shown aptitude for playing as a wing-back, but isn't necessarily able to apply himself at left-back. If Chelsea are going to play with a back four, they may want to explore a few options.
A little further down the pecking order is Ian Maatsen, who came on in the game to replace Alonso and made a decent case for himself, but perhaps needs to be looked at more closely before he can be given a shot in the league.
Another way Chelsea could go is to institute Cesar Azpilicuta at left-back and let youngster Reece James take the right-back spot. He has shown plenty of promise, had a good outing against Grimsby and is likely to provide better attacking output that the Chelsea captain.
#1 First Team Contenders
Are there any obvious first team contenders among the numerous youngsters who played in this game? Callum Hudson-Odoi stands out as an obvious choice as Chelsea are crying out for some quality and dynamism on the wing. But there was plenty more that'll give Frank Lampard food for thought.
It may not be an immediate switch, but Reece James impressed at right-back. He wasn't tested much defensively, but when there were questions asked of him both in possession and out of it, he had the answers on most occasions.
Billy Gilmour had a stellar outing in the double pivot as well. He seems calm in possession, always seems to want the ball and is capable of distributing it while also finding forward runs from midfield.
It was also apparent that Christian Pulisic needs a little bit of blooding into this team before he can start consistently impacting games. He started off the game largely on the fringes but really started to shine in the second half, and needs to replicate that kind of performance more often.
