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Chelsea have reached the final of the EFL Cup after beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 on penalties after both sides were inseparable after two legs. The Blues beat Tottenham 2-1 but had to do it again from spot kicks following a 2-2 aggregate draw.
Chelsea went into the encounter needing a strong performance to get through, having lost 1-0 in the first-leg at Wembley. And the Blues had the perfect start when N’Golo Kante put them ahead in the 27th minute. The France international shot through a sea of bodies with the ball sliding past Paulo Gazzaniga in post for Spurs.
Maurizio Sarri’s side continued to dominate and rightly doubled their lead with seven minutes to end the first half. Eden Hazard combined perfectly with Cesar Azpilicueta before the Belgian coolly slotted home to make it 2-0.
At the start of the second half, it looked like Spurs were already heading out, but a moment of magic from Fernando Llorente was enough to bring them back into the tie. The Spanish striker headed home to make the scoreline 2-1 after rising to meet a perfect cross from Danny Rose.
Unfortunately, there were no more goals from either side as the game ended 2-1 to Chelsea on the night and 2-2 on aggregate. This meant both teams had to be separated by the lottery of spot kicks.
It eventually proved to be Tottenham’s undoing as Pochettino’s side missed two of their kicks to lose 4-2 to Chelsea. Willian, Azpilicueta, Jorginho and David Luiz all scored for the Blues, but Eric Dier and Lucas Moura missed theirs for Spurs.
The result means Chelsea will now play Manchester City in the final of the EFL Cup, following the Cityzens’ 10-0 aggregate win over Burton Albion.
The world of Twitter has been buzzing over the result and here are some of the best tweets from football fans:
