Courtesy ScROs
The first trophy of the 2014/15 English campaign would be earned today as Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC would take their London rivalry to Wembley, as they battled for the Capital One Cup. Chelsea would be looking for revenge after their most recent meeting with Spurs ended in a 5-3 defeat. Petr Cech would get the start, as would Kurt Zouma in for the suspended Nemanja Matic.
Tottenham would have the first real chance of the game in the ninth minute. Harry Kane earned his team a free kick in an attacking position. Christian Eriksen would step up, but his effort bounced off of the crossbar and back into play.
The first half was a physical affair, which should favor Chelsea. Diego Costa got into multiple altercations with the Spurs defense, which eventually lead to a yellow card for Eric Dier.
Just before halftime, Chelseas were able to get themselves in front. Branislav Ivanovic earned the Blues a free kick just outside the box on the right side. Spurs couldn’t clear Willian’s ball, and it fell to the feet of John Terry. The Chelsea captain made no mistake from point blank range, and gave his team a 1-0 lead.
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Ivanovic almost made it a quick-fire double, but his effort from a corner kick was saved off of the line.
Tottenham had dominated the possession battle during the first half, but had nothing to show for it. Chelsea nicked a goal at the perfect time, and it will now be Spurs looking for ways to break down the Chelsea defense in the second half.
Chelsea got the second half started quickly, as Cesc Fabregas tested Hugo Lloris with an acrobatic bicycle kick from inside the box. The Frenchman got down well, and parried the ball away from goal to avoid the danger.
Chelsea would double their lead in the 55th minute, and it would be Costa getting himself back on the score sheet after a run of four games without a goal. Fabregas found Costa inside the penalty area, after a good first touch, the forward blasted it towards goal. It took a slight touch on the way, which threw off Lloris and allowed the ball to sneak past him and into the back of the net.
As soon as Chelsea scored the second goal, it seemed as if all the wind had gone out of the sail for Tottenham. They looked a bit slower than usual, and still couldn’t find much in the Chelsea third.
The Blues had their rivals right where they wanted them, and for the next 15-20 minutes frustrated Spurs by keeping it tight in defense and playing safe passes. Still Tottenham had some half chances towards the end of the game.
The Chelsea defense withstood the late flurry of attacks, and were able to keep a clean sheet. Fans of Chelsea FC will surely be delighted after getting one over on their rivals, especially in a cup final even if it was just the Capital One Cup. This should also act as a positive springboard for the Blues to finish the league campaign strong.
MOTM: John Terry – Terry once again put in a solid shift in defense, helping his team earn a clean sheet and opened the goalscoring with his first half goal.