A Characteristic Chelsea Triumph

Lightning struck twice as Chelsea narrowly defeated plucky Bournemouth at home in the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup for the second successive year, courtesy of another late winner. Furthermore, the victors are also pitted against norf London opposition for the second year running. Hopefully there will be a better outcome this time around. However the omens are not altogether good. Yes Tottensham are awful in cup semi finals and we generally excel in them, but this was another typically Chelsea victory which does little to inspire much confidence.

Instead we were treated to yet another match of much possession and little end product, with a centre forward again successfully avoiding the back of the net. Once more it took the irreplaceable Eden Hazard to emerge from the bench and break the deadlock and help the hosts escape the lottery of a penalty shootout. One shudders to think how Chelsea will cope without the flying Belgian. Seventh position in the league looks a realistic possibility when Hazard departs. Quite frankly, two narrow back-to-back wins against Brighton and Bournemouth doesn't bode well for a club with Champions League aspirations. Maybe we are a cup team, at best.

CHELSEA 1 Bournemouth 0; half time: 0-0

CHELSEA: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta; Christensen; Emerson; Rudiger; Barkley; Kovacic; Fabregas; Giroud; Willian; Loftus-Cheek. Used substitutes: Pedro; Hazard; Luiz

CHELSEA goal scorer: Hazard

LEADING SCORERS:

Hazard ten

Morata seven

Loftus-Cheek six

Pedro six

Giroud five

Willian four

Barkley three

Kante two