MORATA’S THE LAST-GASP HERO AS CHEL SEA NICK IT
WHEN the equalising goal came for Bournemouth, Antonio Conte ran his hands down his face. He had seen this coming. Heaven knows he had tried everything from the Chelsea technical area. Yet the more Conte paced around, the worse his side played.
Dan Gosling’s sweet, curling strike nestled in the bottom-right corner just as the fourth official raised his board to show four minutes of stoppage time and it was the least Eddie Howe’s side merited for a spirited display.
Still, Conte would have been infuriated by his side’s second-half implosion. They switched off and eventually they succumbed to Gosling’s goal.
Yet in Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata, Conte had two of the Premier League’s most gifted footballers up his sleeve and straight from the kick-off the pair took matters into their own hands.
The two dovetailed beautifully, and Hazard’s delightful back-flick freed the Spaniard to seal a dramatic late victory. For Conte, progress in this competition means more than he might have envisaged earlier in the season.
At the start of the campaign, Conte might have regarded it as a token reward, but amid Manchester City’s excellence and the daunting prospect of a Champions League duel with Barcelona, the Carabao Cup has taken on renewed significance for Chelsea.
Trophyless seasons are rarely tolerated here. Only Jose Mourinho, after the 2013-14 campaign, has survived into a second season under Abramovich after failing to land silverware in a full season.
And against the backdrop of comments suggesting he merits more ‘respect’ and ‘patience’, a domestic cup or two under the Italian would be a handy way to reinforce his point.
Conte made eight changes to the side who beat Southampton, but his starting XI still came in at a combined value of £218.7million, including Cesc Fabregas, Willian and Pedro.
On the off-chance Bournemouth stirred up trouble, Hazard and Morata were ready on the bench. So, this was not a scratch Chelsea side. There were places on the bench for two England World Cup heroes in Under 20 winner Jake Clarke-Salter and Under 17 ace Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Dujon Sterling, an 18-year-old right back who Bournemouth are monitoring, joined his young colleagues. And Conte was true to his pre-match word, offering another high-level starting opportunity to Ethan Ampadu.
He started the previous round against Everton in central midfield and here the Wales international played at the heart of the Chelsea defence. With his frizzy dreadlocks, lean build and inventive passing, he is David Luiz’s doppelganger.
Ampadu’s former Exeter boss Paul Tisdale said that he plays with the brain of a 35-year-old yet, just like Luiz, there are signs of over-exuberance.
The ferocity of Ampadu’s slash at Jermain Defoe’s ankles in the opening 80 seconds spoke of a young talent’s anxiety to impress.
Lee Mason took his name and Ampadu walked a fine line for the remainder of the game. He responded so positively to his early setback, carrying the ball with confidence and defending with urgency and composure.
Defoe was forced off inside the opening half-hour as a result of the lunge and that loss represented the latest blow for Howe in a season that refuses to take off.
After defeats by Manchester United and Liverpool in the past eight days and with the trauma of a visit to Manchester City this weekend, Howe needed a midweek trip to Chelsea like a hole in the head. Bournemouth are 16th in the Premier League table and one point above the drop zone.
They have gone seven matches without a victory and a pivotal run of fixtures after Christmas will determine whether a drama becomes a crisis for Howe. Bournemouth made the more vibrant start to the game and Gosling should have been more composed when given a shooting opportunity. Instead, he blazed over and Chelsea’s quality surfaced.
Their opening goal was magnificent. An impudent back-heel from the Brazilian Kenedy released Fabregas from midfield and, as the crowd rose in expectation, Fabregas was the coolest man in the stadium, glancing up and squaring for Willian to score.
Kenedy’s contribution to the Chelsea cause has been confined to the Carabao Cup since his social media on the pre-season tour of China, when he posted a photograph of a sleeping security guard and captioned it: ‘Wake up China you idiot.’ Yet he played with power and panache last night and it will be interesting to see if he gets more opportunities.
For a fleeting while, we wondered if Chelsea may inflict serious damage to Bournemouth’s fragile confidence. Yet the second half was a different story and, ultimately, Chelsea were grateful to come away with any sort of win. CHELSEA (3-4-2-1): Caballero 6; Rudiger 6, Ampadu 7, Cahill 6.5; Zappacosta 6, Drinkwater 6, Fabregas 7, Kenedy 7; Pedro 6 (Bakayoko 61min, 6), WILLIAN 7.5 (Hazard 61, 6); Batshuayi 5 (Morata 73, 6). Subs not used: Eduardo, Clarke-Salter, Sterling, Hudson-Odoi. Scorers: Willian 13, Morata 90+1. Booked: Ampadu, Fabregas, Zappacosta, Morata. Manager: Antonio Conte 6.5. BOURNEMOUTH (5-3-2): Boruc 6; A Smith 6, S Cook 6, Francis 6, Simpson 6.5, Fraser 6.5; Gosling 6, Artur 6.5 (L Cook 73, 6), Surman 6; Mousset 5.5 (Wilson 71, 6), Defoe 5.5 (Ibe 17, 6). Subs not used: Ramsdale, Ake, Pugh, Hyndman. Booked: Surman, Francis, A Smith, Gosling. Scorer: Gosling 90. Manager: Eddie Howe 6. Referee: Lee Mason 6.5. Attendance: 41,168.