CHELSEA REACHES LEAGUE CUP FINAL
LONDON: Chelsea stormed into the League Cup final with a 6-1 thrashing of secondtier Middlesbrough to easily overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
The Blues struck four times before halftime as Jonny Howson’s own goal, Enzo Fernandez, Axel Disasi and Cole Palmer put Mauricio Pochettino’s men on the road to Wembley next month.
Palmer and Noni Madueke piled the pain on Middlesbrough in the closing stages on a night that could prove the turning point in Pochettino’s early reign in charge.
A much tougher test awaits against either Premier League leaders Liverpool or local rivals Fulham on February 25, but there are promising signs for the Argentine that an expensively assembled yet still raw squad is beginning to come together.
The former Tottenham boss had to call for calm after sections of the Chelsea support turned against Pochettino and his players after losing at the Riverside a fortnight ago.
But Boro are 11th in the Championship, and the gulf in class between the sides eventually lasted over 180 minutes.
The first blow of the night for Michael Carrick’s men was selfinflicted as veteran midfielder
Howson turned into his own net as he tried to prevent Armando Broja from tapping in Raheem Sterling’s cross.
After struggling at home in the early months of Pochettino’s reign, Chelsea have now won seven consecutive games at Stamford Bridge and the floodgates opened on Middlesbrough as the hosts found their flow.
Disasi was only deputizing at rightback due to injuries to Reece James and Malo Gusto, but the Frenchman played a huge part swinging the tie in Chelsea’s favor.
Firstly, he combined beautifully with Sterling to square for Fernandez to put the five-time League Cup winners in front on aggregate.
Disasi then showed the composure of a striker to stroke home Sterling’s low cross for just his second goal for the club.