A well rotated Chelsea lineup came out of the blocks as if they had never seen each other, let alone ever played together, making for a frustrating first 45 minutes of football. And at no point in the first half would we do anything to dissuade that notion, playing with no cohesion, zero quality, and frequent individual mistakes, on and off the ball.
Fortunately, Cardiff are a third-division team, and they were unable to take advantage of them, even if Filip Jörgensen was forced into at least one
excellent save to keep the game scoreless.
The second half started out with more of the same, before we finally found first gear and stepped up our play. A rare quality ball from Buonanotte really deserved a better finish from half-time substitute Garnacho, but that same combination paid off just a few minutes later, giving us the lead just before the hour mark.
We didn’t press that advantage home however and the game remained there for the taking. And wouldn’t you know it, Cardiff would duly equalize on 75 minutes thanks to an untracked run right in the middle of the box — everybody in the Chelsea defense just looking at each other.
Thankfully, Pedro Neto spared our blushed with a lovely finish to win it for us in the final ten minutes, and then Garnacho made it sure with his second, our third, in added-on time.
Carefree.
- 11 changes from the weekend, with 10 recognized backups and Caicedo
- Garnacho and JP called upon at the half to try to save the day, followed by Neto and Gusto on the hour
- Garnacho with the brace, doubles his Chelsea goal tally in one game
- The other three quarterfinals will be played tomorrow, followed by the semifinal draw
- Next up: Newcastle, away — another early kickoff on Saturday
- KTBFFH
