London, December 23 (BUS): The much-changed Chelsea side, featuring three teenage players, beat Brentford 2-0 to reach the League Cup semi-finals, where they will face London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Pontus Jansson broke his own goal 10 minutes before the end of time, scoring in Brentford before a penalty kick from Jorginho decided the victory for Thomas Tuchel’s team, infected with the Covid virus, Reuters reported.
In an exciting match at Anfield, Liverpool’s weak side came back from the brink to defeat Leicester City on penalties after a 3-3 draw to form the semi-final match against Arsenal.
Jamie Vardy’s early brace gave Leicester a 2-0 lead and James Madison’s volley made it 3-1 after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back.
But Diogo Jota scored in the 68th minute before Takumi Minamino equalized in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Minamino then turned down an opportunity to send Liverpool through the penalty shootout that followed as he fired his effort over the bar. But Liverpool goalkeeper Kawimhen Keeler saved Ryan Bertrand’s effort, his second save in the penalty shootout, before Jota managed to win it for Liverpool.
Tottenham player Antonio Conte, runner-up for Manchester City last season, qualified for the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over its guest West Ham United – all goals arrived within five minutes in the first half.
Stephen Bergwijn scored a goal from Pierre-Emile Hojberg to achieve his first goal this season, but West Ham equalized the result through Jarrod Bowen’s goal.
Bergwijn then set up Lucas Moura for the win.
Arsenal beat third-tier Sunderland on Tuesday.
“It is good that Tottenham have reached the semi-finals of this competition,” said Conte, who has changed the mood at Spurs since taking over.
“You can see the names of these teams that have reached the semi-finals – Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are with us – so every team wants to try to lift this cup. Now I see in England to win the title is very difficult.”
Considering the pressure being put on their teams, Night Ties provided total value to fans.
Chelsea made eight changes to the team that drew 0-0 with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend as coach Tuchel handed over his first academy players Harvey Vale, Judd Sonsup Bell and Xavier Simmons.
Later on, Tuchel introduced regulars Jorginho, Reece James, Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante off the bench and proved crucial for Chelsea.
It was a cross from the right of James that Jansson shot into his own net and Jorginho then took a special penalty kick.
“It was a fantastic result considering the conditions, the squad and the situation,” Tuchel said. “Some of the players who played were young and some didn’t have many minutes, but they advanced in a difficult place.”
Liverpool made 10 changes to the team that started the 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday leaving only Tyler Morton left.
And when Vardy scored twice in the first 13 minutes, Jurgen Klopp’s side looked on their way out.
But Minamino tied the penalty shootout with a superb goal and goalkeeper Keeler proved himself the champion with two shots to break Leicester’s hearts.
“I’m really happy,” Klopp said. “Really happy with the performance, the spirit and the mentality in a lot of the moments with football.”
The semi-finals are scheduled to be played over two matches in January, although Klopp says in the current circumstances he would prefer just one.
“I think it would be better in one match, but obviously what I say is not very important, so if there are two matches, we play two matches,” he said.
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