After winning three in a row in all competitions, Chelsea soon suffered another defeat in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday night. They were beaten 1-0 away at Championship side Middlesbrough and what made Blues fans even more annoyed was that it happened with two key players injured in less than 20 minutes
Less than a minute into the game, Colwill was intercepted by Rath Rath with a clumsy header and burst into the box to get almost a direct chance to face the goalkeeper. In the end, the Myburgh striker shot wide under the interference of Disasi, and since there was no VAR referee in this game, Disasi's confrontation in the box was not reviewed. However, Lart Rath was injured in the scramble and was replaced after less than three minutes on the pitch.
Rath was not alone in the first half, with Bangura on the left also out injured after less than 20 minutes. Chelsea legend Pat Nevin pointed out that Myburgh boss Michael Carrick had to make changes to his formation after losing two big starters in less than 20 minutes: "The two players are in the same position, so the Myburgh formation has been affected at both ends of the pitch and Carrick has had to adjust his team's formation a little bit, they have changed from a back three to a back four to share some of the pressure at the back. Of course, in the process of the home team's constant injuries and substitutions, Chelsea did not 'take advantage of the danger', and their form today did not seem to be as exciting as expected. ”
The home team quickly settled down after these two substitutions, and in the 37th minute, Jones on the right side of Myburgh went down the bottom and knocked the ball across the middle, Hackney shook off the defender, pushed and outflanked in the small penalty area, and easily knocked on the Chelsea goal, 1-0!Myburgh fans began a frantic goal celebration, and the atmosphere was completely ignited. Myburgh legend Downing pointed out after the Chelsea goal that the Blues' defence looked a little weak, "I wouldn't be too surprised if Pochettino adjusted his defence immediately, because Colwill made so many mistakes on his side, and in fact he is not a full-back, so it may be a bit reluctant to let him play in his current position, but no one would have thought that he would not be able to resist the breakthrough and attack of the Championship team." ”
Chelsea came close to equalising in first-half stoppage time when Enzo's long-range effort denied the Myburgh goalkeeper and the ball was intercepted by Palmer in front of goal, but his follow-up effort went straight into the air. The Blues gradually tightened their formation in the second half and kept their opponents under 30 per cent possession, but their final 18 shots never crossed the Myburgh line. And after 75 minutes, the home side even began to look for counter-attacks to extend the score.
Nevin believes Middlesbrough are no longer afraid of the Blues' biggest names in terms of confidence: "Chelsea's back to the back after a period of high pressing, which has also made Middlesbrough more relaxed, and they have used them to organise some counter-attacks that look good and have taken the pressure off their defence considerably. With some of his players on the flanks starting to go their separate ways, you wonder if Pochettino is already thinking ahead of the second leg. ”
The score was 1-0 and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted after the game that he had nothing to say about the first-leg defeat: 'We were under a lot of pressure today and we had nothing to say about the result. The team made some mistakes in the first half and the chances we gave them to score, and then they became more subtle and difficult on the pitch. The opposition defended very deeply, making it difficult for us to find openings, and they didn't give up on the counter-attack. We got some shots but we didn't get anything in the end, and that's football. It's a disappointing match, but it's only the first leg, so we need to be a bit more positive. ”
England also praised the performance of the Middlesbrough coach after the game, especially after the opening two starters in a row, Carrick's side not only did not panic, but immediately took the lead after the substitutions. However, Downing stressed that a key turning point that led to Myburgh's growing confidence was Palmer's empty goal: "Palmer is certainly a good player, but he missed at least two great goalmouth chances today, and both of those chances came from mistakes. If you can't turn an opponent's defensive mistake into a goal, the escaped Myburgh defenders clearly played with more confidence in the subsequent games, which may have made some fans unable to forgive Palmer's two shots, which in a way ignited the opponent's confidence. ”
It was also Chelsea's fifth defeat in their last six away games, with only one league win at Luton Town and the other five defeats. Even more worrying for Blues fans is that Pochettino still doesn't seem to have his players used to winning. According to England** statistics, only Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth (both teams have lost 32 games) have lost more games in all competitions than Chelsea (minus 31) in the Premier League since the start of last season. Pochettino's away form is even more of a headache now, as Chelsea have lost the most away games in all competitions (21) in the same period.
Despite this, there is still more hope that Chelsea will eventually progress to the final at Wembley, but Pat Nevin has also reminded Pochettino that the second leg of the semi-final at Stamford Bridge may be the least he can afford to lose this season. Yes, Chelsea are still favourites to reach the final, they weren't good enough today, but at Stamford Bridge they have at least one goal left in 90 minutes, which makes Mauricio Pochettino's side still favourites but that doesn't mean they can win for sure, because the semi-finals are the most unloseable game because it means that all your hard work is undone, not only will you not get to Wembley, but no one will remember that you have reached the semi-finals. ”