Alejandro Garnacho scores a brace to help Chelsea advance to EFL Cup semi-final

Heading to the Cardiff City Stadium for the first quarter-final of the EFL Cup, Enzo Maresca chose to field Chelsea’s second team, with only Caicedo and Badiashile being regular starters for the club. From the start, the higher-rated away side dominated possession, controlling the game through midfield.

Cardiff also created a few chances on the counter-attack but failed to score. The first half ended goalless, but everything changed after the break. In the 57th minute, following a misplaced pass from Cardiff, Facundo Buonanotte sprinted forward and calmly slipped the ball to Alejandro Garnacho on the left, where the Argentine finished to open the scoring.

After that, the League One side pushed forward in search of an equaliser. Surprisingly, they found it in the 75th minute, when Perry Ng crossed from the right and David Turnbull headed the ball into the net. Just seven minutes later, Pedro Neto restored Chelsea’s lead with a one-touch finish from the right side, making it 2-1.

Alejandro Garnacho then capped off a brilliant performance with his second goal in the 93rd minute. Cutting in from the left and finishing with his right foot, he sealed a 3-1 win for the Premier League side. With this quarter-final victory, Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals and will wait to learn their next opponent.

After the match, Enzo Maresca said: “I’m very happy, especially with the effort from the players. I said yesterday that football is full of these tricky games, so you have to pay attention, and we played a good game. Off the ball we were quite good; on the ball we struggled a bit to create chances in the first half for many reasons. In the second half we were much better.

“There was a big difference between the first and second halves, especially in the way we attacked. Cardiff were very organised and intense. In the end, we did enough to win the game.”

After reaching the semi-finals, Chelsea will return to Premier League action with an away match against Newcastle on 20/12. With most of the first team rested in this match, Chelsea are expected to travel to St James’ Park with their strongest squad.