Chelsea beat Newcastle on penalties to reach Carabao Cup semi-final
Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (Mudryk 90+2’| Wilson 16′) (Chelsea win 4-2 on penalties)
STAMFORD BRIDGE — Chelsea edged past Newcastle and into the Carabao Cup semi-final after a tense penalty-shootout win
An injury-time goal from Mykhailo Mudryk forced the tie to spot-kicks after an early Benoit Badiashile error looked to doom the Blues to a defeat they could ill afford.
Chelsea appeared down and out despite a spirited performance, yet substitute Mudryk rifled home having robbed Kieran Trippier to shatter Geordie hearts in Eddie Howe’s 100th competitive game in charge of the Magpies.
This was a meeting of two largely dissatisfied sides both searching for stability amid the chaos of wildly oscillating form and previously unimaginable injury crises.
There were 20 absentees across both sides, only a few short of an entire third squad. Newcastle had won just three of their last nine games before this, one fewer than Chelsea, acrimoniously exiting the Champions League in the process. Despite both openly declaring their top-four Premier League ambitions, neither are where they want to be.
This was most likely both side’s best chance at silverware, leading to opening exchanges high on energy and willing and low on quality and cohesion as the ball swapped ownership with alarming regularity. The best early chance exchanges came from Conor Gallagher, who found the crossbar from 20 yards with a vicious curling effort.
This fractured, largely incoherent start was broken by a Chelsea defensive sequence which embodied their unhealthy blend of poor fortune and poor performance under Mauricio Pochettino.
Attempting a theoretically simple backwards pass to Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill comfortably missed his mark and instead reached Callum Wilson, five yards into his own half. Chased by Caicedo and haring towards backpedalling duo Thiago Silva and Badiashile, Wilson skipped past Silva before the Frenchman appeared to take control.
Yet Badiashile, at fault for multiple goals in the 4-1 November defeat to Newcastle, could only clear the ball from one foot to the other and into Wilson’s path. The Englishman’s nonchalant outside-of-the-boot finish evaded the stranded Djordje Petrovic, and the chain of chaotic Chelsea misfortune continued.
For the home side, this was another farcical episode in the ever-developing series “Carry On Chelsea”, as an otherwise solid performance almost kiboshed by scarcely believable defensive work.
From here, Newcastle sat deep and broke fast, comfortable to cede possession and take their chances against the inconsistent Chelsea attack. Raheem Sterling spurned two good opportunities and Armando Broja, on for the unwell Enzo Fernandez, was offside before finishing a fine chip.
Watching on from the stands was sixteen-year-old Ecuadorean midfielder Kendry Paez, Chelsea’s £17.2m summer investment who won’t be eligible to play for them until May 2025.
From left-back, Tino Livramento’s defensive ubiquity acted as a constant reminder of the failings of Chelsea’s recent transfer business. Despite spending £1bn across three transfer windows, centre-back Colwill started unconvincingly on the left before being replaced by right-back Malo Gusto at half-time, while the versatile Livramento starred.
Chelsea continued to both have and waste the better chances in the second half, with Broja and Sterling lively but often without obvious direction. Christopher Nkunku’s first competitive appearance since picking up a knee injury in pre-season boosted the mood around Stamford Bridge, but it appeared to be little other than thinly-veiled distraction until Mudryk’s 92nd-minute finish.
Yet penalty misses from Trippier and Matt Ritchie mean Newcastle’s 54-year wait for a trophy continues. Chelsea can keep dreaming of silverware in Pochettino’s first season against all odds.
