{"id":24812,"date":"2022-01-12T17:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T22:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24812"},"modified":"2022-01-15T08:32:03","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T13:32:03","slug":"victory-in-north-london-sends-chelsea-to-carabao-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24812","title":{"rendered":"Victory In North London Sends Chelsea To Carabao Cup Final"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A goal from Antonio Rudiger sealed a 3-0 aggregate victory for Thomas Tuchel\u2019s men (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea booked their place in the Carabao Cup final with a 3-0 semi-final aggregate win over Tottenham, whose hopes of a comeback were denied by VAR misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Tuchel\u2019s men did half the job in last week\u2019s first leg at Stamford Bridge when they won 2-0 and Antonio Rudiger\u2019s first-half goal in north London settled matters, setting up a Wembley date against either Liverpool or Arsenal next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will get a chance to claim a sixth League Cup and give Tuchel the opportunity of winning a third trophy in just over 14 months in the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spurs were well beaten over the course of the two games, but it could have been different had technology not ruled against them on three occasions in the second leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referee Andre Marriner twice awarded penalties that were overturned while Harry Kane had a goal ruled out for offside as they missed out on a second successive appearance in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The damage was done in last week\u2019s first leg, where boss Antonio Conte was left complaining about a team that was \u201cin the middle\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The size of Spurs\u2019 task in trying to recover was highlighted by the fact that no team had reached the League Cup final having lost the semi-final first leg by more than one goal since Aston Villa did it in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They started brightly as they looked to make inroads to their deficit, but Chelsea soon wrestled control and put themselves in an even more comfortable position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pierluigi Gollini, surprisingly selected in place of club captain Hugo Lloris, started well as he made a good save to deny Romelu Lukaku with his feet, but his evening soon took a turn for the worse in the 18th minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Italian was culpable for Chelsea\u2019s opener as he came out to punch a Mason Mount corner but got nowhere near it and the ball hit Rudiger and went into an empty net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went some way to atoning for that error when he made a smart stop to deny Callum Hudson-Odoi, but the damage had been done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spurs were in danger of being blown away, but for the first time in the whole tie began to put up a fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg saw a deflected effort go just wide with Kane unable to turn in Davinson Sanchez\u2019s header from the resulting corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They thought they had a route back into the game in the 40th minute as they were awarded a penalty after Hojbjerg had been chopped down by Rudiger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, VAR ruled that the first contact occurred outside the area and the decision was changed to a free-kick on the edge of the area, which was missed by Giovani Lo Celso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That felt an important moment as Spurs needed something to take into the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Deja vu 10 minutes into the second period as Spurs had another penalty taken away by VAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marriner was well behind play when he pointed to the spot after Lucas Moura went down under a challenge from Kepa Arrizabalaga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But replays showed the goalkeeper won the ball and the referee had to change his decision again after checking the pitchside monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nine minutes later they suffered more angst as VAR chalked off a Kane goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hojbjerg won the ball back high after a bad Kepa pass, but the England captain was marginally offside when he shot into an empty net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That ended any chance Spurs had and they were unable to find a breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lengthy delay at the end due to a medical emergency in the crowd, but that could not dampen Chelsea\u2019s celebrations.<\/p>\n

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