Despite it being far from dominant for Chelsea last night, they will be relatively pleased with their night’s work at Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 in the Round of 16 tie thanks to goals from Benoit Badiashile and Raheem Sterling.
The celebrations amongst the squad for the Frenchman showed just how important that goal was for him on a personal level. The match was his first appearance of the season after a long lay-off due to injury.
Meanwhile, Sterling’s goal saw a lot of the Chelsea players give credit to Cole Palmer for, as he won the ball high to set up his teammate for a fine finish.
With the next round being against Newcastle United in the quarter-finals, and a very realistic chance of reaching the final at stake, team rotation will likely not be on the menu in the week before Christmas.
Pochettino made mistake not playing Petrovic
For that reason, it is unlikely we will see Djordje Petrovic make his long-awaited debut against Eddie Howe’s side.
Many expected the 24-year-old to be handed his first appearance for the club against lower-league opposition last night, however Pochettino elected to stand by Robert Sanchez between the sticks.
In truth, it was a very quiet outing for the Spaniard between the sticks, something which would have been perfect for a debutant goalkeeper.
There is a lot of faith that Petrovic is going to break into the first team fold soon at Stamford Bridge, and it has been reported that he is happy at the club right now.
However, continuing to miss great chances to give him playing time will likely not go down too well with the former MLS star.
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