Match Summary
Chelsea booked their place in the Capital One Cup semi-finals as they convincingly saw off Derby.
The visitors, who took the lead through Hazard and doubled it with a delicious Luis free-kick, were pegged back by a Bryson curler but, with the helping hand of a numerical advantage in the closing stages, could see through a third from Schurrle to make it more resounding.
Mourinho, who has always treated the League Cup with much respect, was in no mood to do this competition any dis-service either tonight. If you were expecting youngsters such as Ake, Baker and Christiensen, you would be disappointed to see Fabregas, Hazard and Terry.
The desire to win the season’s first major piece of silverware was evident from the off. Chelsea love a fast start to dominate play instantly, and whilst it was not in the super-early stages, a break-through was found half-way through the first-half.
Fabregas capitalised on a Derby mistake and found Hazard, who waited for the defenders to commit before firing home.
There was one moment of concern for Kurt Zouma, who was on the wrong end of a collision with Petr Cech, resulting in lengthy delays at the end of the first half.
Would that stop Chelsea’s momentum in the second half? Absolutely not. Felipe Luis has not had much to shout about since arriving in London in the summer and his big problem is two words: Cesar Azpilicueta, but when he had the opportunity to shine from a free-kick, he curled it deliciously into the far corner.
It was game back on in the 71st minute, however. Russell teed up Bryson who curled in from 20 yards, courtesy off the post. It was a great goal.
Would that push Derby on and set up a grand-stand finish? Afraid not. Buxton was red-carded for tugging at Remy’s shirt to stop him breaking through, but in truth, Lee Grant could have gone also for sliding out of the area with the ball.
That settled Chelsea and even more so when Schurrle tapped home after Remy’s initial shot was saved.
Man of the Match
CESC FABREGAS: He was in his more unfavoured attacking midfield role tonight but doesn’t he do it effortlessly? You can tell he’s really enjoying playing, even though he doesn’t want to say it too loudly in case he hurts the Arsenal fans’ feelings, but the reality is he’s helping Chelsea shine, and Chelsea are helping him become a better player with more match minutes. 8/10
Manager Reaction
Mourinho was pleased: “We played in a very professional way and controlled the game for most of the time. They fought to the end and for a few minutes after they scored they were able to put us in trouble.”