Chelsea won the final 2-0 to claim England’s first trophy of the season
Wembley Stadium, London — Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur went into this year’s Capital One Cup Final on the back of completely different situations: Chelsea have been rebuilding their image after recent racist behaviour by fans, while Tottenham Hotspur have been enjoying a Cinderella season from striker Harry Kane despite having been knocked out of the Europa League by Fiorentina on Thursday.
The last clash between these two clubs in a final was in the then “Carling Cup” Final seven years ago in 2008. In that game, Tottenham triumphed —they would hope to again in 2015.
Before kick-off it was Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea who were raising eyebrows.
The media expected the Portuguese to rotate his team somewhat as Nemanja Matic was rendered unavailable through suspension, but nobody expected three central defenders in the line-up.
The only controversy with Tottenham’s line-up was Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to include French international Hugo Lloris over Michel Vorm after the Dutch stopper had performed so well up until this point in Spurs’ Capital One Cup campaign.
Both managers had very different records in cup finals; Pochettino had only been involved in one as a player but had won it, Jose Mourinho however had never lost a cup final with Chelsea.
Soon after the game started we got our answer to the Chelsea “three centre backs” question: Kurt Zouma was deployed in midfield to essentially hold Christian Eriksen’s hand and render him silent. Tottenham still had a lot more of the ball in the early going, with Ryan Mason excellent with the ball at his feet playing “quarter-back” as Eriksen was largely silenced by the looming shadow of Kurt Zouma.
Unfortunately for Tottenham Mason’s sorcery could only conjure so much. Barring a Christian Eriksen free-kick that cannoned off the bar and a surging run that came to nothing, Tottenham failed to create any kind of pressure count.
The game remained largely cagey with neither side wanting to give too much away. Eventually though the deadlock was broken by Chelsea and their ever-present captain John Terry.
Willian whipped in a free-kick from the right-hand side of the penalty area, Danny Rose attempted to clear but merely flicked it on to cannon off of Eric Dier, and when the ball fell to John Terry he struck it into the ground and past Lloris. A minute later Chelsea won a corner and it was met with a powerful header by Gary Cahill, but the England defender’s header was straight at Lloris.
Chelsea led, admittedly though, against the run of play.
In the second half though, it was all Chelsea. Tottenham never really forced Petr Cech into a save, and Chelsea’s rearguard were absolutely astonishing. With huge performances from Branislav Ivanovic giving Nacer Chadli no room to breathe, and Cesar Azpilicueta constantly showing Andros Townsend onto his weaker right foot, Tottenham’s service to in-form Harry Kane was stifled.
In the 56th minute Chelsea’s playmaker Cesc Fabregas found Costa with a killer pass.
His fellow Spainish international shot towards goal, and with the help of a deflection by Kyle Walker the ball sailed past Hugo Lloris at his near post. Chelsea were 2-0 up and cruising.
Tottenham brought on Moussa Dembele, Erik Lamela and Roberto Soldado as they chased the game, but it was to no avail. Chelsea’s defense proved too much for Tottenham.
By the time the full-time whistle sounded most Tottenham fans had left Wembley stadium and who could blame them? The same team that completely outplayed Chelsea earlier in the season, winning 5-3 in the process, had just been completely shut down.
John Terry was awarded the official man of the match award, and while he put in a magnificent performance keeping striker Harry Kane at bay, the biggest performance of the match came from 20-year-old Kurt Zouma.
The youngster, compared by many to Marcel Desailly, put in a career performance in the centre of midfield — a position he has never played, in the biggest game of his career. “Zoom Zoom” as referred to by his teammates was a constant burden to Totttenham’s heartbeat Christian Eriksen forcing Ryan Mason to take the reigns.
Although Chelsea looked a bit frazzled in the first half because of the disruption of Zouma in midfield — they soaked up pressure and hit Spurs on the counter attack.
Jose Mourinho is 6/6 in Finals now at Chelsea Football Club. After the game Mourinho told the reporters that he “feeds himself with titles,” and said that he “needs them, they are important for me and my son.”
The Special One certainly knows how to win in a final and while this was not a pretty performance, this could be the accelerant that Chelsea needs to push on and win the Barclay’s Premier League.
Chelsea Starting XI and ratings: Cech 7, Ivanovic 8, Azpilicueta 8, Terry 10, Cahill 7, Zouma 8, Ramires 6, Fabregas 7 (Oscar 88’, 5), Willian 7 (Cuadrado 76’, 7), Hazard 8, Costa 7 (Drogba 90+3’, 5).
Unused Subs: Courtois (GK), Luis, Ake, Remy.
Tottenham Hotspur starting XI and ratings: Lloris 6, Walker 6, Dier 5, Vertonghen 6, Rose 6, Bentaleb 7, Mason 7 (Lamela 71’, 5), Chadli 5 (Soldado 80’, 4), Eriksen 5, Townsend 5 (Dembele 62’, 6), Kane 6.
Unused Subs: Vorm (GK), Fazio, Davies, Stambouli.
Scoring Summary: Terry 41’, Kyle Walker o.g. 56’
Yellow Cards: Dier 31’, Willian 70’, Zouma 72’, Bentaleb 78’, Cuadrado 85’.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 89,294
