Izuchukwu Okosi
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was understandably ecstatic Wednesday night as his team reached the final of the Carabao Cup beating London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the second leg of the fixtures.
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Contract rebel Antonio Rudiger scored the Blues’ goal in the semi-final second leg to hand his team a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Chelsea will face Liverpool or Arsenal who face off today (Thursday, 13 January) at Wembley on February 27 in Tuchel’s third final since taking over as head coach a year ago.
“We are very happy. Wembley is waiting – a full house, cup final, and this is where you want to be,” said the German.
“That was the target and now we are there. We did the job. Over both matches we deserved to win.”
Meanwhile, Spurs’ manager Antonio Conte stood by his decision to select second choice keeper Pierluigi Gollini.
The ex-Chelsea boss opted for Gollini in goal rather than captain Hugo Lloris, who played in the first leg.
Gollini was at fault for Rudiger’s first-half goal, failing to clear Mason Mount’s corner, enabling the defender to touch the ball in.
However, Conte was unrepentant – and insisted he was happy with the stand-in keeper’s overall performance.
“Before my arrival, Pierluigi played in the Carabao Cup and also the (Europa) Conference League,” Conte said.
“I think when you are in a team like Tottenham it’s important to give chances to the keeper, because the keeper has been shown to be reliable.
“We have to play three games in seven days, against Arsenal and Chelsea again.
“I think he deserved this chance and to play in an important game. I made this decision and I think he played a good game.
“In the first game we lost 2-0. Today we lost only 1-0.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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