Manchester City defeated Chelsea 4-3 on penalties to win the 2019 Carabao Cup in Sunday’s final at Wembley Stadium after regulation time ended goalless, Completesports.com reports.
Raheem Sterling netted the decisive kick to give Pep Guardiola’s team their first trophy of the season as they target the quadruple feat.
Jorginho and David Luiz missed their spot-kicks for the Blues while Leroy Sane also missed for Manchester City.
Chelsea went into the game without the use of a recognised centre forward, with Eden Hazard playing as a false nine
Sergio Aguero had the first chance on goal when he fired in a volley towards goal, but his effort from 12 yards crashed Kepa Arrizabalaga’s crossbar.
Chelsea improved as the first half progressed, but another opportunity went the way of Aguero who saw a deflected effort from the edge of the area comfortably saved by Arrizabalaga.
Hazard had remained a peripheral figure in attack, but Chelsea began to engineer spaces for their star men before the half-time whistle without the Belgian capitalising on time spent on the ball.
In the second half, Aguero had the ball in the net after a sharp turn and finish inside the area, but VAR confirmed the assistant’s initial decision that the striker was offside by the narrowest of margins.
Chelsea advanced past the hour mark without conceding a goal, and the Blues soon created the best opportunity of the contest on the counter-attack.
Hazard was sent clear down the left flank and the playmaker had to remain patient before taking the ball past Vincent Kompany, but the Belgian’s cutback was directed over the crossbar from 10 yards by Kante.
Jorginho curled a shot wide of the target after good play from Hazard and substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi, before Hazard fired harmlessly over the crossbar from a similar position on the edge of the box.
City began the second period of extra time by creating their best opportunity of the match through Sterling but after the winger’s cutback for Aguero, Cesar Azpilicueta stuck out a leg to prevent the forward from tapping home into an empty net.
Aguero then forced a solid stop out of Arrizabalaga down to his left who appeared to suffer an injury in the process, and it led to Sarri being eager to introduce Willy Caballero.
However, Arrizabalaga refused to walk off the pitch and after a stand-off between the pair, a seething Sarri eventually relented and allowed the Spaniard to see out the match.
By Johnny Edward
2 Comments
I’ve been watching football for many years. Never in my life have I seen a player defy his manager and refuse to come off after being subbed. This is a disgrace! Kepa has got to go. I think his football career just ended. This behavior also confirms something most fans already suspected…….Sarri has lost the Chelsea dressing room. How come none of the other players made an attempt to bring Kepa to his senses, and insist he obey the manager? A total disgrace, this is. Changes need to be made at Chelsea FC, starting with Kepa’s sack, with immediate effect!
The very moment the stupid Sarri sacked Moses and sent Aina to Italy , that’s when everybody knew he wasn’t up to the job. He is wasting his time at Chelsea. The longer he stays, the lower the team goes.