Chelsea are now in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after beating Premier League rivals Southampton on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
After an intense 1-1 draw this fourth round Carabao Cup tie went to extra time, and Reece James scored the decisive spot-kick for Chelsea after Theo Walcott and Will Smallbone missed penalties for the Saints.
Both sides were changed sides for the tie, with Chelsea bringing in six different players from the 7-0 Premier League win against Norwich at the weekend, while nine players came in for the visitors.
The Blues settled better into their rhythm and took the lead a minute before half time when Kai Havertz headed home his third goal of the season from a corner.
However, two minutes after the restart Southampton responded when Che Adams netted in from close range after Kepa spilled Kyle Walker-Peters’ shot. The goals injected even more energy into the game as play swung quickly from one end to the other.
Shane Long’s header was just wide for Southampton, and Saints keeper Fraser Forster prevented the hosts from regaining the lead when he tipped over a James drive following a short free-kick. Will Smallbone almost scored a winner late on in the game, but his late header was saved by Kepa, who then produced two brilliant stops in stoppage time to deny Lyanco and Mohammed Salisu. Those proved crucial as Chelsea came out on top in the penalty shootout to keep themselves firmly in the hunt for silverware this season.
“It was an intense match of football,” said Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who revealed he lost César Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to injury in the build-up to the match, which disrupted his preparations.
“It was an open fight, an intense match. We did a good shootout, a lot of quality.”
