Tottenham Hotspur have just enough to dispatch West Ham United and send their London rivals out of the EFL Cup! Antonio Conte eyes up another all-London encounter with Chelsea in the semi-finals!
Tottenham Hotspur boss, Antonio Conte, said he is relishing the opportunity to face former club, Chelsea, in the League Cup semi-finals. The Italian manager made the comment after his side moved a step closer to ending their 13-year trophy drought, with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United.
Tottenham, runners-up to Manchester City in the EFL Cup last season, made it to the semis thanks to first-half goals by Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura on Wednesday.
The hosts went ahead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, when Bergwijn played a fantastic one-two with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, before slotting in his first goal of the season, just before the half-hour mark.
But Tottenham’s lead only lasted three minutes, before Eric Dier’s error in defence led to Nikola Vlašić’s shot, which rebounded to Jarrod Bowen. The English forward finished neatly for David Moyes’ visitors, after turning superbly to create space.
However, Spurs retook the lead, and ultimately grabbed the winner on 32 minutes, with Lucas Moura scoring from Bergwijn’s cut-back.
Conte guided Chelsea to the Premier League title in the 2016-17 season and an FA Cup triumph the following season.
“For sure it’ll be nice to play against Chelsea for me,” Conte told reporters. “I spent two amazing seasons with Chelsea and enjoyed everything there, but now I’m the manager of Tottenham and I’m ready to give everything for this club.”
Arsenal clash with Liverpool in the other semi-final and Conte said there is no easy draw at this stage of the competition.
“When you reach the semi-final, for sure in England to lift the trophy is very difficult. You find Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, then Tottenham.”
“West Ham, they eliminated Manchester United and Manchester City. In England the level is very high … now let’s see. It’s a good game.”
The semi-finals are scheduled to be played over two legs at the beginning of January.
