Chelsea secured their spot in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto in the second half saw the visitors snatch the win away from Cardiff, who had equalised thanks to a goal from David Turnbull.
It also sees Chelsea beat the hosts for the first time in 39 years in the League Cup, with their first goal almost an hour into the match.
As it happened
Cardiff City started off on the front foot and took the game to Chelsea with their fierce pressing which made it difficult for the visitors.
Filip Jörgensen’s box saw more of the ball than Cardiff goalkeeper Nathan Trott in his, with the only chance for Chelsea coming through Marc Guiu.
In total, Cardiff had six shots, with two on target compared to Chelsea’s five and one on target in the first half.
Chances for Brian Barry-Muphy’s side came through Turnbull, Callum Robinson, Isaak Davies and Perry Ng, which could have seen his side take the lead.
Chelsea, for their part, had been wasteful on the ball and looked disjointed when trying to find space to break through the Cardiff defence.
Enzo Maresca responded to his side’s lacklustre first half by bringing on Garnacho and João Pedro as the second period got underway.
Cardiff began the second half picking up where they left off before the break and continued to press Chelsea’s defence.
Chelsea had a chance six minutes into the first half through Moisés Caicedo, who blasted the ball from the edge of the box before it was blocked by the Cardiff defenders, with Jamie Gittens also missing an effort.
Shortly after, Garnacho’s shot was denied by Trott, which was followed by a shot by Pedro which was also blocked. Chelsea were starting to find some rhythm.
Garnacho had a second shot blocked before tapping the ball into the net, which saw his side score the first goal of the match following a Cardiff error.
The Bluebirds began to switch off after the Garnacho goal, which Chelsea capitalised on, continuing to press the hosts.
Barry Murphy’s side later equalized through a Turnbull header which swooped past Jörgensen and into the top right corner to give the hosts hope. But it was Neto who broke Cardiff hearts in the 82nd minute, as he fired a low shot into the far post to restore the lead for his side.
Garnacho added to his goal tally after scoring his second goal of the match to put the final nail in Cardiff’s coffin to see out a 3-1 win.
Chelsea find out their semi-final opponents after Newcastle face Fulham at St. James’ Park tomorrow evening with the draw live on Sky Sports Main Event.
The line-ups
CAR: Trott; Ng, Lawlor, Chambers, Bagan; Wintle; Ashford, J. Colwill, Turnbull, Davies; Robinson
CHE: Jörgensen; Acheampong, Badiashile, Adarabioyo, Hato; Santos, Caicedo; George, Buonanotte, Gittens; Guiu