GiveMeSport
·19 December 2023
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·19 December 2023
Callum Wilson took advantage of a series of horrible mistakes at the back for Chelsea to give Newcastle United the lead in the Carabao Cup match at Stamford Bridge.
It's been an up-and-down season for both teams so far, with the Blues struggling in the Premier League, currently 10th in the table as things stand. While the Magpies are sixth but were unceremoniously dumped out of Europe recently, coming last in their Champions League group.
Still, the League Cup is a great opportunity for each club to win a bit of silverware this season as they meet in the quarter-final stage. However, just 16 minutes into the affair, disaster struck for Chelsea.
After Moises Caicedo failed to get a hold of the ball, it fell to Wilson inside his own half. Getting on the front foot immediately, he charged forward and ran at Thiago Silva. The Brazilian appeared to have done enough as the ball bobbled free with Benoît Badiashile on the cover. However, the Frenchman made a total mess of things, allowing the ball to fall back into the path of the Newcastle striker.
Wilson made no mistake as he curled a beautiful finish with the outside of his foot into the back of the net. You can enjoy the fantastic trivela finish below.
Speaking before the game, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino clearly wasn't taking things lightly. After all, he had the opportunity to play down the importance of the League Cup when speaking to the press but made sure to highlight how seriously he was taking it. In full, he said (via Fabrizio Romano):
"I don't know which people are saying Mickey Mouse Cup... we are not feeling this way. It is a really good opportunity to win. I saw for more than 10 years how clubs celebrate winning this cup. It is one of our objectives".
Sadly for the Argentine, it was some pretty Mickey Mouse defending from his Chelsea players, particularly from Badiashile, which cost his team in the early stages of this match. No doubt the squad will have to cut out errors like that if they want to fulfil their true potential under Poch.
With all that being the case, he would have been delighted when Mykhailo Mudryk took advantage of a mistake from Kieran Trippier to net a late equaliser for the Blues, sending the game to penalties. In the shoot-out, the English right-back disappointed again, dragging his spot kick wide. Matt Ritchie also missed his effort, sending Chelsea through with the home team faultless from 12 yards.