Howe sack talk intensifies after Mudryk moment, Trippier disasterclass offers Chelsea Carabao respite | OneFootball

Mykhaylo Mudryk equalises for Chelsea.

Chelsea’s final third problems still persist but a star-making moment from Mykhaylo Mudryk gives them the chance to salvage something from this season…

Talk of PIF being ‘unhappy’ with Eddie Howe after Newcastle United’s Champions League exit fuelled more Jose Mourinho and sack-related speculation and this will only intensify after Chelsea halted their rivals’ love affair with the Carabao Cup.

Having already knocked Manchester City and holders Manchester United out of this year’s Carabao Cup, Newcastle were overdue an easier tie for the quarter-finals.

But instead of being drawn to face League One side Port Vale, their impressive scalps in the early rounds earned them a difficult trip to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a place where the Magpies had lost 10 of their last 11 games.

But Chelsea’s charitable defence was more than willing to give Howe‘s injury-ravaged side a helping hand on Tuesday night.

After being difficult to break down without getting much of a kick themselves inside the opening 15 minutes, Levi Colwill’s misplaced pass gifted Newcastle striker Callum Wilson a chance to run at goal.

The England international should have been stopped in his tracks by Thiago Silva or Benoit Badiashile as he advanced through the middle of the pitch but the latter got the ball stuck under his feet as he attempted to clear and Wilson acted quickly to pinch the ball away before curling the ball past stand-in goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic with the outside of his foot to break the deadlock.

Falling behind early would have been the nightmare scenario for Chelsea before kick-off as they were facing a Newcastle side who have shown this season that they are pretty good at standing firm in a defensive sense and causing opponents serious issues on the counter-attack.

This scenario was playing out beautifully for Newcastle, who almost capitalised on Chelsea’s sloppiness on a couple of occasions as Mauricio Pochettino’s side once again came to rue their recurring issues in the final third.

After Conor Gallagher was unlucky not to score early on with a long-range effort which struck the crossbar, Raheem Sterling had two great opportunities (one shot wide and another blocked on the line by Bruno Guimaraes).

There was very little wrong with the hosts’ build-up play and to be fair, there very rarely is. but the ‘Chelsea lacking an elite striker’ topic will only heat up further following another frustrating night at Stamford Bridge.

Sterling has been much better this season than during his debut campaign, but his poor finishing continues to be a dark cloud that hovers over him, while summer signing Nicolas Jackson did everything right before dragging his shot wide from close range after 54 minutes.

As the second half dragged on, the decibel level of Chelsea supporter groans increased as their players spurned opportunity after opportunity.

The introduction of Christopher Nkunku boosted spirits inside Stamford Bridge only for a short while as his Chelsea teammates became more desperate in search of an equaliser.

Newcastle looked to have done enough to earn another statement victory in the Carabao Cup but their weariness got the better of them just as Chelsea had run out of ideas in stoppage time.

A cross into the penalty area found its way to Kieran Trippier, who got his attempted header to Dubravka all wrong and fellow substitute Mudryk reacted quicker than the experienced defender to nip in at the back post and finish into the bottom corner to spare Chelsea and Pochettino’s blushes.

The Blues found in the subsequent penalty shootout lottery that a £1bn+ spend can buy you some Carabao Cup luck as misses from Trippier – which compounded his disasterclass off the bench – and Matt Ritchie saw the hosts advance to the semi-finals.

If any club needs some respite via the Carabao Cup, it is Chelsea. Their Premier League form – barring the odd promising display against Big Six opposition – has been shambolic and it’s only Manchester United’s ongoing crisis that’s saved Pochettino and his side from more severe judgement.

But as proven of late by Man City and Man Utd, Carabao Cup success can provide a much-needed kick up the arse and Chelsea will hope to be beneficiaries of that same scenario.

This potential confidence booster should not take away from what was another worrying Chelsea performance which indicates that they are missing a Victor Osimhen-esque player to complete their very expensive jigsaw.

F365 Says