Jose Mourinho claimed his first trophy since returning for his
second spell as Chelsea manager with a comfortable Capital One Cup final
victory over Tottenham at Wembley.
John Terry and Diego Costa did the damage - both with
the aid of deflections - either side of the interval as Spurs' hopes of
repeating their success over Chelsea in this competition
seven years ago
never got off the ground.
The win gave Mourinho his first silverware since La
Liga success with Real Madrid in 2012 and Chelsea their first since the
Europa League final victory against Benfica in Amsterdam a year later.
Despite a career laden with trophies, Mourinho claimed
this was the most important final of his time in the game and Chelsea
were never seriously troubled once Christian Eriksen's early free-kick
rebounded to safety off the woodwork.
Mourinho's trophy haul at Chelsea |
|
---|---|
Premier League: |
2004-05, 2005-06 |
FA Cup: |
2006-07 |
League Cup: |
2004-05, 2006-07, 2014-15 |
Community Shield: |
2005 |
Mourinho's mastery of the big selection decision was
also demonstrated once more by his deployment of Kurt Zouma, a central
defender by trade, in midfield to fulfil the role left behind by
the suspended Nemanja Matic
to outstanding effect.
Spurs, for all their endeavour, never looked close to
repeating that convincing victory over Chelsea on New Year's Day, when
Mourinho's side were
beaten 5-3
at White Hart Lane.
And with Chelsea's closest Premier League title rivals
Manchester City losing 2-1 at Liverpool even before this final kicked
off - leaving his side with a five-point advantage with a game in hand -
this just about added up to Mourinho's perfect day.
Tottenham
had the exertions of a Europa League tie
- and painful exit - against Fiorentina in Italy on Thursday, and
while this may have taken its toll, they never looked like rescuing the
situation once Chelsea took the lead right on half-time.
Tottenham's usual suspects created early optimism for
their fans as Eriksen bounced a 20-yard free-kick off the bar, although
Petr Cech - preferred in goal to Thibaut Courtois - looked to have the
situation under control, and Harry Kane ended a fine run with a low shot
that was comfortably saved by Chelsea's keeper.
As usual, Costa was keeping Spurs fully occupied in the
physical exchanges, angering Nabil Bentaleb with a hand-off, squaring
up to Kyle Walker and getting involved in a running battle with Eric
Dier that ended with the defender picking up a yellow card for a foul.
As the first 45 minutes looked to be drawing to a
subdued conclusion, Chelsea pounced on a moment of defensive confusion
to take the lead.
Willian's free-kick was deflected out of a cluster of
bodies to the feet of Terry, whose shot took a crucial touch off Kane to
defeat Hugo Lloris, who was given the nod by Spurs boss Mauricio
Pochettino ahead of regular League Cup choice Michel Vorm.
And it was another deflection that was a key element as
Chelsea doubled their lead 11 minutes after the break. Cesc Fabregas,
who had seen an ambitious overhead kick well saved by Lloris, found
Costa, whose shot was directed across the face of goal until it took a
deflection off Walker to beat Lloris inside his near post.
This was effectively the end of the contest, with
barely a blow traded between the sides before Chelsea captain Terry
lifted the trophy.
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