It wasn’t a great night for Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night, as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup against Chelsea.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg at Wembley from a Harry Kane penalty, Spurs travelled to Spurs without their leading scorer through injury, with Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son also absent from the side.
The lack of cutting edge was evident as Chelsea raced into a two-goal lead in the first half through N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard, although Fernando Llorente’s header after the break forced penalties.
However, it was Chelsea who kept their nerve in the shootout, progressing to face Manchester City in the final at the end of February. Spurs will certainly feel like it was a missed opportunity, though their hands were ultimately tied after missing three key players from the starting XI.
Mauricio Pochettino would have been particularly rueing the absence of Kane when Christian Eriksen produced an absolutely sublime pass to Llorente, who mishit the volley as it went out for a goal kick.
Had it been Kane, it may well have been a different story. Watch below as Eriksen produced a contender for pass of the season with a ridiculous driven ball on the half-volley.
