Chelsea became the second team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the English League Cup, following in the footsteps of Arsenal, who first confirmed a place.
Competing in front of the Stamford Bridge public, Chelsea struggled to score an advantage in the first half despite dominating the game against Southampton.
Leading the Premier League standings, Chelsea fielded a combination squad between the main players and those who usually become substitutes.
Reece James, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic, or Kai Havertz are still under coach Thomas Tuchel.
They were combined with second-tier material such as Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, to Malang Sarr, Ross Barkley, and the new midfielder Saul Niguez.
The Blues opened the scoring a minute before the break through the action of Kai Havertz. The German attacking player jumped the highest to head into Hakim Ziyech’s corner.
The advantage was paid for by Southampton at the start of the second half through Che Adams’ close-range flick. The visitors’ reply came from a low shot by Kyle Walker-Peters in the penalty box.
Kepa tried to block, but the ball still slipped between his legs. This wild ball directly poked Adams into the goal. The goal was the first Chelsea conceded in open play throughout October.
Since entering the 10th month of this year, the Blues previously suffered only one goal, that too through a penalty, also against Southampton in the Premier League.
The rest, Tuchel’s men kept clean sheets against Brentford (1-0), Malmo (4-0), and Norwich City (7-0).
In the remainder of the game, Chelsea were made nervous in injury time when Southampton had two golden opportunities with headers that started with corners. This time Kepa became a hero by denying these two consecutive opportunities.
The match had to go to the penalty shootout, where Kepa again showed himself as a high-five specialist. Chelsea won on penalties 4-3 with one Southampton execution taken by Theo Walcott which was successfully countered by Kepa.
Another Southampton kicker who failed was William Smallbone for hovering over the bar.
On the Chelsea side, Mason Mount was the only executor who failed because he was countered by the goalkeeper. The Blues locked victory with the decisive executioner Reece James.
Separately, Arsenal first ensured a ticket to the quarter-finals of the English League Cup after beating Leeds United 2-0.
The success of Arsenal and Chelsea was also followed by Sunderland. The Black Cats also managed to win on penalties over Queens Park Rangers 3-1 after previously only being able to play a goalless draw in normal time.
