League Cup
Result: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Chelsea
Date: 08 January 2019
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur took a slight advantage in the Carabao Cup semi-final tie after defeating Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg at Wembley Stadium.
Spurs had won 14 of their last 17 matches across all competitions, but were under the microscope from Callum Hudson-Odoi opening space to launch a shot which Paulo Gazzaniga managed to save.
Chelsea were beginning to see a lot of the ball, thus preventing Spurs from getting in their high-pressing rhythm at every area of the field.
The controversial Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened following Kepa Arrizabalaga's foul on Kane inside the box. Michael Oliver consulted the off-field officials and the initial decision of a penalty was rubber-stamped. Kane did the honours to steer the effort well beyond the reach of the Spanish international for a 26th minute lead.
The post denied the Blues an equaliser before halftime after N'Golo Kante ran to the far post to meet Marco Alonso's cross only to crack the outside post on the volley.
Hudson-Odoi trickled around Danny Rose to bring the ball to his left foot to get a shot at Gazzaniga from outside the box, but it went high and wide later on.
Spurs edged closer to a second in the early stages from returning from the break but a nice build-up play was not capped off as Kane forced Arrizabalaga to a smart save from the edge of the area.
Action quickly swung to the other end as Gazzaniga was needed to guide Kante's driven strike away from goal moments later on.
An opportunity to level matters arrived inside the box when Ross Barkley's flick-on picked out Andreas Christensen who stabbed the effort wide of goal with his left-foot.
With Olivier Giroud on the bench and Eden Hazard battling in the false nine role against the towering opposing defenders, the Frenchman was left on the sidelines towards the final quarter. Instead, Sarri opted for Matteo Kovacic to take the spot of Barkley with 14 minutes to the final whistle.
Spurs seemed to be protecting their lead, with the Blues enjoying tantamount of possession in every area of the field and posing a threat every time in possession.
The hosts opted for the final 10 minutes to bring on their first change, as Hueng Min-Son made way for Erik Lamela, while Giroud finally made his entrance as the final change for Sarri in their bid to turn the probable defeat to a draw.
Sadly, it didn't materialise as the Lily Whites ran out victors albeit narrowly ahead of the second-leg at the Bridge in two weeks time.
