Chelsea head past LFC in semi-final

Sport360 staff 04:45 28/01/2015
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  • Into the final: Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Oscar celebrate their triumph over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

    Branislav Ivanovic kept his head as Chelsea edged a frenetic, ill-tempered clash with Liverpool to advance to the Capital One Cup final.

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    An Ivanovic header in the fourth minute of extra-time proved the difference as Chelsea responded from the humiliating FA Cup defeat to League One Bradford to advance to a first final of Jose Mourinho's second spell as boss.

    A 1-1 first-leg draw at Anfield meant it was all down to the Stamford Bridge clash and the 1-0 victory for Mourinho means he has now won four of his five contests with Brendan Rodgers, once his protege and now a bitter rival.

    The managers confronted each other on the touchline as a tempestuous contest featuring nine bookings spilled into the technical area.

    A comical moment followed as Liverpool assistant boss Colin Pascoe offered the Portuguese his glasses. Mourinho was not amused.

    The Blues boss spent much of the night fuming, but it was Rodgers who had reason to feel most aggrieved early on as Diego Costa should have been sent off for stamping on Emre Can's ankle.

    Branislav Ivanovic celebrates scoring the winner for Chelsea in the Capital One Cup.

    Costa should then have had a penalty when tripped by Martin Skrtel, but referee Michael Oliver waved away appeals, much to the astonishment and anger of Mourinho.

    Twice Liverpool spurned chances to take the lead as Thibaut Courtois saved well from Alberto Moreno and then Philippe Coutinho, while Simon Mignolet twice denied Costa at the other end.

    Mourinho raged at Oliver when Jordan Henderson avoided a second booking for handball and his displeasure with the officials continued into extra-time as he missed Ivanovic's header while talking to fourth official Phil Dowd.

    With Frank Lampard's Manchester City visiting Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday, the additional half hour was less than welcome, but Chelsea showed a grit and determination lacking against Bradford to prevail.

    There was no place for Gary Cahill as Mourinho reverted to his first-choice line-up following the defeat to Bradford, with the England centre-back paying the price for recent poor performances.

    Kurt Zouma, partnering John Terry in defence, was assigned to halt Raheem Sterling and did what Cahill failed to do in the first leg by stopping the Liverpool livewire on the edge of the box.

    Three Liverpool centre-backs faced Costa, but even that was not enough as the striker burst beyond Mamadou Sakho and teed up Willian, whose effort was blocked by Lucas' arm.

    No spot-kick was given as the Reds midfielder's arm was in a natural position and only a yard or so away from his fellow Brazilian when the ball was struck.

    Dowd was in similarly close proximity on the touchline when Costa, having brushed Can over, trod on the defender's ankle. Can reacted angrily, but Costa avoided censure and can expect the Football Association to review the incident.

    Lazar Markovic shoved Filipe Luis off the ball before Chelsea were denied a penalty after Skrtel tripped Costa. Mourinho was raging and then relieved to see Courtois deny Moreno and Coutinho.

    Oscar twice shot wide and then Henderson was booked for pulling back Eden Hazard.

    Cesc Fabregas had been unable to exert his usual influence and departed soon after the restart following a collision with Terry. It was not a night for a cultured playmaker as the challenges continued to fly in.

    Lucas was booked for a foul on Oscar after Sakho had given the ball away. As the whistle blew, Costa and Skrtel were in pursuit of the ball and the Liverpool defender appeared to kick out at the striker, who again had been clumsy with his feet.

    Diego Costa clashes with Steven Gerrard during Chelsea's Capital One Cup encounter against Liverpool.

    Oliver brought play back for a free kick which Luis fired into the wall and then Hazard fired wide as Chelsea showed a fleeting moment of quality in front of goal.

    Costa was unable to strike cleanly from the edge of the area as Mignolet saved and Courtois held a Steven Gerrard effort.

    Mignolet managed to get a foot in to deny Costa after Henderson had inadvertently slid Oscar's pass into the Chelsea striker's path.

    Henderson avoided a second caution for handling a Hazard pass, while Terry was shown a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Sterling.

    Enter Mario Balotelli, but his only real contributions were to shove immovable object Nemanja Matic in the stomach and fire over early in extra-time as Liverpool desperately sought the breakthrough they needed to avoid exiting on the away goals rule.

    But it was Chelsea who struck when, with Liverpool's defence missing, Ivanovic headed in a Willian free kick.

    Henderson should have done better than head wide from a Sterling cross as Liverpool tried to force penalties.

    There was still time for Costa to grapple with Gerrard, with both booked, as Chelsea advanced to the final and Mourinho celebrated with his son behind the dugout.

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