As Chelsea made the trip to the KP Stadium to face off against the reigning champions of England, Leicester City in the third round of the League Cup, it was Shinji Okazaki who gave his side a commanding lead with a couple of first half goals. With goals from skipper Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta making it 2-2 on either side of the interval. The Blues marched on further to the next round from a couple extra-time goals from midfielder Cesc Fabregas to seal a place in the next round.
It was Antonio Conte’s defenders who struck first for his side, after they had lost a couple of goals to keep them in the match.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men for the additional half-hour after Marcin Wasilewski struck Blues’ striker Diego Costa with a forearm, who had been brought on as a sub. The advantage in numbers paid dividend, as the west London outfit secured qualification at the start of the additional time period.
After suffering their first loss in the league at the weekend against Merseyside outfit Liverpool, it was a strong comeback made by the Londoners, though the Italian manager was still not content with a few things that he saw.
Conte still expressed the need for improvement in his post match interview, after their 4-2 triumph and he told the media what he thought about the performance.
He said that it was a typical English game, yet he was not happy with the two goals conceded but he saw a great reaction and will to win that is so important.
“The team can improve a lot and the way to do that is through hard work.”
Fabregas played a great game and has shown great commitment and attitude, which pleased the ex Italy boss and could force him to start the Spaniard in the upcoming matches.
“All the players in the squad have the possibility to play vs Arsenal and must convince him in training in the next 3 days.”
The manager was also happy about the fact that he was been able to give Nathaniel Chalobah his debut.
He further added that the reason he did not start with the former Barcelona in league games was because he saw other players giving a balance.