Chelsea failed in their bid to reach the Carabao Cup Final, losing 2-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates in the second leg of a semi-final tie which was evenly balanced at the outset following the scoreless first leg draw at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.
Eden Hazard opened the scoring for the Blues, but despite a bright start they could only hold onto their lead for five minutes before a pinball-style sequence of headers following an Arsenal corner saw the ball clip last off Antonio Rudiger and past bemused keeper Willy Caballero.
On the hour, another unfortunate deflection off Rudiger led to Granit Xhaka scoring what proved to be Arsenal's winner as Antonio Conte's side failed to raise their game sufficiently to find an equaliser.
Positives
Tiemoue Bakayoko's enterprising performance caught the eye on what was a bitterly disappointing night for Chelsea supporters.
Negatives
Chelsea lost a serious amount of impetus when Willian was forced off with a hamstring injury on the half hour mark, and as Arsenal gradually imposed themselves on the game and went on to take the lead there was a disappointing lack of direction both on the pitch and from the technical area.
Manager rating out of 10
5 -- Instead of sticking with the forward set up that dispatched Brighton 4-0 at the weekend, Conte opted to bench Michy Batshuayi and deploy Hazard as a false nine. The Italian ended up being tactically outwitted by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who made better use of Mohamed Elneny in the second half by dropping him deep to neutralise Chelsea's talisman. The introduction of Barkley for Willian was a nice idea, but the Blues' latest signing looked short of match-practice and as the game ran away from him Conte's last two substitutions lacked conviction.
Player ratings (1-10, 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Willy Caballero, 7 -- Made a couple of decent saves and looked assured enough when put under pressure. Had no chance with either of Arsenal's goals which both had an element of misfortune about them.
DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 5 -- Had a busy night keeping tabs on Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil with blocking tackles being the order of the day. Was a calming influence on Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, but failed as skipper to fire his teammates up in the way John Terry might have done when Arsenal went in front.
DF Andreas Christensen, 6 -- Composed playing the ball out of defence and showed excellent awareness when passing, but looked less assured than usual at set pieces.
DF Antonio Rudiger, 5 -- Unfortunate to be at the hub of both Arsenal goals, otherwise put on a decent display of mobile defending and tackling against Ozil in particular. Desperate to atone for the deflections, got forward but it wasn't to be his night.
MF Victor Moses, 5 -- Provided Chelsea with width on the right-hand side early on despite the close attention of Alex Iwobi. Generally had the measure of the Arsenal man in the first half, but struggled in the second half. Eventually was booked for bringing the Nigerian down and Zappacosta replaced him for the final phase of the game.
MF Marcos Alonso, 5 -- Inconsistent evening for Alonso who also looked off the pace against Brighton at the weekend. Struggled to contain Hector Bellerin, though he faired marginally better against Ozil. Sparked into life late in the game and a late fre -kick provided a chance of heroics, but he skied the ball over the bar which just about summed up Chelsea's evening.
MF N'Golo Kante, 7 -- Always in the action, Kante worked as hard as ever helping out Chelsea's backline and keeping the ball moving forwards.
MF Tiemoue Bakayoko, 7 - Bakayoko's pass accuracy was eye-catching in respect of recent criticism of it being wayward. Played some impressive cross-field balls and got forward well.
FW Willian, 6 -- An industrious but unfortunately short cameo appearance for Willian, who succumbed to an early hamstring injury and was replaced by Ross Barkley on 30 minutes.
FW Pedro, 6 -- Neatly played Hazard in for Chelsea's opener, but faded once Willian departed the field. Replaced by Batshuayi in the 65th minute.
FW Eden Hazard, 7 -- Cooly gave Chelsea the lead slotting the ball past David Ospina and always posed Arsenal problems with tormenting runs into the channels. Picked up a yellow card for a challenge on Ozil, ironic considering the number of times the Blues talisman is sent to the floor in games with the perpetrator going unpunished.
Substitutes
MF Ross Barkley, 5 -- Replaced Willian in the 30th minute, but the suddenness of the substitution meant he looked ill-prepared and he never really got into the type of stride Chelsea required to win the game.
FW Michy Batshuayi, 5 -- Failed to make an impact on the game and was all too easily hustled off the ball when in possession.
MF Davide Zappacosta, NR -- A straight swap for Moses, but didn't bring any additional inventiveness to Chelsea's forward play.