Derby 1 - Chelsea 3: Blues see off stubborn Rams to book League Cup semi-final spot

Posted Wednesday, December 17, 2014 by Dailystar.co.uk

CHELSEA were made to fight all the way as they clinched a Capital One Cup semi-final spot.

Derby 1 - Chelsea 3: Blues see off stubborn Rams to book League Cup semi-final spot
GOAL: Eden Hazard opens the scoring with a beauty

In the end, goals from Eden Hazard, Filipe Luis and Andre Schurrle saw them safely through but it wasn’t until late on that they could breathe easily.

Craig Bryson had given Derby hope when he made it 2-1 with 20 minutes to go, but Schurrle’s goal finished them off just minutes after the home side had Jake Buxton sent-off.

The central defender tussled with Loic Remy and was red-carded by referee Jonathan Moss after consultation with his linesman.

Hazard had given Jose Mourinho’s men the lead with a cracking 22nd minute finish after a dreadful mistake by Derby skipper Richard Keogh.

And just as Derby threatened to haul themselves back into it, they were floored by a stunning free kick from Luis.

Derby 1 - Chelsea 3: Blues see off stubborn Rams to book League Cup semi-final spot
PAINFUL: Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma suffers a head injury

But Chelsea suffered a sickening blow right on half-time when Kurt Zouma, standing in for Gary Cahill was stretchered off after a horror clash with Petr Cech.

The Chelsea keeper raced out to punch away a Johnny Russell corner and cleared out everyone in his way.

Unfortunately Zouma took the full force of it and lay flat-out for a good five minutes receiving attention.

He lost a tooth and appeared to be concussed as he was eventually carried away by the most sedentary stretcher bearers ever seen.

It quickly became clear that Zouma would be taking no further part and was replaced by Branislav Ivanovic with only stoppage time remaining.

Derby 1 - Chelsea 3: Blues see off stubborn Rams to book League Cup semi-final spot
WONDER: Filipe Luis netted first goal for Chelsea with a special free-kick

Derby looked reasonably comfortable in the early exchanges and certainly didn’t look out of their depth against a strong line-up for the Premier League leaders.

But all their good work came undone in the 22nd minute when skipper Richard Keogh was guilty of a needless error.

He was rushed into making a clearance close to the edge of his own box and ended up shunting the ball straight to Cesc Fabregas.

The midfielder seized on the opportunity to send Hazard in on goal and he really made The Rams pay for their lapse in concentration.

Hazard shuffled the ball into position right on the edge of the box and picked his spot to give keeper Lee Grant no chance with a low shot which tucked itself into the bottom corner of the net.

Derby 1 - Chelsea 3: Blues see off stubborn Rams to book League Cup semi-final spot
RED: Jake Buxton is sent off for a foul on Loic Remy

Four minutes later Grant was in the thick of things again, moving smartly to parry a well struck 18-yarder from Luis.

Keogh went some way to making amends for his cock-up on the half hour when he made a crucial block from Drogba to prevent Chelsea going further ahead.

Derby got in and around the Chelsea box on a number of occasions but that was about as far as they managed before they came against a wall of blue, refusing to let them have a crack at goal.

Chelsea’s record against lower ranked teams in this competition is impressive – they’ve won 14 and lost none of their last 16 ties.

And though Derby went into the game having lost only once at home all season, they didn’t need reminding that Mourinho’s men represented a massive step up in class.

Derby 1 - Chelsea 3: Blues see off stubborn Rams to book League Cup semi-final spot
GOAL: Andre Schurrle wraps things up for the away side

But Derby came out firing after the break and Cech was forced to make a crucial save to prevent Will Hughes from equalising.

But in the 62nd minute Chelsea increased their lead with an absolute peach of a free kick from Luis.

He swept the ball over the wall from 22 yards and gave the keeper no chance as it sent the net bulging right in front of the travelling fans.

When Bryson sent a shot in off the post, suddenly there was hope they could take the league leaders to extra-time, but it didn’t last long.

Within minutes of Buxton taking the long walk, Chelsea wrapped things up when keeper Grant could only parry Loic Remy’s low shot straight into the path of Schurrle, who rammed it home from close in.