Morata is the saviour for Conte and Chelsea
When the equaliser came for Bournemouth, Antonio Conte ran his hands down his face. he had seen it coming. heaven knows he’d tried everything in the Chelsea technical area. Yet the more Conte paced around, the worse his side played.
Dan Gosling’s sweet, curling strike nestled in the bottom-right corner just as the fourth official raised his board to show four minutes of stoppage-time — and it was the least eddie howe’s side merited for a spirited display.
Still, Conte would have been infuriated by his side’s second-half implosion. They switched off and eventually succumbed to Gosling’s equaliser.
But, in eden hazard and Alvaro Morata, Conte has two of the Premier League’s most gifted players up his sleeve and, straight from the restart, the pair took matters into their own hands.
The two dovetailed beautifully and hazard’s delightful back-flick freed the Spanish striker to seal a dramatic late victory.
For Conte, progress in this competition means more than he might have envisaged earlier in the season.
Amid Manchester City’s excellence and the daunting prospect of a Champions League duel with Barcelona, the Carabao Cup has taken on renewed significance for Chelsea.
Trophyless seasons are rarely tolerated. Only Jose Mourinho, after the 2013-14 campaign, has survived into a second season under Roman Abramovich after failing to land silverware in a full campaign.
Conte made eight changes to the side who beat Southampton last weekend, but his starting XI still came in at a combined value of £218million, including Cesc Fabregas, Willian and Pedro.
On the off-chance Bournemouth stirred up trouble, hazard and Morata were ready on the bench. So, this was not a scratch Chelsea side.
After defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool in the past eight days, and with the trauma of a visit to Manchester City coming up this weekend, howe needed a midweek trip to Chelsea like a hole in the head. Bournemouth are 16th in the Premier League table and one point above the drop zone.
They have gone seven matches without a victory and a pivotal run of fixtures after Christmas will determine whether a drama becomes a crisis for howe.
Yet it was Bournemouth who made the better start last night and Gosling should have been more composed when given a shooting opportunity. Instead, he blazed over the bar before Chelsea’s quality surfaced.
Their opening goal was magnificent. An impudent back-heel from the Brazilian Kenedy released Fabregas from midfield and, as the crowd rose in expectation, Fabregas was the coolest man in the stadium, glancing up and squaring for Willian to score.
Kenedy’s contribution to the Chelsea cause has been confined to the Carabao Cup since his social media faux pas on the pre-season tour of China, when he posted a photograph of a sleeping security guard and captioned it: ‘Wake up China you idiot.’
Yet he played with power and panache last night — and Sportsmail understands that newcastle have agreed a loan deal for the winger as of next month.
Yet the second half was a totally different story and howe’s men constantly pressed for an equaliser before looking as if they had forced extra-time with that late Gosling effort.
Ultimately, Chelsea were grateful for the combined brilliance of hazard and Morata.