Chelsea 2 Everton 1: Antonio Rudiger and Willian send Blues into EFL Cup quarter-finals

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Vaishali Bhardwaj25 October 2017

Antonio Rudiger and Willian helped Chelsea secure a 2-1 win against Everton on Wednesday to book the Blues' place in the quarter-final of the EFL Cup.

Rudiger looked to have netted the only goal of the game in the 26th minute at Stamford Bridge as Everton, playing in their first match since the sacking of Ronald Koeman, were denied several times by Willy Caballero.

Despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin netting an added-time consolation, Willian’s goal minutes earlier ensured the win to send Chelsea into the draw for the quarter-finals which will be made on Thursday.

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had told Standard Sport in the build-up to the fourth-round tie against Everton that the Blues needed to be wary of a reaction from a Toffees side who, after being beaten 5-2 by Arsenal on Sunday, had seen manager Koeman get the sack.

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Indeed, caretaker boss David Unsworth said his team had trained well following the dismissal of Koeman and the visitors certainly looked focused and in a positive frame of mind in the opening stages of the match at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea were also bright early on, which was unsurprising given their comeback 4-2 win here against Watford only on Saturday.

Conte, though, decided to field almost an entirely different team to the one that beat Marco Silva's side - with the Italian handing Danny Drinkwater his debut as 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu got his second outing for the Blues as he slotted in alongside Drinkwater in midfield.

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And, after a largely dull start, it was Chelsea who found the opener after Willian took a short corner, playing it to Charly Musonda, whose subsequent cross found Rudiger on the right.

The defender delivered a lovely header that looped past Jordan Pickford to hand the hosts the lead with what was the first chance of the match.

Despite the drab first-half, the second period proved to be far from dull with Everton upping the intensity and really testing Chelsea's back line.

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Caballero, starting in place of Courtois, made amends for sending a clearance straight to Aaron Lennon by pulling out three fine saves to deny Wayne Rooney, Phil Jagielka and Kevin Mirallas.

Willian could have made it 2-0 to Chelsea but drove his shot off the back of a counter-attack wide before Michy Batshuayi - the hero against Watford on Saturday with his two goals - found himself through on goal after latching onto Rooney's poor backpass and sending it past Pickford - only to then find himself denied the chance to score under pressure from the Everton defence as he went on to clatter into the post.

The missed opportunity nearly proved costly as substitute Ademola Lookman saw his fierce effort skim off the bar but Willian combined with substitute Cesc Fabregas to send Chelsea through and assure the win despite Calvert-Lewin netting at the death.