Chelsea will face holders Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final after beating Tottenham 4-2 on penalties at Stamford Bridge.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg at Wembley, N'Golo Kante and Eden Hazard put Chelsea 2-0 up on the night after a dominant first half, but Spurs came back firing in the second half with Fernando Llorente drawing them level on aggregate.
It was a fairly even finish to the game, and with no extra time the game went straight to a penalty shootout to decide who would face defending champions City.
Eric Dier, who scored the winner for England in their penalty shootout against Colombia, blazed over with his penalty, and Lucas Moura then saw his spot-kick saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga with Tottenham's very next attempt.
That meant that David Luiz was able to step up and slot home the winning penalty to put Maurizio Sarri's men through to the final.
David Luiz nets the deciding penalty as @ChelseaFC beat @SpursOfficial 4-2 on penalties in the Carabao Cup semi-final!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 24, 2019
Watch reaction on Sky Sports Football or follow here: https://t.co/QdomYdhL4g pic.twitter.com/N6lfUz6kBk
Spurs, who had been seeking a first trophy since the 2008 League Cup, saw their slender first-leg advantage wiped out by a N'Golo Kante strike which went through the legs of Moussa Sissoko and Paulo Gazzaniga.
And Eden Hazard - labelled an "individual player" and "not a leader" by Sarri on Wednesday - netted following a flowing move to give Chelsea a 2-1 aggregate lead.
Fernando Llorente's header levelled the tie and penalties followed as neither side could find a winner inside 90 minutes, leaving them locked at 2-2 after two legs.
Eric Dier sent Spurs' third penalty soaring into the Matthew Harding Stand and, after Jorginho put Chelsea in front, Lucas Moura's weak spot kick was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
David Luiz kept his composure to drill low into the net as Chelsea reached the February 24 final with Manchester City, giving Sarri a chance to claim his first managerial silverware. The wait goes on for Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur Opta stats
- Chelsea have reached the League Cup final for the eighth time; the joint-most final appearances by a London club in the competition (also Spurs and Arsenal).
- Maurizio Sarri is the sixth manager to take Chelsea to a League Cup final and just the fourth to do it in his first season in charge (after Vialli, Mourinho and Grant).
- Chelsea won just their second League Cup penalty shoot-out in their last six attempts, with both shootout successes coming at home.
- This was the third time that Spurs have failed to progress from a League Cup semi-final having won the first leg, alongside crashing out against Newcastle in 1975-76 and Arsenal in 1986-87.
- In all competitions, Chelsea have lost none of the 46 games in which Eden Hazard has scored in at Stamford Bridge (P46 W39 D7 L0).
- Since the start of last season, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has been directly involved in seven goals in his eight League Cup games (4 goals, 3 assists).
- N’Golo Kante has scored four goals in 30 apps for Chelsea in all competitions this season – as many as he netted in his previous three seasons in England combined (4 in 129 apps).
- Fernando Llorente has scored eight goals in his last five starts for Tottenham in all competitions.
