In the third round of the FA Cup, Chelsea played non-league side Chesterfield at home, and the Blues, with Timo Werner, Hudsoy, Lukaku, Christensen and Hakim Ziyeh, defeated the away team with Akwassi Assante's broken egg at the end of the game 5-1 and successfully advanced to the fourth round.
The Blues made a lot of rotations this game, but still gave a lot of players who have returned from injury time to play in order to get back to their game. Because the centre-backs had a number of injuries, Thomas Tuchel sent a 4-4-2 formation today, with goalkeeper no. 3 goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli getting his chance to start the game; left-backs with rising star Lewis Hall and right-backs with Hudson and Marang Sal; a pair of centre-backs for Sauer Neggs and Mateo Kovacic; Hakim Ziyech and Christian Priscic on the side of Lukaku and Timo Pulisic. Werner attacked.
Just six minutes into the opening round, Chelsea broke the gap. Hakim Ziyeh's cross from the right was met by Timo Werner's close-range shot to give the Blues an early lead. Ten minutes later, Hudson-Odoi broke the net unattended at the left corner to easily give the Blues a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later, Lukaku received a cross from youngster Lewis Hall and slammed into the near post to give the Blues a 3-0 win. Just before half-time, Lewis Hall's long-range shot was saved by the away goalkeeper, and Christensen successfully scored the shotgun, and the Blues had won 4-0 at halftime.
Chelsea made big substitutions under the lead after the change, with Kay Havertz, Ruben Loftus Cheek, Barkley, "10,000 Years Of Youth" Luis Baker and youngster Javi Weir all getting the chance to play, but still with Hakim Ziyech's penalty kicks to open the score. However, after that, the Blues obviously closed their hands, the offensive began to slow down, and the passing of the backfield of the game was mainly. In the 80th minute, the visiting team finally broke through Chelsea's defence with a counter-attack, broken by Akvasi Assante, and the match also ended 5-1.
The difference in strength between the two armies is obvious this time, and such a score is really not surprising. The main players and rotating players will not comment on it first, especially the number of players who have won the first game. Goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli did not lose this game, and the save when conceding the ball could indeed be done better, but overall there was no major mistake. The 17-year-old Lewis Hall played quite a lovely game this time, with an attacking midfielder making a cameo appearance at left-back (in fact, he also played left-back or wing-back in the Youth Army), and he did a very good job in both front assists and defensive links this time. In addition to handing over an assist, he was involved in two goals in the first half, and hopefully he will continue to get a chance to play in the future (if the team can't get Emerson back and doesn't want to buy anyone, Lewis Hall may be a good candidate).
Another young player, Harvey Weir, was substituted in the second half because the team already had five goals in hand, and he had relatively few opportunities to perform on the offensive end, without too many bright moments. Barkley was the most average performer in the game this season, and many of the passing decisions were not made well. This game, Thomas Tuchel let Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Marang Sal, Hudson Hudson-Odoi and other substitutes all regain a certain level of playing form, which is also a good thing for the team. Chelsea will return to Tottenham Hotspur in the final four of the League Cup to see if the Blues can take advantage of the situation and reach the final of this local cup.