Chelsea leave it late, but the Blues win the battle of West London to send Brentford out. A Bees own goal and a Jorginho penalty propel Thomas Tuchel’s men into the EFL Cup semi-finals!

Chelsea crept into the EFL Cup semi-finals, with a 2-0 win over Thomas Frank’s Brentford, at the Community Stadium in their quarter-final on Tuesday. The victory came courtesy of a late Pontus Jansson own goal and a subsequent Jorginho penalty.

Blues boss, Thomas Tuchel, whose side came into this match on the back of a run of just one win in their previous five matches in all competitions, decided on a much-changed lineup, with several young players in the XI.

Chelsea will meet Tottenham Hotspur and former Blues boss, Antonio Conte next, in the two-legged semi final, which commences in the week of January the 3rd.

After a nervous start, Chelsea eventually asserted their dominance late in the first half, without creating many opportunities.

Debutant, Harvey Vale, should have opened the scoring with a free header, while goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, produced several fine saves to frustrate Brentford.

Tuchel brought on Jorginho and Christian Pulisic at the break, with Reece James, Mason Mount, and N’Golo Kanté coming on at different stages the second half, as Chelsea went hunting a goal.

It finally arrived with the clock reading 80 minutes, when Jansson sliced James’ cross into his own net, to hand the visitors the lead.

Five minutes later, Jorginho sealed the result when he calmly slotted home from the penalty spot, after Brentford goalkeeper, Álvaro Fernández, had hauled down Pulisic.

Tuchel will now continue to fight for his third major trophy at Chelsea, following the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup triumphs.

“It was a brilliant result given the circumstances, the line-up and the situation,” the German coach said. “Some of the guys who played were youngsters and the other guys had not many minutes, but they stepped up in a tough place.”