Chelsea through to EFL Cup semifinals as Kieran Trippier hands Mauricio Pochettino a much-needed win

LONDON — Had Kieran Trippier not so spectacularly misjudged his header, what might the conversation be around Chelsea on Wednesday morning? Clinging onto a top half berth with only one realistic shot at European qualification left, the grumbles over Mauricio Pochettino would have been inevitable. At a club like this, breathing space tends to be filled rather quickly but with the Blues through to the EFL Cup semifinals, there is a little more cause for optimism on the horizon.

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A display that was so pedestrian as to be remarkable even from this many-faced Chelsea team need not cause major ructions. There is much to be learned but perhaps more time to take in those lessons. From Callum Wilson’s 15th-minute opener until a nondescript Malo Gusto cross bounced in front of Trippier, Chelsea did not look like a side at all capable of testing Newcastle’s diligent backline, no matter the possession they hoarded. A cavalcade of attacking talent including debutant Christopher Nkunku was getting nowhere at agonizing pace until Newcastle’s right back, so reliable until a month ago, misjudged a header back to Martin Dubravka and Mykhailo Mudryk poked home.

An added time equalizer took them to a penalty shootout where Trippier would do Chelsea another favor, extending his unusual streak of errors by drilling his penalty well wide of Djordje Petrovic’s goal. The former New England Revolution goalkeeper would spring well to his left to deny Matt Ritchie and the Blues, so laborred once more, moved within three games of the first trophy of the post-Roman Abramovich era.

Winning a trophy he so derided when at Tottenham would buy Pochettino time, something he evidently needs to stitch something coherent out of the smorgasbord of attacking talent available to him. At their pinnacle this season Chelsea have proven that they can pose a real test for defenses. Their expected goals tally is the third best in the Premier League this season. There is something to work with and an attack that is making but not converting chances should only get more efficient with Nkunku in it.

Patience, once anathema around these parts, ought to be the watch word at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea supporters are going to need a lot of it. This is still a team being stitched together, the seams altogether too evident in attacking play that involves the right ideas being executed at the wrong pace. Given time that will change, as Mudryk insisted in the afterglow of a goal and converted penalty that Pochettino will hope imbues him with the confidence he so often appears to lack.

“We are going in the right direction,” said the Ukrainian. “We just have to trust in the process, manager and each other. We are building a really strong team. Sometimes to create something big you need time.”

Chelsea, lucky that VAR was not in operation to award Moises Caicedo more than a yellow for a clunky early tackle on Anthony Gordon, had had their moments in possession early on but the gaps were all too obvious whenever Newcastle stole possession … or had it handed to them on a silver platter. In a dangerous spot on the right half space, Miguel Almiron had time to spot Anthony Gordon in space across the field. Had it not been for a heavy touch by Newcastle’s No. 10, Axel Disasi would not have been able to get back in time to block the shot. Chelsea’s defense was living dangerously but its attack seemed not to have spotted the warning sides.

Raheem Sterling was little more than a curious bystander the next time Newcastle crashed into an underpopulated Chelsea penalty area. No one particularly busted a gut to get back when Levi Colwill misplaced a pass to Moises Caicedo. Perhaps they concluded that there were enough bodies back to deal with Callum Wilson’s one-man counter. There should have been but Thiago Silva’s tackle lacked his usual authority and when the ball broke to Benoit Badiashile, his left-footed clearance deflected off his right and into Wilson’s path. An outside-of-the-boot finish gave Chelsea a mountain to climb against a side who seem to relish nothing more than defending a lead against a big team.

Chelsea, by contrast, looked ripe to be torn apart whenever Newcastle broke. Badiashile, who has played just five games since May, seemed ill at ease surrounded by three center backs. Colwill’s use out wide remains curious, a natural center back who Pochettino expects to drive forward rather than tucking in. It was no surprise that Malo Gusto replaced him at the interval though a grumbling Stamford Bridge crowd might have welcomed a few more exits.

Where Newcastle fizzed with purpose when the ball came their way, Chelsea found it much harder to get into dangerous zones. Pochettino’s side look more than capable of progressing the ball through midfield but their passing patterns in the final third were altogether too horseshoe-ish. There were chasms between forwards, few of whom seemed able to manipulate the Newcastle defense into conceding space. For as well as Newcastle defended, few of their opponents were posing questions that were beyond even a backline that had half its components swapped out at the interval. If a Sterling give-and-go didn’t pay off, there was no reliable route into the box. He was the threat in chief for the Blues, bending one effort wide of the far post before seeing another shot blocked on the line by Bruno Guimaraes.

Others might also have done better. Nicolas Jackson swivelled in the area but his shot spun wide, a sorry miss for which a trillion apologies would barely constitute penance. Armando Broja, who replaced the ill Enzo Fernandez in the first half, should have timed his countering run better when he was caught offside before clipping over Martin Dubravka. For a team that dominated possession, it was pretty scant output, the totality of their shots probably worth less than an expected goal.

The goal probably was not coming but that one clumsy mistake from Trippier served as a reminder of all the games earlier this season where Chelsea have looked like a team who is only an uptick in finishing luck away from achieving something. If that were to come in the two legs of next month’s semifinal then Pochettino would find himself within touching distance of silverware that has looked out of reach since the change of ownership around these parts.