Cardiff City 1-3 Chelsea: Super subs Garnacho and Neto secure EFL Cup semi-final slot
Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto made an impact off the bench to secure Chelsea a 2-1 win against Cardiff City, earning them a place in the EFL Cup semi-finals. Enzo Maresca opted for a complete overhaul of his squad following their victory against Everton on Saturday, and this decision was initially evident as Chelsea struggled to make their mark. Their earliest notable opportunity saw Benoit Badiashile fire over the crossbar. Isaak Davies emerged as a threat for Cardiff, with a beautiful cross narrowly deflecting wide off Moises Caicedo after Nathan Trott executed a clever save to thwart Marc Guiu. Despite creating pressure, Cardiff were unable to convert it into an advantage, prompting Maresca to bring on Joao Pedro and Garnacho at halftime, which effectively shifted the momentum in favor of Chelsea. The Argentine had a shot that Trott managed to block but found the net in the 57th minute; Dylan Lawlor inadvertently passed the ball to Facundo Buonanotte, who set up Garnacho to place his shot into the bottom-right corner. Chelsea squandered opportunities to extend their lead, and Cardiff capitalized on this as David Turnbull deftly flicked Perry Ng’s curled cross over Filip Jorgensen 75 minutes in. However, Neto dashed Cardiff’s hopes eight minutes later, slotting a low shot across goal into the bottom-left corner to restore Chelsea’s advantage. Turnbull’s effort to equalize again looped onto the top of the net, and Garnacho added his second in the third minute of stoppage time with another well-placed, drilled shot across the goal.
Carabao Cup semi-finalists! pic.twitter.com/YgiVGaUCoj
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 16, 2025
Data Debrief: Chelsea display depth in squad
Even with 11 changes made, Chelsea still presented a formidable line-up, although both teams were closely matched in the first half, with the Blues accumulating 0.28 expected goals (xG) compared to Cardiff’s 0.21. Maresca’s squad concluded with a total of 2.57 xG from their 18 attempts. The introduction of substitutes dramatically changed the course of the match, with Garnacho accomplishing a team-high five shots while Joao Pedro recorded four; no starter from Chelsea achieved more than two shots. Chelsea has now successfully moved beyond each of their last six EFL Cup quarter-final ties and has triumphed in their past six encounters against Cardiff across all competitions.
Published: 2025-12-16 22:01:00
source: www.soccernews.com
