Chelsea survived a late scare in a Carabao Cup last-16 victory at Wolves, where a mutinous atmosphere against manager Vitor Pereira and the club’s ownership morphed into hopes of a dream fightback.
First-half goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estevao Willian helped the Blues into the quarter-finals, despite a chaotic second half in which Tolu Arokodare scored once and David Moller Wolfe scored twice for Wolves, with Chelsea’s Jamie Gittens settling the tie.
Returning striker Liam Delap, who came on to the pitch in the 60th minute after 10 weeks out, was sent off late on for two yellow cards.
Chelsea had been 3-0 up at half-time but were forced to throw on regular starters Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella, Pedro Neto and Moises Caicedo to see out the victory during a second-half wobble.
Remarkably, Chelsea had been 2-0 up after just 15 minutes, immediately sparking Wolves fans’ chants of “We want Fosun out” – directed at the Chinese owners – and “You’re getting sacked in the morning” – directed at Pereira, with the club bottom of the league and winless.
Errors, including a 30-yard backpass from Arokodare five minutes into the match, allowed Santos to find the corner with his shot for his first Chelsea goal.
The second, a wonderful team goal, culminated in Gittens crossing for George to finish from close range.
But the game swung on Pereira’s substitutions, beginning in the 19th minute, bringing off experienced defender Matt Doherty for midfielder Rodrigo Gomes and Marshall Munetsi and Ladislav Krejci coming on in further half-time changes, after Willian lobbed goalkeeper Jose Sa just before the interval.
Support returned when Hwang Hee-chan played in Arokodare to score immediately after half-time, and Wolfe then volleyed into the corner after Yerson Mosquera’s long throw-in.
It was a chaotic last 20 minutes for Chelsea, with Delap sent off, Gittens scoring a sensational volley to restore a two-goal advantage and Wolfe lobbing goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen just 60 seconds later to spark a nervy six minutes of added time.
The Blues‘ reward is a quarter-final trip to League One Cardiff City, the only side from outside the Premier League to reach the last eight.
