BY Victor Akhidenor
Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-0 in the League Cup final on Sunday to claim the first silverware of the English season.
Both goals were slightly fortuitous – but few would argue that Chelsea didn’t deserve to win the trophy.
John Terry’s deflected close-range effort beat Hugo Lloris to put the Blues ahead at the end of the first half and Kyle Walker turned Diego Costa’s low drive into his own net after the break to give Jose Mourinho the 21st trophy of his career.
It’s the fifth time Chelsea have won the competition, matching Aston Villa’s tally but behind Liverpool’s eight.
The win completed a satisfying day for the Barclays Premier League leaders who saw closest rivals Manchester City beaten by Liverpool earlier in the day at Anfield, and kept them on course for a trophy treble, following their 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16.
Spurs had been hoping to end a trophy drought stretching back to 2008, when they had beaten Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final.
But with talismanic striker Harry Kane off form, they were unable to pull off a repeat of the 5-3 defeat they had inflicted on their London rivals on New Year’s Day.
The defeat brought an end to a sorry week for Spurs, who were knocked out of the Europa League by Fiorentina on Thursday and now have only Champions League qualification to play for.
After being second best for much of the first period and seeing Christian Eriksen hit the crossbar, Chelsea went in front just a minute before half-time through captain Terry’s deflected effort, when Spurs failed to deal with a free-kick from the right.
It was a bitter blow for Spurs, but from there Chelsea took charge of the game and with the aid of another deflection – this time off Walker – ended Spurs hopes just 10 minutes into the second half, the England defender diverting Diego Costa’s low cross into his own net.
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