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SUB-ZERO: ALEJANDRO GARNACHO AND NETO RESCUE MARESCA FROM LEAGUE ONE EMBARRASSMENT

Chelsea needed two goals from Alejandro Garnacho and one from Pedro Neto off the bench to narrowly defeat League One leaders Cardiff City 3-1.

Sub-Zero: Alejandro Garnacho and Neto Rescue Maresca from League One Embarrassment
Garnacho's Double Sinks Brave Cardiff in Cup Thriller

Enzo Maresca dodged a bullet, as Chelsea avoided a shock Carabao Cup quarter-final loss to League One's Cardiff City thanks to three goals from two subs.

Alejandro Garnacho scored Chelsea's first and third goals, sandwiching one from Pedro Neto. David Turnbull's goal was actually the best of the night.

Chelsea now goes to Wednesday night's semi-final draw. Brian Barry-Murphy's Cardiff side, who are four points clear in their league, are probably a good pick for an end-of-season celebration. Jimmy's son is doing great in the Welsh capital.

It's unclear if Maresca's bosses feel the same about him, especially after his mysterious comments last week about a lack of backing.

But cup wins are important for Chelsea. Maresca's team had enough to win the battle between the former Manchester City Elite Development Squad managers.

Pep Guardiola's impact on both teams is clear. Cardiff has higher average possession stats in League One than the Club World Cup holders this season.

Cardiff likes to take risks, and their play-from-the-back style, like Pep's, helped Chelsea score first.

Maresca switched his whole lineup from Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Everton. This worked last season when they won the Europa Conference League.

Benoit Badiashile missed Chelsea's first chance, while Cardiff's David Turnbull forced a save from keeper Filip Jorgensen.

City's Isaak Davies was too eager and fouled Josh Acheampong, earning a yellow card. Then, after getting behind the defender on the left, his rushed shot went out.

Next, Cardiff's Calum Chambers got a yellow card before Nathan Trott made his first save around the half-hour mark from a tight angle from Marc Guiu.

BBM's team quickly responded, and Jorgensen had to stop a cross from Davies that Moises Caicedo deflected. The half ended with Caicedo getting a yellow card for sarcastically clapping the referee.

Maresca made two changes for the second half, bringing on Joao Pedro and Alejandro Garnacho for Guiu and Tyrique George. Garnacho immediately had a chance after Chambers lost the ball, but Trott saved it.

Cardiff replaced Callum Robinson and Davies with Salech and Chris Willock.

But disaster hit as Dylan Lawlor tried to play out from the back, and his pass was intercepted by Facundo Buonanotte, who set up Garnacho to score past Trott.

That gift in the 57th minute boosted Chelsea.

Joel Bagan almost scored an own goal, but Cardiff then equalised with Turnbull's diving header in the 75th minute. Perry Ng crossed from the right, and Turnbull headed it in.

The home fans cheered, but Cardiff soon needed Trott to deny Pedro from close range after City gave the ball away again.

The former West Ham keeper was unlucky when Neto won it for Chelsea in the 82nd minute with a low shot that deflected off Bagan.

Pedro then set up Garnacho to score again in added time.

DID LIAM ROSENIOR’S PAST AS A PUNDIT INFLUENCE HIS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AT ARSENAL?

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior hits back at critics after a defensive approach saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup semi-final.

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Liam Rosenior showed too much respect to Arsenal, and it cost Chelsea

Liam Rosenior stood by his cautious approach after Chelsea couldn’t overturn their first-leg deficit against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.

Down 3-2 from the first match, Chelsea never really put Arsenal under pressure at the Emirates. In the end, Kai Havertz—of all people—put the game to bed in stoppage time, scoring against his old club.

Rosenior switched things up, going with a back three and playing it safe. He wanted to keep the game close and try to push hard late on. He brought on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the 60th minute, hoping for a spark, but Chelsea still couldn’t carve out real chances. Arsenal just wouldn’t budge.

Pundits didn’t love Rosenior’s tactics and let him know it. He brushed it off. “I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “If I go all-out and press high, we could give away two early goals, and then everyone asks what I’m thinking. That’s just how it is. Lose, and you’re hammered. Win, and you’re a genius. Usually, it’s somewhere in the middle.”

Chelsea were up against the league leaders, and with both Reece James and Pedro Neto missing due to minor injuries, Rosenior planned to hang in there and try to frustrate Arsenal—and maybe turn the mood in the stadium.

“That was the idea. You saw it,” he said. “I thought the psychological side of the tie mattered, and you could feel it in the stadium too. At 60 minutes, I brought on Cole and Estevao, and suddenly we had some moments around the box. I think people sensed this game could flip.”

It didn’t happen, though. Rosenior said he couldn’t fault his players for their effort, and in the end, Arsenal’s clinching goal came while Chelsea were throwing everything forward, desperate to turn things around.

IS JOãO PEDRO ACTUALLY BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL’S £79M HUGO EKITIKé? THE STATS REVEAL ALL

Liam Rosenior makes history as Chelsea win three in a row! Discover why João Pedro is the Premier League's best summer signing.

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The £60m star is proving to be Chelsea’s best BlueCo signing yet

Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over Chelsea in 2022, they've been anything but quiet in the transfer market. In just three and a half years, they've signed 54 new senior players and spent well over £1 billion.

Some of these signings haven’t even made it onto the pitch for the first team—guys like Gaga Słonina, Ângelo Gabriel, Omari Kellyman, and Caleb Wiley, just to name a few. But others have really made their mark. Think Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and, of course, Cole Palmer. Now, the question is, has one of Chelsea’s latest summer signings done enough to join that group? Is he about to become one of the Premier League’s signings of the season?

Let’s talk about Chelsea’s summer addition and what he’s bringing to the table. It’s been a great week for Liam Rosenior’s squad. On Saturday night, they were 2-0 down at halftime to West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Somehow, they turned it around and won 3-2, with Enzo Fernández scoring in stoppage time to seal it.

That win made it three league victories in a row for Rosenior. He’s now only the fourth English manager to start his Premier League career with three straight wins—joining Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce, and Craig Shakespeare. Not bad company at all.

Just three days earlier, Chelsea booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 after a wild 3-2 win away at Napoli. Down 2-1, João Pedro scored twice in the second half to turn the game around. The Brazilian’s goal at the weekend kicked off Chelsea’s comeback, bringing his total to 15 goals for the club—including three at the Club World Cup. So, how does he stack up against other strikers who switched clubs last summer?

Looking at the numbers, here’s how the new strikers have done since moving in the summer of 2025:

Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool, £79m): 15 goals (10 PL, 2 UCL)

João Pedro (Chelsea, £60m): 12 goals (9 PL, 3 UCL)

Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal, £54.8m): 11 goals (6 PL, 4 UCL)

Nick Woltemade (Man United, £69m): 9 goals (7 PL, 1 UCL)

Benjamin Šeško (Man City, £66.3m): 6 goals (5 PL)

Alexander Isak (Newcastle, £125m): 3 goals (2 PL)

Liam Delap (Spurs, £30m): 2 goals (1 PL, 1 UCL)

Only Ekitiké has scored more than João Pedro across all competitions, but Liverpool paid about £20m more for him than Chelsea paid for Pedro. In the whole Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago, Antoine Semenyo, and Ekitiké have more league goals than Pedro’s nine.

But stats aside, Chelsea just look more dangerous with Pedro leading the attack. Their last league defeat? He started that one on the bench at Craven Cottage. Since Rosenior took over, Pedro has started and scored in every match.

Chelsea have brought in plenty of players from Brighton during the BlueCo era, but with the way things are going, João Pedro might end up being the best of the bunch.

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