Published: 1 March, 2015
by DAN CARRIER at Wembley

Capital One Cup Final
SPURS 0, CHELSEA 2

DISAPPOINTED Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino told his young team to hold their heads high after seeing them fall to a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley this afternoon (Sunday).

Speaking after the game, he said: “We showed character. We can be proud of our efforts. If we keep improving as we have this season, we will have a good future.

“We have a very young squad – the average age is 23 – and they will be playing in more finals in the coming years.”

Chelsea were, by the end, good for the win, but it started well for Spurs. After some early shadow boxing, they went closest to opening the scoring. On 20, Harry Kane moved his way inside, avoided three challenges and was bundled over as he readied to shoot. Christian Eriksen hit the resulting free kick against the bar with Peter Cech beaten.

It was well balanced, with both teams having spells of possession – yet when Spurs did get momentum, they suffered from stage fright. Nacer Chadli and Kyle Walker were particularly guilty of wasting chances to deliver dangerous crosses. For Chelsea, Willian drove a free kick into a Spurs wall after being brought down by a Danny Rose challenge – and it was from a similarly clumsy free kick soon after that Chelsea broke the deadlock. Chadli grabbed Cesc Fabregas on the stroke of half time and a simple enough cross came in. Spurs defenders failed to clear, the ball dropped for John Terry and he rifled it home off the ankles of Eric Dier.

It galvanised Chelsea, while Spurs continued to make individual errors that upset their rhythm. 

On 56, Pochettino's team fell further behind when Diego Costa shot from a wide angle. As with the first goal, a deflection played a part in leaving Lloris flat footed. 

There was to be no comeback. On 73, a Kane header went narrowly wide, but it was a mark of how well Cech's goal was defended that the Chelsea keeper did not have a genuine save to make in the second half. Towards the end, Spurs won a succession of corners but it summed up their performance in the attacking third that not one caused problems. In the dying seconds, Kane worked space but saw his effort blocked by Gary Cahill. By the end, the young forward and his team-mates looked drained of energy. 

After the match, Jose Mourinho praised Pochettino. He said: “Mauricio is building a fantastic team. My congratulations to them for their efforts. I believe Spurs under Mauricio will win trophies.”

It may be so, but today, Chelsea were worth their victory. 

SPURS: Lloris, Walker, Rose, Vertonghen, Dier, Townsend (Dembele 60), Kane, Chadli (Soldado 79) , Eriksen, Mason (Lamela, 70), Bentaleb.
Subs: Soldado, Lamela, Vorm, Dembele, Fazio, Stambouli.

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

IT has been a long season, and, since the victory over Arsenal, Spurs have been running on vapours. 

You can't turn form on and off, and Spurs have looked deadbeat in the past fortnight. They didn't have the legs to carry them past Liverpool, got out of jail against West Ham and were too stodgy to beat Fiorentina over two legs in the Europa.

The worry is the way the squad's lack of genuine quality, outside the first XI, means they were not able to respond the rigours of playing in three competitions in the spring. Spurs can't be faulted today for their efforts, but Poch's men looked tired and as if the season has now caught up with them.