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Capital One Cup remaining in North London
Both Tottenham Hotspur and manager AVB have meaning to celebrate after Tottenham overcame a lackluster Chelsea side to romp to an astonishing 5-0 win.
Tottenham fans will no doubt be delighted that the North London club were able to win a third cup in two years. The trophy will now remain in North London for yet another year, after previous winners and neighbors Arsenal were unable to defend it.
Before the game today, Tottenham had played Chelsea a total of 4 times since AVB took over the North London Club. The games, often had extra excitement to it because of
The Master vs The Apprentice appeal - Jose Mourinho vs his former scout, AVB.
AVB has found it difficult against his former boss - gaining only 4 points from a total of 12 - succumbing to two defeats, a draw and a win.
Things got off to a slow start for Spurs, with Belgian striker, Lukaku having the first shot at goal - a driven shot straight into the arms of French captain and Tottenham Goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris.
Spurs were still struggling to get in a foot in the game, with Chelsea keeping the ball for well for the first 10 minutes. Lamela started to show his frustration with a silly trip on left back Fabio Coentrao.
Spurs, did however, start to take the game by the scruff of the neck. And just 3 minutes after Gylfi Sigurdssons troubling free-kick, Tottenham were in front through Welsh winger, Gareth Bale. The goal started with a good, mazey run from Bale, who managed to work the ball to Sigurdsson. Gylfi Sigurdsson slipped the ball into the path of Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who was lurking on the edge of the box towards the left, before striking a sweet, first time cross into the path of Gareth Bale. The winger showed no signs of missing, after his strike cannoned in off the post and into the back of the net after just 24 minutes gone.
Several minutes later, tough tackling midfielder Sandro showed just why he's one of the first name on AVB's team sheet. Helping stifle not two, but three Chelsea attacks with good interceptions and aerial ability.
The signs of a second goal were coming and it took just a two minutes after half time for Spurs to be two up. Wonder Kid, Erik Lamela, who arrived at Spurs in January 2013 out-jumped Portuguese defender Coentrao during the corner, firing a powerful header past the helpless Cech.
60 minutes in and there was bad news for Spurs supporters. Bale, who had been ever present in the match had to go off due to an injury sustained via a challenge from Rafael. Tottenham manager AVB used the chance to use two of his three substitutes - Soldado replaced the injured Bale, while Paulinho came on for Dembele.
Chelsea then had a chance to bring the deficit back to one. Senegalese striker, Demba Ba managed to wriggle free of center Back Vertonghen before slamming a low yard drive towards goal, which was superbly turned round by an inform Lloris.
Brazillan midfielder Paulinho then had a great chance to put Tottenham 3 up in the 69th minute. After receiving the ball in space, Paulinho charged towards the Chelsea goal before firing a curling shot towards the net. The ball - to the relief of Petr Cech, ended up buried in his chest.
8 minutes later and Belgian defender, Jan Vertonghen made sure that Tottenham would be going home with the trophy. Benoit Assou-Ekotto managed to slip past Hazard, who showed his frustration by shoving the defender in the back. With Gylfi Sigurdsson stood over the free-kick at over 40 yards out, there wasn't any real danger - or at least, you wouldn't think so. The Icelandic made no mistake in delivering a superb ball into the box. Defender Vertonghen managed to wriggle free of his marker, which left him with a free header just inside the 6 yard box, which was knocked with ease past the Czech goalkeeper.
One minute later and Tottenham had bagged another. Walker intercepted a pass from Oscar before firing a 35 yard pass up field into to the path of Soldado. The Spanish striker, albeit from a tight angle, managed to fire a powerful shot into the corner of the net.
Tottenham made in 5 on the 83rd minute. Soldado picked up the ball on the halfway line and made a storming run, getting past defender John Terry. Bearing down on goal, the striker saw the clever run of Lennon, who was unmarked just inside the box. Soldado, unselfishly passed across the face of goal, which was then converted by the Englishman.
Things went from bad to worse for Chelsea. Lukaku gave the ball away after a wayward pass, which was collected on the edge of the Tottenham box by Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international played the ball back to Steven Caulker, who hoofed the ball up field towards Lamela. Lamela subsequently won the aerial challenge, playing a neat header to Roberto Soldado. Tottenham were on the counter, with Soldado playing a magnificent ball across the top of the Chelsea defence, leaving Aaron Lennon with a one on one with Cech. Not wanting to concede another, Rafael - who was already on a yellow - made a silly lunge, bringing down the winger. The fullback was subsequently handed a red card by official Mark Atkinson.
The win saw Tottenham pick up their second trophy of the season after winning the Super Cup earlier this year against Barcelona, and their fifth League Cup of all time.
Speaking to the Press, AVB had nothing by great words for his team.
"
We were amazing. We played well and we certainly gave the fans a performance to be happy about. Everyon can come out of this game with their heads held high. I feel for Chelsea. Today will be a horrible blow and will definitely effect their morale."
In: N/A
Out: Par Hasson (£375k)
