Boro secure first-leg advantage over Chelsea in Carabao semi-final

Middlesbrough will take a one-goal lead into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final after a 1-0 win over Chelsea at the Riverside Stadium.

Hayden Hackney’s first-half finish for the Championship side put Michael Carrick’s men in front to the delight of the home crowd, while Cole Palmer uncharacteristically spurned three excellent opportunities for the misfiring Premier League team.

Mauricio Pochettino’s team dominated possession but did not do enough to find the equaliser on the night and succumbed to a fifth away defeat in six matches. They have left themselves with work to do to reach the final at Wembley. Boro can dream.

How Boro took advantage

Boro played with intent from the outset. Levi Colwill’s poor defensive header allowed Emmanuel Latte Lath through on goal inside the first minute of the match but the forward failed to connect properly, his shot proving comfortable for Djordje Petrovic.

It was doubly costly for Carrick’s side because Axel Disasi’s desperate lunge in trying to block the shot caught Latte Lath and the Ivorian was forced off injured as a result of the challenge. Josh Coburn replaced him but Boro then lost Alex Bangura too.

Chelsea were unable to capitalise but should have taken the lead when Jonny Howson gifted possession to Palmer. His shot was dragged wide of the post when well-placed and the Premier League side were punished for this profligacy soon afterwards.

Daniel Barlaser sent Isaiah Jones away down the right flank and his low cross was swept home by Hackney. Moises Caicedo did not track the run but it was a neat finish from the 21-year-old academy graduate to raise the temperature inside the Riverside Stadium.

Pochettino had urged Chelsea to start with more purpose than they had in the FA Cup win over Preston but it was their failure to take advantage of Boro’s errors that was the issue here. Palmer missed an even better chance than his first just before the interval.

Tom Glover inexplicably mishandled Enzo Fernandez’s tame shot from distance, presenting Palmer with what looked to be a straightforward finish into the open net on the volley. Instead, the England international contrived to spoon the ball over the bar.

This wastefulness has been a theme of Chelsea’s season but the advantage of a two-legged semi-final is that there is time to turn it around. Even so, for all their possession, there was a desperation to their play in the second half. Wild shots. Aimless crosses.

It needed a fine rearguard action from Boro to keep them out but amid a special Teesside atmosphere, they did just that. Chelsea will fancy their chances back at Stamford Bridge on January 23. But they will need to take them. It is Boro who lead going into the second leg.

Boro believe they can finish the job

Middlesbrough’s players were delighted to give the home crowd a night to remember, while appreciating that the job is far from done.

“We stuck to the plan and tried to keep it tight and catch them on the counter,” Hackney told Sky Sports. “It was a great ball, I just got on the end of it. I think we did really well tonight, but it’s a completely different game away from home. We will give it our best shot.”

Experienced midfielder Howson is at the other end of his career and relished the occasion. “These opportunities do not come around too often. It is the first time in my career. You have to make the most of it, give it your all, your best shot and see what happens.”

Isaiah Jones, the player of the match, added: “Because we were at home, we needed to use the crowd as our 12th man and I thought we did that with our early chances in the first half. We have belief. Hopefully, we can go there, get the win and go to Wembley.”

Carrick hails team after ‘special’ night

“It was very special. I know it’s a two-legged affair and it’s still all to play for. But given all that we have had to go through as a club, with the injuries and the squad being where it is at, to beat a team of Chelsea’s quality in any shape is unbelievable.

“The lads were exceptional tonight. Their effort was off the scale and it was an incredible night. Seeing the players fighting and scrapping together, bodies were everywhere at the end. It is a great feeling as I am really proud of them.”

Hasselbaink points to Caicedo’s error

Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink put the blame for the winning goal squarely on midfielder Caicedo for his strange decision to stop tracking the run of Hackney. “The goalkeeper has no chance but we cannot forget Caicedo,” Hasselbaink told Sky Sports.

“It becomes a one v one and if you have determination you do not lose your one v one, you just keep running with your man and you make sure you stay with them. At the last moment, you give them a little nudge so that they cannot put the ball in. He stopped.”

Speaking more generally about Chelsea’s performance, he added: “I felt there was a plan but they needed to do more to break the lines. There needed to be unselfish runs to open the space up. You need to not put crosses in if you only have [Raheem] Sterling in the box.

“It is about know-how and understanding your team-mates. It did not happen enough with Chelsea. It was slow, it was laboured and there were too many turnovers for Boro to have joy. And that’s why they were dangerous.

“It all starts with the right mentality. It starts with the right mindset. They didn’t put the opposition on the backfoot and they weren’t playing in the right areas.”

Pochettino bemoans missed chances

“Today, the approach was good. We can’t say anything about the attitude but we made mistakes in the first half and gave chances for them to score. They were aggressive and played on the transition. It was hard to break down this block.

“We had too many chances to score and that’s football. It’s only the first half of the tie and we have another 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge so we have to be positive.

“We made some mistakes and we were punished for that. We have to keep pushing as if we assess the performance, overall we were the better side, created clear chances. We weren’t clinical and that’s happened a lot in the six months across many games.

“We have 15 days [before the second leg] so we can recover some players. We’re now thinking about Fulham and we will move on.”

What happened with the Chelsea fans?

There were tense scenes at the final whistle as the away supporters appeared to react angrily towards the Chelsea players, but Pochettino was keen to stress that this was not the case.

“Don’t be confused. Our fans were reacting to Middlesbrough fans, not with our players,” he said.

“Our fans were fantastic with us. Thiago [Silva] was speaking with the players and I listened. They were trying to calm our fans because I think there was a problem between the two sets of fans. Not our players. Be careful how you report this, don’t be wrong. Don’t confuse the people.”

What’s next?

Middlesbrough are back in Sky Bet Championship action when they travel to Millwall on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.

Chelsea host Fulham at Stamford Bridge in a West London derby on Saturday, kick-off 12.30pm.

The second leg of this semi-final will take place at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday January 23, kick-off 8pm.

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