Chelsea triumph on penalties at Stamford Bridge as cracks begin to appear for worn-out Tottenham

After a gruelling London derby that was at times reminiscent of the infamously bruising encounter between the two sides during the 2016 campaign, the tie had to be decided on penalties at Stamford Bridge.

The Battle of the Bridge II eventually saw Chelsea celebrating following a 2-1 win and 2-2 draw on aggregate as Tottenham fell short just when it mattered from 12 yards.

Chelsea dispatched all four of their spot kicks with confidence to triumph 4-2, despite Spurs going in the more favourable first position.

Eric Dier was the first to miss for Tottenham as he blazed it over the bar, before Kepa Arrizabalaga made a great save from Lucas Moura.

It was left for David Luiz to seal the win and he duly obliged, burying it past Paulo Gazzaniga and sending Chelsea through to the Carabao Cup final to face Manchester City.

Spurs paid the price for a number of injuries to key personnel as the decision not to sign any players last summer loomed large.

With Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min absent a lack of quality in final third became apparent as they struggled in front of goal – both during the 90 minutes and in the shoot-out. If those three had been able to step up to the spot, the outcome could well have been different.

Chelsea dominated the game for long spells, just as they did at Wembley in the first leg, but this time Tottenham were not able to keep them out.

The first goal was scored by N’Golo Kante after 27 minutes and there was a large slice of luck involved as it took slight deflections off of two Tottenham players before finding its way between Gazzaniga’s legs.

There was no luck involved with Chelsea’s second though. Before the match, Maurizio Sarri accused his star player, Hazard, of not being a leader, but admitted he “can win a match in two minutes”.

It only took two seconds for the Belgian to put Chelsea ahead on aggregate as he latched on to Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross with a delightful side-footed volley into the far corner, leaving Gazzaniga helpless.

The 28-year-old may be Real Madrid-bound in the summer, but for now he continues to prove himself indispensable to Chelsea.

With new signing Gonzalo Higuain in the stands Sarri elected to play Olivier Giroud up front instead of sticking with Hazard in the false nine position.

It looked to be a sign of the system Sarri is set to adopt, with Higuain up front and Hazard given licence to roam and cut in from the wing.

Back in his preferred position the Belgian was at the centre of everything positive Chelsea did going forward and could – and should – have scored more goals.

While Spurs have been struck by injuries, Fernando Llorente stepped up to show that there is a backup to Kane, heading in a vital goal at the start of the second half from Danny Rose’s cross to bring Tottenham level on aggregate.

Although the Spaniard received little service throughout the game, with his style not suited to Tottenham’s counter-attacking tactics on the day, he popped up at a crucial moment to get Spurs back into the tie.

However, he was substituted for Moura after 68 minutes having missed another glorious chance a few moments earlier. It felt like one Kane would have snapped up.

With Kieran Trippier left out of the squad due to fatigue there was more bad news for Spurs as Ben Davies had to be substituted with injury in the 33rd minute.

They may be out of one competition, but battling on three fronts with the FA Cup and Champions League set to get going again, Spurs’s squad could be stretched to breaking point in coming weeks.