Fabregas double seals comeback, fires the Blues to the next Round.
Chelsea recovered from two goals down to beat Leicester 4-2 at the King Power Stadium thanks to two goals in extra-time from Cesc Fabregas.
The visitors' defence was highly culpable as Shinji Okazaki ended
a 13-game goal drought with two first-half goals for the Premier League
champions, but two of Antonio Conte's back four were able to make amends either
side of the interval.
Captain Gary Cahill headed home a Fabregas corner in first-half
stoppage time before Cesar Azpilicueta – who tried in vain to hack both Okazaki
goals off the line – elevated a pulsating match further with a spectacular
long-range volley in the 49th minute.
Leicester were forced to play the additional half-hour with 10
men after Marcin Wasilewski struck substitute Diego Costa with a forearm and
Chelsea made merry against reduced numbers as Fabregas struck twice inside the
opening four minutes of extra-time.
The match took place following conflicting reports of Chelsea
owner Roman Abramovich's displeasure regarding last Friday's 2-1 loss to
Liverpool, meaning Conte's men turned in a timely showing of character and
class.
Marcos Alonso was selected for his Chelsea debut as both
managers made seven changes and it was the reshuffled visitors who settled
quickest.
Pedro had an early goal chalked off for a marginal offside and
Wasilewski breathed easily when referee Robert Madley did not punish him for
handling inside the box.
There was a similar sense of relief for Cahill when his pass was
intercepted by Okazaki and his subsequent collision with Ahmed Musa in the
penalty area went unpunished.
Nevertheless, Chelsea remained some way below Conte's famously
exacting defensive standards and fell behind thanks to some dismal defending
after 17 minutes.
Azpilicueta chested Musa's right-wing cross back across his own
six-yard box and could not rescue the situation after Okazaki reacted quicker
than a lumbering Asmir Begovic to head the opener.
Michy Batshuayi should have done better when he nodded Pedro's
delivery wide at the back post and Chelsea's task became steeper 11 minutes
before half-time.
Okazaki took Andy King's lofted pass impressively on his chest,
but was ably assisted by a ball-watching David Luiz as he scuffed a shot into
the turf, over Begovic and in.
A chastening half for Chelsea's defence ended on a high - Cahill
heading over the line, with Luiz charging into Danny Drinkwater's clearance to
make sure.
The equaliser arrived four minutes after the restart and in
spectacular fashion, as Fabregas' cross was only partially cleared and a
sweetly hit volley from Azpilicueta flew into the top corner from 25 yards.
Batshuayi tried to pick out the same part of Ron-Robert Zieler's
goal midway through the second half, only for the Germany international to
produce a superb flying save.
With his team increasingly camped close to his penalty area, a
long Zieler clearance sent Musa darting through at the other end, with Begovic
turning his chip unconvincingly behind before King missed a glorious headed
chance from the resulting corner.
A raking pass from Luiz saw Costa force a double save from
Zieler before Wasilewski – already on a booking – foolishly ensured his early
exit.
Costa rifled against the side-netting in stoppage time but
linked smoothly with fellow replacement Eden Hazard, who ruthlessly exposed a
flagging Leicester by backheeling for Fabregas to score wonderfully in the 92nd
minute.
A poor Zieler punch allowed Fabregas to smash a second to seal
the tie and quell talk of early cracks appearing under Conte.
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