Branislav Ivanovic kept his head as Chelsea edged a frenetic, ill-tempered clash with Liverpool last night to advance to the Capital One Cup final.
An Ivanovic header in the fourth minute of extra-time proved the difference as Chelsea responded from the humiliating FA Cup defeat to League One Bradford to advance to a first final of Jose Mourinho’s second spell as manager.
A 1-1 first-leg draw at Anfield meant it was all down to the Stamford Bridge clash and the 1-0 victory for Mourinho means he has now won four of his five contests with Brendan Rodgers.
“This is a new Liverpool team and a very difficult opponent,” said Mourinho afterwards. “So I’m even happier because we beat a very good team over two legs. The difference was the goal that should have happened before in 90 minutes. In the second half we had a lot of football.”
Liverpool manager Rodgers said: “We gave the ball away cheaply for their goal.”