Eden Hazard squandered the decisive penalty as
Stoke City deepened Chelsea manager Jose
Mourinho’s woes with victory in the League Cup on
Tuesday, while second-tier Sheffield Wednesday
stunned Arsenal 3-0.
After Jon Walters put Stoke ahead with a fine 20-
yard shot at the Britannia Stadium,, Chelsea
substitute Loic Remy,
on for the injured Diego
Costa, lashed home an injury-time equaliser to
make the score 1-1.
Following a goalless period of extra time, the first
nine penalties of the shootout were all scored,
only for the out-of-form Hazard to see his 10th
spot-kick parried by Stoke goalkeeper Jack
Butland.
The Belgian’s mishap condemned Mourinho’s side
to their ninth defeat in all competitions this
season and saw the holders exit the tournament in
the fourth round.
It came hot on the heels of a 2-1 defeat at West
Ham United on Saturday, which left Mourinho
facing a Football Association misconduct charge
after being sent to the stands, and ramped up the
pressure on the Portuguese ahead of Saturday’s
Premier League home game with Liverpool.
With Chelsea currently 15th in the league table
and third in their Champions League group, British
newspapers have speculated that Mourinho could
be sacked if their fortunes do not improve quickly.
At Hillsborough, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal were
well beaten by Championship side Wednesday and
also lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo
Walcott to injury in the first half.
Ross Wallace put Wednesday ahead after 27
minutes and then teed up Lucas Joao for the hosts’
second goal shortly before half-time, with Sam
Hutchinson completing victory early in the second
period.
Asked how his young fringe players had handled
the occasion, Wenger delivered a scathing
assessment, telling Sky Sports: “It was too high for
them. They are not ready to play at this level,
none of them.”
– Acres of space –
On the injuries his team suffered, he added: “We
are short now because we lose Chamberlain today,
we lose Walcott and we have already a few
injuries.
“It is a big blow for us, of course to lose the game,
but even more for the other competitions, which
are very important for us, to lose two players of
that stature.”
It was Wednesday’s second Premier League scalp
in this season’s competition, following their third-
round win at Newcastle United, and brought
Arsenal’s run of four successive victories to an
end.
Wenger made eight changes to the team that beat
Everton 2-1 on Saturday for the trip to
Hillsborough, which was a repeat of the 1993 final.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was one of only three players
who kept their places, along with Petr Cech and
Olivier Giroud, but he went off in the fifth minute
after pulling up while running along the touchline.
Walcott replaced his England team-mate, but he in
turn was forced off 13 minutes later with an
apparent calf injury.
Ismael Bennacer, a 17-year-old midfielder, came
on, joining Glen Kamara and Alex Iwobi in making
his Arsenal debut.
Wednesday took the lead nine minutes later when
a neat move down their left flank culminated in
Daniel Pudil cutting the ball back for Wallace to
steer a first-time shot inside the left-hand post.
Wallace teed up Wednesday’s goal in the 40th
minute after a short corner, swinging over a cross
from the left for striker Joao to head home.
Wednesday completed victory six minutes into the
second half when Barry Bannan’s free-kick found
Tom Lees in acres of space at the back post and he
volleyed across goal for Hutchinson to score with
his knees.
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