Unconvincing Blues step into League Cup semis: Five things we learned from Chelsea 5-0 Durham | OneFootball

There is a serious conversation to be had as to whether a five-goal win has ever been made to look so uncomfortable. Chelsea made hard work of Championship side Durham but did eventually romp to a 5-0 victory to reach the League Cup semi finals.

Chelsea started the game surprisingly nervously, taking heavy touches and spraying loose passes around the park. Durham – in stark contrast – were more than happy to play the underdog role, digging in valiantly and pressing with intensity, keen to play the game on their own terms, despite being more than 250 miles from home.

Despite that, Chelsea enjoyed the early chances, forcing two good saves from Tatiana Saunders in the opening 10 minutes and hitting the crossbar shortly after.

Aggie Beever-Jones would finally open the scoring with 20 minutes on the clock, heading home from close range. The remainder of the first period would be long and uninteresting, as Chelsea struggled to find a way through.

A lightning bolt from Oriane Jean-Francois just past the hour would double the host’s advantage and let some of the air out of Durham’s tires.

The floodgates soon opened. Cuthbert’s third and Reiten’s fourth would put the result entirely out of reach, before a looping Maika Hamano cross snuck into the far corner to make it five.

Here are five things we learned.

Chelsea announce their League Cup intentions in hushed tones

Chelsea have won the League Cup, formerly the Conti Cup, twice in the last five years and Sonia Bompastor will be intent on adding a third to the trophy cabinet this year.

Intentions aside, it was far from convincing from a half-strength Blues squad. In a tournament which will most likely see second-string teams deployed, this edition of Bompastor’s invincibles-to-be have plenty of work to do if they are to reach the final.

There may be something of a mental block. Chelsea’s heads seemed to be elsewhere, perhaps dreaming sweet dreams of a first-ever unbeaten WSL season and daring to look ahead to Champions League glory.

Bompastor must remind her team to stay in the moment and focus on the task at hand. This Chelsea side is capable of winning every tournament they contest this year and it is down to her to make sure that happens.

Gap between Championship and WSL may not be as wide as we thought

There has been plenty of conversation in recent seasons about the growing gulf in class between WSL and Championship sides. Today might stand as evidence to the contrary, though.

With Chelsea somewhat off their game and Durham sticking to their own gameplan like gospel, the skill gap noticeably decreased. The visitors, clad in an all red away kit, effectively neutralised established international players such as Reiten and Beever-Jones, allowing little space to breath and even less to play.

The final score is largely beside the point. Tonight Durham showed the women’s football world the second tier has plenty to offer.

Hamano pulls the strings again

As Chelsea struggled to crack the Durham low block, they were crying out for a bit of creativity and quality, and of course it would come from Maika Hamano.

While Chelsea seemed more content to play on the wings rather than through the middle, Hamano in central midfield was constantly threatening in her limited possession. The Japan international had the requisite close control to weasel through a densely populated penalty area, and the vision to help work through the low block.

A wonderful looping goal late in the second period was the cherry on top for a thoroughly impressive performance.

Have Durham found the key to confounding Chelsea?

Beating Chelsea is no mean feat – after all, nobody has managed to do it yet this year. But is the key to play five across the back and wait for an opportunistic counter?

After 25 minutes, with the visitors just one goal in the red, it may have seemed like the solution to the Bompastor enigma.

The answer may lie more in spirit than in quality. Durham’s self-belief was almost tangible as they laid bodies on the line in uncompromising defence.

Of course, there was one key shortcoming in Durham’s game – no goals were scored. That is one solution no team has managed to find in sufficient quantities this season.

League Cup evidently not an attractive proposition for supporters

A phenomenon often seen in the Carabao Cup is that nobody – players, fans, managers – seems to be particularly bothered about it. Why should they be? Unfortunately, the Subway League Cup seems to be suffering the same fate.

The stands at Kingsmeadow were notably bare and low energy. The usual ultras took the opportunity to test out some new material in the main stand, but a Wednesday night cup game simply does not seem to have much draw for the Chelsea fanbase. The performance will not have done much to convince them to turn out for the next round either.