Jose Mourinho secured his first trophy since returning to
Chelsea with a deserved victory over Tottenham in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
John Terry put the Blues ahead just before the break with his 63rd goal for the club, after Spurs'
Christian Eriksen had struck the woodwork with a free-kick.
Chelsea doubled their lead ten minutes after the restart when Diego Costa’s deflected strike beat Hugo Lloris, while
Cesc Fabregas and
Eden Hazard came close to extending the lead.
But Tottenham never looked like forcing their way back into the game, despite Harry Kane’s flick across goal, as Mourinho’s side remain on course for a treble.
Kane was a two-goal hero in Tottenham’s most recent clash with Chelsea,
a 5-3 victory at White Hart Lane, and the 21-year-old’s mazy run nearly led to the final’s opening goal on ten minutes after a clumsy foul from Kurt Zouma.
The resulting free-kick was curled supremely over the wall by Eriksen but, with
Petr Cech grasping at thin air, the ball cannoned back off the crossbar to safety.
A contentious moment involving Chelsea’s top-scorer sparked fury among the Tottenham ranks as Costa inexplicably clawed the face of Nabil Bentaleb while protecting possession, yet, despite the protests, the Spanish forward escaped punishment.
To add insult to injury,
Eric Dier was booked for a late foul on the striker moments later.
Mourinho’s side capitalised on some lacklustre set-piece defending to take the lead just before the break. Willian’s looping corner exposed Spurs’ marking deficiencies, as Dier’s tame headed clearance gifted Terry with the simplest of chances from eight yards and the 34-year-old made no mistake, rifling the ball past Hugo Lloris with the help of a deflection.
But the Tottenham shot-stopper, making his first League Cup appearance of the season, reacted expertly to deny another goal seconds later as
Gary Cahill thundered a header towards the top corner after Branislav Ivanovic’s intelligent nod across goal.
Chelsea raced out of the blocks after the restart and had Spurs on the back foot immediately when Eden Hazard’s low cross flashed across the six yard box, before Fabregas burst into action with a spectacular overhead kick, but Lloris was equal to the acrobatics with a sprawling save.
However, the Blues’ dominant start to the second half was rewarded on 55 minutes. Fabregas’ intricate pass teed Costa inside the box and, in an attempt to fire the ball across Lloris, a wicked deflection off Walker wrong-footed the Frenchman and established full control for the
Premier League leaders.
With Tottenham dishevelled and out of sorts, Chelsea began to run riot as Hazard performed a trademark run from the left and was unlucky to see his curling effort sneak the wrong side of the post.
The 24-year-old then clipped a dangerous ball towards Fabregas prompting a timely intervention from
Danny Rose to keep Tottenham in the match.
Chelsea wisely slowed the game down as Spurs’ naivety in attacking positions was beginning to let them down, but they came close when Kane’s flick narrowly evaded
Jan Vertonghen and Erik Lamela.
Tottenham continued to push in search of a way back into the encounter as Kane manoeuvred his way into a scoring position with a neat side-step past Cahill, but Terry capped a man-of-the-match display with an inch-perfect sliding tackle.
The result was never in doubt as the Blues showed their extra experience and class, as Mourinho made it four from four in domestic finals as Chelsea manager and sealed the club's fifth League Cup triumph.
