LONDON: With Tottenham Hotspur defenders giving away easy goals, Chelsea could restore tranquility while easing Romelu Lukaku back into the team.

For Antonio Conte, though, it was a night of frustration on his return to Stamford Bridge four years after being fired by Chelsea as Spurs lost 2-0 in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal on Wednesday.

Kai Havertz’s shot after five minutes was inadvertently diverted into his own net by Davinson Sanchez.

More absurd was the own goal in the 34th minute after Hakim Ziyech’s swung a free kick into the penalty area. There were no Chelsea players around Tottenham duo Japhet Tanganga and Ben Davies as they combined comically to gift the hosts a second goal. Tanganga’s attempt at a headed clearance came off the shoulder of Davies and past their own goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris.

“We try to improve the personality, try to make less mistakes during the game,” Conte said. “Don’t lose stupid balls. This is part of a process and I repeat I want to be very clear in these games that we played since I was in charge, if you analyse the games, we struggle.”

There’s still a second leg to turn it around next Wednesday back on Tottenham’s home field. But the trip to west London on Wednesday, two months into Contes reign, reinforced the need to rebuild a team that is without a title since the 2008 League Cup.

“This type of game can show us the difference, the gap,” Conte said. “If we think we are close [to Chelsea], I think we are not in the right way. We struggled a lot and they showed to be much stronger than us. For sure, we are disappointed.”

Collecting trophies as Conte did in the Premier League and FA Cup is familiar territory for reigning European champions Chelsea. So is the occasional off-field distraction.

Lukaku’s outburst in an interview aired last week, where he said he was unhappy with how he’s being used by manager Thomas Tuchel, led to the club’s record signing being dropped for Sunday’s Premier League draw against Liverpool.

Restored to the team after apologising, the Belgium striker had a quiet first half with few touches until having a chance to head in a third before the break. In the second half, he managed a tame shot at Lloris. Most significantly, there was no sense of any dissent against him from Chelsea’s own fans.

“I was pretty sure he was not affected. Even the last days he seemed relaxed, fine with the situation and mentally moved on,” Tuchel said. “Romelu can handle pressure and adversity, it was a good performance, he contributed a lot to our defensive set up and had chances.”

Tuchel warned his side the tie is not over yet and Ziyech said he hoped Chelsea would not rue their missed chances to put the tie beyond the reach of Spurs.

“We forgot to finish the game, a lot of chances. Hopefully we get the job done there,” the Moroccan told Sky Sports.

Arsenal or Liverpool await in the final but the outcome of their semi-final will be delayed with the first leg postponed until next week due to a coronavirus outbreak at the Merseyside club.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022