CARDIFF: Chelsea showed their support for unsettled boss Enzo Maresca as they booked their place in the League Cup semi-finals with a 3-1 win at third-tier Cardiff City on Tuesday where the Premier League side needed goals from substitutes Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto to put away the courageous Welsh club.

The hosts were the only non-Premier League side left in the competition but they more than held their own against the Club World Cup winners who were forced to turn to their bench to overcome the League One leaders.

“They were a very strong team. We weren’t focused on which league they play in,” Garnacho, who scored twice after coming on at halftime, told Sky Sports. “They did a really good job but we’re happy to be in the semi-final.”

Cardiff were the better side in the opening half, enjoying plenty of possession early on and came closest to scoring through a deflected cross from Isaak Davies which forced Chelsea keeper Filip Jorgensen into a reaction save at his near post.

Chelsea, lacking urgency, struggled to get in behind Cardiff who were very disciplined without the ball, and the boisterous crowd inside the sold-out Cardiff City Stadium cheered every challenge and clearance from the home side.

Maresca named an entirely changed starting 11 from the side that beat Everton 2-0 on Saturday, and after an underwhelming opening half he sent on Joao Pedro and Garnacho for the second half.

Garnacho had the first chance after the break with Cardiff keeper Nathan Trott making a fine save from the close-range effort but the substitute opened the scoring in the 57th minute with Chelsea capitalising on a poor pass out from the back.

Facundo Buonanotte gathered possession, drove forward into the area and fed Garnacho who slipped his shot past Trott. Chelsea went looking for the killer second goal and Trott tipped over a Buonanotte strike from distance.

The game looked to be slipping away from Cardiff before David Turnbull got on the end of Perry Ng’s floated cross into the box to steer his header beyond Jorgensen with 15 minutes left.

Trott dived bravely at Pedro’s feet to deny the Chelsea man a tap-in, but the visitors retook the lead with eight minutes remaining when Neto’s shot took a deflection on its way past the Cardiff keeper and Garnacho netted his second in added time as the Blues delivered a welcome tonic for Maresca after his recent outburst.

When Maresca faced the media on Monday, the Italian refused to clarify his explosive claim after the win over Everton that the previous 48 hours had been his worst at Stamford Bridge because he and his team lacked “support” from “many people”.

Maresca’s rant had fuelled speculation he was criticising the club’s co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali and sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.

It has been suggested that Maresca was unhappy with the failure of Chelsea’s hierarchy to publicly support him amid criticism of his rotation policy during the team’s recent dip in form.

The victory over Cardiff was only their second in six games in all competitions.

Maresca, who led the Blues to Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League glory earlier this year, has now led Chelsea to three semi-finals in 18 months.

Asked if he felt backed by the club, Maresca said: “Tonight the focus has to be that we reached the semi-final, the support from fans has always been there.

“We are going in the right direction, everything I do is because I want the best for everyone, the fans, players everyoneVery happy, especially for the effort of the players. I said yesterday that the schedule is full of these tricky games and so you have to pay attention and we did that.”

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2025