Chelsea receive Marc Cucurella suspension blow after Carabao Cup win vs Wolves
Chelsea booked their place in the Carabao Cup quarter finals with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Wolves at Molineux.
The Blues raced into a two-goal lead within 15 minutes, thanks to strikes from Andrey Santos and Tyrique George, before Estevao thought he put the game to bed on the stroke of half-time.
But Wolves threatened to stage a second-half fightback when Tolu Arokodare and David Moller Wolfe bagged in the 48th and 73rd minutes, respectively, to reduce the deficit.
However, a stunning Jamie Gittens strike in the 89th minute saw Chelsea secure a 4-3 win over Wolves after Wolfe scored a consolation in added time.
Speaking after the game, Enzo Maresca was angry with Liam Delap following his red card, and Marc Cucurella is also facing a suspension.
Marc Cucurella will miss Chelsea’s semi-final clash vs Cardiff City
Delap was sent off for picking up two bookings, first for being involved in a heated altercation with the referee, and the second for elbowing Emmanuel Agbadou when contesting an aerial duel.
The Englishman will now miss Chelsea’s clash against Tottenham this weekend, despite only coming off the bench on the hour mark.
Meanwhile, teammate Cucurella is also facing a suspension. The Spaniard picked up a 90th-minute yellow card for arguing with the referee after only replacing Malo Gusto in the 60th minute.
As per Carabao Cup rules, the full-back will miss their visit to Cardiff City on December 16 after picking up his second booking in the competition.
Luckily, once a team reached the quarter-final stage, any yellow card received in that game or beyond is wiped out.
Enzo Maresca says Chelsea ‘lost the balance’ vs Wolves
Cucurella was lucky to avoid punishment in Chelsea’s Champions League clash against Benfica in September after waving an imaginary yellow card at the referee.
As seen on many occasions this term, the Blues lost their discipline at Molineux as four different players were booked in the second half.
Maresca puts that down to the team losing their balance after five substitutions were made in the second period.
“We lost the balance of the game before the change. So it’s complicated for the ones that come on, it’s too hard to adjust that,” Maresca said.
“But first-half, 0-3, again the game was completely under control. Then we conceded the first goal and then we panicked a little bit. But it’s part of the journey of this team, this squad, that needs to grow, to make experience to get better and better.“
Chelsea travel to Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend, and that is another game that could highlight their disciplinary problems.