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League Cup | Semi-Finals
Jan 23, 2013 at 7.45pm UK
 
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Live Commentary: Swansea City 0-0(2-0) Chelsea - as it happened

:Headline: Live Commentary: Swansea City 0-0(2-0) Chelsea - as it happened: ID:65667: from db_amp
Sports Mole brings you live text coverage as Chelsea try to overturn a two-goal deficit at Swansea in the Capital One Cup semi-final.

Swansea City this evening held on to their 2-0 lead from the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final against Chelsea to set up a final with surprise package Bradford City at Wembley.

It was a tight game for the whole 90 minutes, with Swansea for the most part preventing their opponents clear-cut chances on goal.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Eden Hazard was sent off in a bizarre incident. A Swansea ballboy seemed to lie on the ball and Hazard was angered and kicked the ball from under him, appearing to make contact with the teenager in the process. After a couple of minutes of confusion, the Belgian was shown red.

Read more and how it all unfolded in our minute-by-minute live coverage below.

Evening all! Should be yet another superb match in this year's Capital One Cup. The competition has thrown up game after game of entertainment, and if Chelsea are to book a place in the final they're going to have to produce the goods tonight.
We're still waiting on team news for this evening's game. Kickoff is in a little under an hour at 7.45pm in Wales.
TEAM NEWS JUST IN! Michu is Swansea's lone striker.

SWANSEA XI: Tremmel; Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies; Britton, de Guzman, Ki; Routledge, Hernandez; Michu

We're also hearing that Demba Ba starts for Chelsea. The Blues' lineup is on its way.
CHELSEA XI: Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole; Ramires, Lampard; Mata, Oscar, Hazard; Ba
Tonight's game is definitely going ahead despite constant snow since mid-afternoon in South Wales.
In the first leg, Swansea took advantage of a pair of Branislav Ivanovic mistakes to shock the Blues. Michu and Danny Graham were the beneficiaries on that night.
Tweet tweet! Chelsea don't mind the snow. This is from their Twitter account: "Oh it doesn’t show signs of stopping... Since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."
A victory for Swansea tonight would see them reach their first major domestic final in their 100-year history.
Michael Laudrup's side have only lost twice at the Liberty Stadium this season, so will be confident of seeing the tie out this evening.
SUBS: Here are the two benches for tonight's game:

Swansea: Vorm, Monk, Tiendalli, Lamah, Dyer, Shechter, Graham
Chelsea: Turnbull, Luiz, Ferreira, Terry, Bertrand, Marin, Torres

Swansea defender Angel Rangel has said that his teammates can "become legends" if they reach the final tonight. Click here for more.
Half an hour until kickoff.
You get the feeling that a Chelsea failure tonight will weaken Rafael Benitez's possibility of securing the Chelsea job permanently at the end of the season. It's a tough ask for his side and he'll need the attacking quartet of Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Oscar and Ba to show up in order to overturn the 2-0 deficit.
There's also a match in the Premier League tonight. Arsenal welcome West Ham to the Emirates for the fixture that was cancelled on Boxing Day last year because of tube strikes in London. Click here to join my good friend Barney Corkhill who is covering that one.
REFEREE WATCH: Tonight's man in charge is Chris Foy.
Swansea's run in the cup this year has been unlike any they've had before. They'd never before even reached the last eight. Can they hold on to reach the final?
Benitez has been speaking to Sky Sports News. The Spaniard says that his side of course need to attack this evening but that they must be patient.
Chelsea will have to stop Michu scoring if they are stand a chance tonight. The gangly lefty has been a revelation since joining from Rayo Vallecano in the summer for just £2m. His super start led to speculation of a move away from Wales this January, but today he signed a one-year contract extension with the club. Click here for more.
The two sides are ready and waiting in the tunnel. Both sides will play in their home strips, with Swansea all in white and Chelsea fully blue.
PREDICTION: Swansea are heavy favourites to qualify but I'm backing Chelsea to go through. I can see this one going to extra time.
By the way, away goals do not count in 90 minutes but will come into effect if we go into extra time.
KICKOFF: Chelsea get us underway.
Early derision from the Chelsea fans as referee Foy doesn't give them a free kick as Oscar seemed to be tripped.
It may have been snowing heavily about an hour ago, but the white stuff has eased off and there's just a few flakes falling at the moment.
No goalmouth action after five minutes of footy at the Liberty. Chelsea are having most of the ball but not threatening, which will do just fine for the Swans.
Ivanovic lumps a hopeful ball up field and it's mightily overhit and bounces out for a goalkick. Remember his two gaffes in the first leg, well that pass isn't a way to go about rectifying the mistakes.
PENALTY SHOUT! Chelsea are screaming for a penalty as Ba skips past Davies and tumbles. Replays show that the striker ran into the left-back more than being tripped.
Swansea break down the other end through Rangel, who runs about three quarters of the pitch before laying off to De Guzman to cross for Routledge at the back post. The winger's volley is crisply hit but deflects just wide off the diving body of Azpilicueta.
CHANCE! What a chance for Swansea. Routledge gets inside Azpilicueta and slips it through for Michu. With the way he's been finishing this season, you'd put your house on him scoring but Cech isn't to be beaten, diving to his left and parrying away.
Just seen some more replays of that penalty shout that Ba was convinced should have been given early on. The Senegalese frontman actually flicked up his right foot to make sure there was contact between him and Davies. Great decision from Foy.
Here's an update on the Arsenal-West Ham game from the Gunners' Twitter: "It's been a relatively quite start at the Emirates, though Walcott fired wide after an inch-perfect pass from Wilshere."
Goal at the Emirates! Typical! The moment I tell you little has happened in North London, there's a goal. It's West Ham who have gone ahead through Jack Collison.
Back at the Liberty Stadium and Swansea are now edging this game, even though they already lead the tie 2-0. Virtually nothing from the playmaking trio of Hazard, Oscar and Mata as yet.
It's Ashley Cole who sprints into the box and wins his side a corner as his cutback is looped onto the net.
OFF THE LINE! Mata swings it over and Cahill's header is looping into the far corner but is cleared off the line by Davies. The ball falls to Hazard and he tries to curl into the far corner but places it too near Tremmel.
Goal at the Emirates! Arsenal weren't behind for long. Lukas Podolski levels against West Ham with a stonking strike.
SHOT! Ramires has a yard or so of space near the edge of the Swansea box and shoots low to Tremmel's left. The veteran keeper does well to keep it in his grasp.
Almost a chance for Oscar as Ba fizzes the ball into Mata and the ball is flicked round the corner for the Brazilian. He can't quite get the right side of Rangel, who sees it out, though.
Chelsea fail to take advantage of Tremmel's poor clearance. The German kicks it straight to Hazard and he feeds Mata but the pass is slightly overhit and the Spaniard can't get his cross past the sliding Chico.
CHANCE! Another opening for Chelsea as Mata drags his volley from 20 yards but it bobbles to Hazard in the area. I think the Belgian should shimmy and shoot but he tries a cute pass to Oscar and the Brazilian gets crowded out in front of goal.
Chelsea are starting to edge this now and Lampard pokes forward for Ba who takes it on the chest and tries an acrobatic attempt but it's blocked.
They're piling on the pressure! Swansea hack it away but Cole pumps back in and Ba does enough to hold off Chico. The ball drops for Oscar behind him but the Brazilian isn't quite alert enough to get a shot away.
Swansea's Ki is down injured and Laudrup has sent strikers Shechter and Graham out to warm up. If either of those come on, expect Michu to drop a little deeper.
It looks as if the South Korean will be OK to continue though.
Two minutes were added on and it the first of those Ba lashes a shot goalwards but he can't keep it down.
Chelsea are ending the half really well and this time it's Mata who keeps the ball in on the byline but can't find a blue shirt with his cutback.
HALF-TIME: Swansea 0-0(2-0) Chelsea
Very few clear-cut openings in the first half and that will do for Swansea. The hosts, despite being under pressure for much of the 45, actually had the best opening when Michu was played on goal but couldn't beat Cech with his shot across goal.
If you're just joining us and want to catch up on the first half a bit quicker, click here for Jack Prescott's half-time report.
It's also level in the Premier League between Arsenal and West Ham, where two cracking goals have been scored. The Hammers took the lead through Jack Collison before Lukas Podolski rocketed the home side level.
STAT ATTACK! Here are the numbers from the first half in Wales:

Swansea:
Shots 5
On target 2
Possession 41%

Chelsea:
Shots 7
On target 3
Possession 59%

As you can see, Chelsea have had more possession and shots but like I said, it was Michu who squandered the best chance.
Chelsea were similarly blunt in the quarter-final against Leeds but turned on the style after the break. Can they do the same here? It certainly won't be as easy against a side of Swansea's class who have only lost twice at the Liberty Stadium this term.
KICKOFF: Swansea get the second period underway. No half-time substitutions for either side.
Swansea look to start the second better than how they ended the first as De Guzman threads through for Hernandez but the Spanish winger was offside.
More bright play from Laudrup's side as Routledge feeds inside to Hernandez who finds his compatriot Rangel on the right of the area. The full-back is dispossessed by Ivanovic though.
JUST WIDE! Chelsea go down the other end and Mata reverses back for Ba on the edge of the area. The forward takes a touch, opens out his body and looks for the far corner but doesn't get enough curl on it.
Swansea will definitely have chances on the counter in the remaining 40 minutes or so. This time it's Hernadez who is found with just Cole to beat but the number three is one of the best of the world and isn't done on the outside.
Goals at the Emirates! Arsenal have scored three in quick succession to take a 4-1 lead over West Ham. First Olivier Giroud flicked in Theo Walcott's corner before, just now, Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott added further.
More for Arsenal! The Gunners lead 5-1 as Giroud nets his second.
OUCH! There's a stoppage in play as Leon Britton receives treatment. He went for a header against Ramires and took a blow to the head that has left huge golf-ball sized lump protruding from his temple. He's being bandaged up and will continue.
Lampard looks to spark some life into Chelsea but I think that shot actually cleared row Z.
More blunt attacking from Chelsea ends with Oscar accidentally blocking teammate Cole's shot. Surely Benitez will think about a change soon, time for Torres?
SUB: First change of the game is from Swansea and it's a straight swap as Nathan Dyer comes on for Routledge.
SUB: Chelsea make their first sub. David Luiz on for Ivanovic.
SHOT! Swansea are starting to sit a little deeper with each minute and it's Mata who the ball bobbles up for on the edge of the box. The Spaniard hits it really well with his weaker right foot but the dependable Tremmel holds on.
Here comes Torres. The Spaniard will enter the match shortly. Oscar should be taken off, he's been quite poor tonight.
OFF! Eden Hazard is sent off in one of the most strange things you'll ever see.
Basically, a Swansea ballboy was taking a while to get the ball back so Hazard tried to nick the ball back. The ballboy ended up lying on top of the ball and Hazard tried to kick it out from underneath him and may have in fact kicked the boy. The lad seems to have made a lot out of it and is down for a good minute before being escorted off. Hazard has a wry smile but that's soon wiped out when Foy produces a red card. Amazing/ridiculous.
Since the peculiar sending off, Torres was brought on for Oscar but surely the game is up for Chelsea now. Hernandez almost sealed their fate but Cech held his shot.
CHELSEA SUB: Final roll of the dice for Benitez as Ryan Bertrand replaces Cole at left-back.
There's also been a long delay at the Emirates because young West Ham defender Potts was down and needed oxygen masks and all sorts. Read more here.
CHANCE! Ki has a golden opportunity to wrap it up but he dilly-dallies and Chelsea clear.
SIX minutes added on.
Chelsea aren't happy about the sending off. They've just sent this tweet: "Has football gone mad? Hazard is sent off for kicking the ball under a ball boy attempting to smother the ball rather than return it."
SHOT! Chelsea have all but given up and there's show much room for Swansea. Dyer is picked out on the right and he tries to beat Cech at his near post but the keeper beats it away.
FULL-TIME: Swansea 0-0(2-0) Chelsea. The Swans progress to the League Cup final.
A resilient performance from Swansea who defeat the European champions to set up a surprise final against Bradford on Sunday, February 24 at Wembley.
Of course, the Welsh side's achievement of reaching a major cup final for the first time in their 100-year history shouldn't be ignored but it's likely that Ballboygate will grab the headlines tomorrow.
For more information on the Hazard sending off, click here.
Thanks for joining Sports Mole this evening. Be sure to stick around on site for all the reaction from a crazy night in both the Capital One Cup and Premier League. Good night!
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