Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough (agg 3-1) – Carabao Cup semi-final: Live score, team news and updates as Blues turn tie on its head in first-half as Axel Disasi stretches aggregate lead

We’ll have two minutes of extra time here at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea are continuing to attack.

Ben Chilwell has just won another corner darting down the left flank but Middlesbrough manage to stunt the attack.

He whips a ball into the penalty area and it is cleared out to Mudryk who can’t quite get a shot away.

I can barely keep up!

Chelsea are rampant at the moment but this is a big problem for Michael Carrick’s side.

Palmer finds himself on the edge of the penalty area and slides the ball into the bottom right side of the goal. That should be it for Chelsea.

Michael Carrick looks dismayed on the touchline.

Cole Palmer finds Raheeem Sterling on the right wing who charges forward.

He fires a pass into Axel Disasi who cooly slots the ball into the back of the net to make it 3-0 (agg 3-1).

Gary Neville, speaking on co-commentary, has lauded Enzo Fernandes for his movement getting into the box to put the home side 2-0 up.

Big moment in this game. They just played quite slowly, recycling it, Chelsea, but all of a sudden, there’s a little bit of pace brought into the attack down the right hand side with Sterling and Disasi. It’s that back heel. Clarke decides not to go across until late.

We talk so much about how Howson has gone in the box with Enzo Fernandez. The one moment that he had to be close to him… brilliant movement from Enzo Fernandez. He just darts towards that back post and in behind. Howson loses him for a split-second. Staying with your midfield runner is so important.

Chelsea aree in full flow now. Fernandes receives a pass inside the penalty area and fires a shot at goal.

Boro goalkeeper Glover gets his body in the way and smothers the shot, but Carrick’s side are struggling to control Chelsea here.

Chelsea have turned the tie on its head now!

A ball comes in from the right and Broja can’t get his shot away.

It deflects out left to Fernandes, who hasn’t been picked up by Howson.

The defender slots the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 (agg 2-1).

Mudryk gets around Van den Berg on the left side and almost manages to get a shot away.

But the Boro defender manages to deal with the lightning pace of the Ukrainian forward, shutting down the attack.

Chelsea look very much in control here though.

The start that Chelsea had hoped for! They lead Middlesbrough four attempts to two so far in the match.

Middlesbrough still look dangerous on the break though, with Levi Colwill being called into action to clean up a deflected pass up field.

It’s an excellent ball in from Sterling, who cuts his pass across the middlesbrough penalty area.

Broja is waiting in front of the goal and winds up a shot. Initially it looked like he had scored but the replays showed that Howson had cut across him at the last moment and fired the ball into the back of his own net in an attempt to cut out the attack.

Agonising stuff for Middlesbrough who had started so well. It’s 1-1 now on aggregate!

On the penalty appeal, Neville on co-commentary said: ‘He’s never there, the goalkeeper. Chilwell is always favourite.

‘I think even with VAR that wouldn’t have been given as a penalty.’

Chilwell goes close!

He makes a fantastic run into the box with Silva playing a long ball into the penalty area.

The goalkeeper is slow to meet the ball in and Chilwell gets his head to the ball ahead of Glover’s outstretched arm.

His header goes looping just wide of the goal but the defender is appealing to the referee for a penalty after the goalkeeper clattered into him.

No foul is given and we’ll play on!

More encouraging stuff now from Chelsea.

They find themselves on the edge of the Middlesbrough penalty area with Fernandes threading a pass to Mudryk who winds up a shot.

The ball is deflected over the bar by a Middlesbrough defender and Chelsea have their first corner of the match.

Off the set piece, but the visitors side clear the ball away from the danger zone.

A staggering stat! Mauricio Pochettino’s side have only played 11 games with Ben Chilwell and Reece James in the side since they won the Champions League.

Meanwhile, the Blues have had a shaky start to this match. Middlesbrough have sped down the right wing with Forss firing a low cross into the opposition’s penalty area. No one is there to get on the end of it but it certainly hasn’t been the start Pochettino will have wanted!

We’re underway at Stamford Bridge!

Ahead of the game, Mauricio Pochettino again stressed how big a game this was for the Blues.

It’s a really important game for us. The first leg was difficult. Now we need to win the game. First of all, we need to respect our opponent.

[Lessons from first leg] That is the beauty of the cup. The first leg, we played better. But we conceded a goal we should not concede. We cannot afford to lose these types of game. The cup allows you a second chance and now we need to be clever.

Both sets of players have gathered around the centre circle as Chelsea pay their respects to the late Tommy Baldwin who passed away this week, aged 78.

Michael Carrick has urged his players to go attack Chelsea during tonight’s match.

‘I trust the boys,’ he said to Sky Sports. ‘It’s a terrific group we’ve got. We’re looking forward to it and know what we’re getting into. We’re here to have a crack at them.

‘We’ve got to be open, flexible, and ready to adapt. You’ve got to ride the emotion and the mood and momentum of the game.

‘We’ve got lads off the bench and we’re a bit stronger, that can have an impact.

‘“Stay in the game, stay in the game” – subconsciously that puts you in survival mode and we want to be more expressive than that.

‘We have to [cause problems]. We’ve got players with good attacking ability. We feel we’ve got a good balance in there. It’ll be a big test for us but we look forward to it.’

Chilwell has been out of action since November but tonight he’ll make his long-awaited injury return for the Blues.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Gary Neville believes his return willl be a massive boost for Pochettino’s side tonight.

They’ve missed him a lot and they’ve missed Reece James a lot. We tend to talk about the fact that when they’re playing, Chelsea are a better team. It’s bad for the lad that he gets so many injuries because you feel like an imposter, you feel like you don’t belong.

When I watch Ben Chilwell play sometimes when he does come back, you always feel like an injury waiting to happen. He looks a bit pensive and a bit tentative. It must be getting to a point at Chelsea where you need reliability and consistency from your defenders. You can’t always be talking about when players come back.  He’s got to try – and it sounds like the easiest thing in the world – to stay fit for a longer period. Mauricio Pochettino needs to build a team and a back four in particular.

Middlesbrough were excellent in defence against Chelsea last time out, denying them several late opportunities to get an equaliser.

But Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has urged Michael Carrick’s side to come out and attack Mauricio Pochettino’s side during tonight’s match.

It’s very important that Middlesbrough don’t sit back. They have to go out there thinking they have to score. If they don’t score and there’s ten minutes to go, then you readjust. But when you start the game, you need to have the mindset that you come here and at least score one goal and set up and be willing to go forward. They cannot just camp at their goal for 96 minutes.

Mauricio Pochettino has called on Chelsea fans to get behind the team for tonight’s match.

It comes after club icon Pat Nevin had compared Stamford Bridge to a ‘graveyard’.

But with the hopes of making the Carabao Cup final, Pochettino explained that his teem needed to feed off good energy from the supporters to get the win.

Some games the fans were very good. Other games it was a little bit flat. But it’s normal because we started the season with massive expectations.

It’s normal they can feel a little disappointed. But this is a semi-final with the possibility to go to Wembley. Our fans are going to be really motivated to help the team.

The team need to translate the good energy from the fans to be motivated. We need to send the first signal that we care, that we want to go to the final. We need to be ready to fight and not complain. If the fans see this energy, they will be behind us.

It’ll be a welcome sight to see Ben Chilwell back in action for Chelsea. He returns tonight to captain the side.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have struggled with a raft of injuries, with the full-back having not played for Chlesea since their 1-0 win against Brighton back in November with a hamstring issue.

Middlesbrough fans have been making the long 260 mile trip to London today.

They haven’t beaten Chelsea in their past 21 meetings at Stamford Bridge but Boro fan Michelle Coleman told BBC Radio 5 Live that the pressure is on Chelsea to win.

I think sometimes being the underdog does help because the pressure is on Chelsea, being at home especially and being the Premier League side. Whatever happens tonight we are proud of what we have done so far.

It would be absolutely massive [to win]. We’ve had a really frustrating season in the league. The players and the fans, it gives us a lot of confidence. But then in the league it has been so frustrating. We beat Chelsea, we went to Millwall and won 3-1 and then we draw 1-1 to Rotherham.”

Mark Schwartzer believes Middlesbrough will have to be solid at the back with Chelsea bringing Mikhaylo Mudryk back into the fold.

He told Sky Sports: ‘Matthew Clark in that first leg was so important. He slotted in the back so well. His experience was key. They’re going to need that today. They’re going to have to defend for their lives.

‘They can’t go in with the mentality just to defend. Try and hurt Chelsea on the counter.’

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink concurred stating Boro ‘have to go out positive’.

Michael Carrick lumped praise on his team following their epic upset against Chelsea in their previous fixture.

The former Man United player claimed that it was one of the ‘proudest’ moments in his managerial career, but he spurred his side on to claim victory in the second leg.

This is as proud as I’ve been. I know what the players have put in, how close a group they are, seeing this stadium supporting the lads right to the end, it made me hugely proud.

It was a really good night, hopefully we can create some more of them in the future. The boys were immense. They were disclipled, tactically smart and showed some real quality and composure to play. Everyone, literally, had to perform and absolutely empty the tank.

(It’s only half-time) but the players should still celebrate and applaud their effort. They’ve got to embrace it now. I keep saying, the next leg is a totally different one, a new challenge. We are ready for it, looking forward to it, and will embrace the challenge.’

Mauricio Pochettino has opted to leave Malo Gusto and Conor Gallagher out of his starting line up tonight.

Mikhaylo Mudryk comes into their attack, while Ben Chilwell returns from a long injury lay-off.

Michael Carrick has made several changes from the side that drew to Rotherham on Saturday.

Isiah Jones, who picked up a hamstring injury last week, misses out, with Sam Greenwood, Finn Azaz and Luke Ayling also absent.

Jonny Howson comes into the starting line up alongside Rav van den Berg. Matt Crooks and Marcus Forss will also start.

‘Tomorrow is the biggest game of the season because it’s our access to the final,’ Mauricio Pochettino said yesterday ahead of today’s clash against Middlesbrough.

Should they advance through to the final they could take on either Liverpool or Fulham who play tomorrow at Craven Cottage.

But the Blues have it all to do tonight to overcome a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

We need to be convincing to be able to win. It’s the possibility to play in and win a final. It’s a good pressure. I like this type of challenge. We want to be in that situation and play in semi-finals.

I think the game tomorrow is really important because it’s the possibility to win a trophy. In a personal way, I’m so excited for the game. It’s a way to play at Wembley, a final, and to have the possibility to win a title. I’m so motivated and I try to translate to the players how good it is to play a final and to play in Wembley.

While Chelsea have played only once since both sides last met, a 1-0 win against Fulham, this will be Boro’s third match in the last two weeks.

Michael Carrick’s side followed up their massive win against the Blues with a 3-1 win against Millwall before coming back late on to seal a 1-1 draw against Rotherham on Saturday.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are unbeaten against Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge in their last 21 meetings, winning 15 of those games.

Yet, the Blues have struggled for goals this season, having scored once from their last 34 shots on goal.

Here’s an insider look of the Chelsea dressing room ahead of the match.

Michael Carrick’s side got Riverside rocking in the first-half of their previous meeting, with Hayden Hackney scoring in the 37th minute of the game to guide them to victory.

The Blues searched for an equaliser late on but Boro held firm in defence, with Cole Palmer agonisingly failed to pull a goal back, putting a close chance wide of the sticks.

At full-time, Chelsea were booed by some of their travelling fans following what was a disappointing result for the Premier League outfit.

Carrick, meanwhile, hailed his side’s performance as one of the proudest moments of his managerial career.

Will they upset the odds later again tonight?

Middlesbrough will have a strong support behind them for the match after they received an allocation of 4,309 tickets for the semi-final leg.

It’s approximately 260 miles from Middlesbrough to London and plenty of fans have travelled down to London for the fixture.

It’s a cold and breezy night in west London as Mauricio Pochettino’s side welcome Middlesbrough to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final clash.

The Blues will be hoping to make amends following their 1-0 defeat at the Riverside Stadium in the previous leg, in which Hayden Hackney’s first-half goal proved to be the difference.

Chelsea have played only once since the two sides met, securing a 1-0 win against London rivals Fulham at home.

Middlesbrough come into this fixture having beaten Millwall before scoring late against Rotherham on Saturday to rescue a 1-1 draw at the Riverside.

Stay tuned as we’ll have all the news, commentary and live updates from tonight’s fixture right here on Mail Sport, with team news coming up in less than 30 minutes time!