Chelsea vs Barrow LIVE! Carabao Cup result, match stream and ...
Enzo Maresca made 11 changes to his Chelsea line-up for the visit of Barrow in the Carabao Cup third round, but a fine start to the Italian's Stamford Bridge tenure was never at risk of being derailed as Christopher Nkunku's hat-trick secured a 5-0 romp over the League Two side.
The Blues were three goals up and out of sight inside half an hour with Joao Felix the ring leader in an overwhelming first-half attacking display, the forward who played 44 times last season for Barcelona making featherlight work of a team who were in the National League as recently as four years ago.
Felix's free-kick forced an own goal before the break, while Pedro Neto added a fourth after the interval.
Such strength in depth underlines the quality on offer at Chelsea, who appear to be making sense of a squad-building strategy that was heavily criticised this summer.
Finalists last year, they certainly have the tools to battle across a number of fronts to get there again.
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Enzo Maresca says his Chelsea side’s ruthless dismantling of lowly Barrow in the Carabao Cup proves they are “serious” about competing for trophies this term.
Maresca made 11 changes to his side for the third round tie against the League Two leaders and saw his understudies impress in a 5-0 rout.
Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring on eight minutes and went on to complete a hat-trick, while Pedro Neto added his first Chelsea goal after Joao Felix had forced an own-goal from Barrow ‘keeper Paul Farman.
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Standard Sport’s Malik Ouzia reflects on Chelsea’s 5-0 win.
If 300-odd miles and more than 60 league places were not enough to separate Chelsea and Barrow, then a forward line costing some way north of £200million was always likely to do the trick.
Let loose with points aplenty to prove, the Blues’s reserve attack put the League Two leaders to the sword in a 5-0 cruise to reach the Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup.
Christopher Nkunku scored a ruthless hat-trick, surely on the brink now of establishing the National Union of Prolific Understudies alongside Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran. Joao Felix looked the several cuts above that he is, while there was an assist and a goal, respectively, for Mykhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto, the latter’s first in a Chelsea shirt.
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Chelsea stormed into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a dominant victory over League Two outfit, Barrow.
The Blues romped to a 5-0 win at Stamford Bridge, with Christopher Nkunku bagging a hat-trick despite head coach Enzo Maresca making 11 changes to the team who beat West Ham on Saturday.
Pedro Neto was also on the scoresheet, while Joao Felix forced an own goal from Barrow 'keeper Paul Farman with a fine first-half free-kick.
Zac Goodwin/PA Wire
Chelsea sailed into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 5-0 win over League Two side Barrow.
Blues boss Enzo Maresca made 11 changes to the team who beat West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday and the quality on show even in reserve underlined the strength in depth on offer.
Christopher Nkunku set the tone early by bagging two of his three goals, the second of which was a fine backheel following Malo Gusto’s cross, while a brilliant free-kick from Joao Felix forced a harsh own goal from Bluebirds ‘keeper Paul Farman.
Zac Goodwin/PA Wire
Blues sail into the fourth round!
83 mins: Difficult to read too much into this Chelsea performance of course but the attacking players have clicked, which is promising given how little they will have played together.
Farman in the Barrow goal tries to take on Nkunku but is shrugged off the ball.
The Frenchman then rolls into an empty net for his hat-trick!
