‘Disappointed’ Pochettino blames Chelsea’s poor finishing for Carabao Cup semi-final defeat

Mauricio Pochettino admits Chelsea were their own worst enemy as the Blues were beaten by Championship side Middlesbrough in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie.

Hayden Hackney’s first-half goal secured Michael Carrick’s side a famous 1-0 victory against the five-time winners at the Riverside Stadium.

It means the 2004 champions will hold a slender advantage going into the second leg of the tie at Stamford Bridge on January 23.

Chelsea had 18 shots on goal, but only got five of them on target as they slipped to a fifth defeat from their last six away matches.

It’s the sixth game in which they’ve failed to score this season, and although their manager is trying to remain positive, he was once again concerned by his side’s finishing.

“We had too many chances to score and we didn’t score,” he told Sky Sports. “That is football, of course. I’m really disappointed.

“If we assess the performance, I think overall we were the better side. We created more chances, we had clear chances. But, we didn’t score and we were not clinical.

“That happens during this season. After six months, it’s happened enough. There have been so many games that we didn’t win because we weren’t not clinical enough. If you do not score, it’s difficult to win.

“But it’s the first half of the tie. After 90 minutes, we have another 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge. I think we need to be positive.”

The win is Middlesbrough’s first over Chelsea since August 2006, when Mark Viduka’s 90th minute goal secured a 2-1 victory in the Premier League.

Since then, the Teessiders had lost nine games in a row against the London outfit, failing to score in any of those meetings.

Now, though, they are 90 minutes away from a return to Wembley, where they haven’t played since winning the 2014/15 Championship play-off final.

Manager Carrick is also dreaming of gracing the national stadium once again, where he turned out on numerous occasions for club and country.

“It’s very special,” he said. “I know it’s a two-legged affair, it’s still all to play for and there’s another game, but from our point of view, with what we’ve had to go through, with the injuries, the squad being where it’s at and the setbacks we’ve had, to beat a team of the quality of Chelsea in any circumstances for us is unbelievable.

“I thought the lads were exceptional. The effort and spirit was just off the scale. I’m so proud of them. It was an incredible night.

“I know what it means to everyone. It was fantastic for me, but I’m delighted for the whole place. To see so many people so happy was pretty special.

“We’ll need a lot of help going down there. We know the task ahead of us. We’ll attack the game like we did tonight, and see what happens.”

Boro’s Carling Cup success two decades ago came at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Bolton.

Goalscorer Hackney was a handful of months shy of his second birthday at that point, but is intent on repeating the success of the class of 2004.

“I think we did really well tonight,” said hometown hero. “It’s a completely different game when it’s away from home, so we’ll give it our best shot.”

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.