Cole helps Chelsea into final
Cole scored the vital goal in the second leg
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Wednesday, 23, Jan 2008 10:50
Joe Cole scored the vital goal as Chelsea beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park to secure their place in the Carling Cup final.
The Blues won the tie 3-1 on aggregate having already taken a 2-1 advantage into the second leg on Merseyside.
Avram Grant's side outclassed their opponents for much of the game despite being without a host of key personnel due to injuries and international commitments.
With the help of a vocal home support Everton started the match brightly, with Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta controlling the middle of the park, but both defences held the respective attacks to limited opportunities.
Chelsea began the second period with renewed vigour and almost took the lead soon after the restart.
Nicolas Anelka struck the woodwork with a curing effort from the edge of the box and the Toffees were grateful that it got a deflection off Phil Jagielka that stopped the shot from going in the top corner.
That spurred Everton into action and they created two good chances to test Petr Cech but they may have wished the opportunities had fallen to different men.
Phil Neville's shot and Jagielka's flick were dealt with by Cech with minimal fuss and as Everton pushed forward looking to level the aggregate score they left themselves increasingly exposed at the back.
This was exploited by Florent Malouda and Cole who combined to put Chelsea further out of reach in the tie.
Malouda played a devastating through-ball for Cole to run on to and the England midfielder fired past Tim Howard on the half-volley.
Everton desperately tried to get back into the match but with time running short the quality of their play was not good enough to beat the Chelsea defence and the London side prevailed.
The Blues will now face Tottenham Hotspur in the final after they overcame Arsenal yesterday.