Chelsea vs Bristol Rovers: The One That Was in the 2nd Round of the League Cup

Batman & Ruben

Remember when Tuesday night’s were for Champions League matches? Me neither. COME BACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE — I MISS YOU It doesn’t get much better than the second round of the league cup. The last time Chelsea made an appearance this early Antonio Conte was lifting the Champions League trophy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek had just arrived in the world and Take That were splitting up. All in all a pretty good year.

As we are taking a moment to look back at the good old days - does anyone remember when Chelsea could keep clean sheets? They managed one lonely old clean sheet since February 4th and it was against Aston Villa. It doesn’t even count. As a clean sheet or a competitive fixture.

While it would be nice to justify the conceded goals from last night away because Antonio Conte changed the lineup to allow fringe players a chance — which he did -- said fringe players really weren’t in defence. And by weren't really, I mean the only change to the back four was Ola Aina, who went off injured bringing on John Terry late in the game. Shout out to JT for re-claiming the captain's armband for those all important final 13 minutes. Priorities ... 

Of course it wasn’t all their fault, the man tasked to be a holding midfielder may not have been relayed that message. That man being Nemanja Matic. Who also doesn't fall into the youth or fringe category of players on the pitch last night. Making any and all excuses difficult at best. There is of course ever chance that his good manners set in. And he thought he was being a good host by inviting Chelsea’s guests through the midfield right into the box. Who knows? I can say he wasn’t holding much of anything last night.

But -- at the end of the day it was a win. A win! Similar performance to last season, but very different result. Chelsea can be a hot mess at the back all they like as long as they continue to score more goals than their opposition. It may create a bit of an uphill battle, but when has Chelsea ever made things easy for themselves?

Not only can Chelsea fans enjoy the win to put them in the actual first round of the league cup the first 2 rounds don't count, but also the meme-able pairing of Batman and Ruben. For anyone not following Michy Batshuayi on social media, you are missing out. It has nothing to do with the match, but he’s a little piece of brilliance there whether he means to be or not.

On the pitch so far, he has also been brilliant. And I think he does mean it. His first start for Chelsea and he did not disappoint. His movement and control within the box was great. He was also keen to drop back and win the ball throughout the game, and never seemed to tire. He was unlucky to come away with just the two goals. At some point the linesman should have just allowed one of his late goals. Can’t let rules get in the way of unadulterated joy. We all remember Juan Mata’s goal that never crossed the line against Spurs in the FA Cup.

I suppose I’d be remiss not to mention Victor Moses. And now I have.

If I should have a few more words on Nicola Adams' twinsie — he did ok last night. He scored a goal. He ran around a lot. He had a lot of shots that went into the stands. He ignored teammates that were in much better positions to shoot. He was facing a League One side. While Victor Moses oozes enthusiasm, which is great, it’s not enough. Chelsea already have Willian and Pedro for enthusiastic runs. Moses might want to consider taking a step back and going to a club that would be able to utilise him more effectively.

Not wanting to leave this on a sour note - all anyone needs to know: win + Batman&Ruben

jb xx