helsea swept past Swindon Town to make it into the
fourth round of the Capital One Cup .
Juan Mata and David Luiz, who had notably been left
out of the Blues line-up against Fulham on Saturday,
were both involved in a 2-0 win at the County Ground.
Two goals in six first-half minutes from Fernando
Torres and Ramires gave the visitors the win, although
their success was tempered by the loss of Marco van
Ginkel and Ramires to injury.
Torres opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a
poacher’s finish after Juan Mata saw his shot saved by
Wes Foderingham.
And Ramires doubled the lead soon after as he lifted a
ball into the net following a neat pass from Torres, who
had wriggled free outside the area in expert fashion.
As well as the returns of Mata and Luiz, Jose Mourinho
gave Mark Schwarzer his Chelsea debut in goal, Cesar
Azpilicueta made his 50th club appearance, and there
were also starts for Kevin De Bruyne and Willian.
Swindon boss Mark Cooper made one change from the
side victorious against Bristol City last time out, with
Alex Pritchard replacing Louis Thompson in midfield.
Chelsea were forced into an early change when young
Dutchman Van Ginkel twisted his knee after falling
awkwardly, with the 20-year-old appearing to be in a
lot of pain as he hobbled off in the 10th minute.
After a tight opening to the game, Mourinho’s men had
the first sight of goal midway through the half.
Mata threaded a neat ball into Torres and the striker cut
in front of his man but saw Foderingham make a save
with his head to deny him.
Minutes later though the former Liverpool man made
no mistake as he broke the deadlock after neat build-up
play between Ramires and Mata.
Mata’s shot was saved by Foderingham, but Torres was
on hand to pounce on the loose ball and poke home.
And Torres then turned provider in the 35th minute as
the visitors doubled the lead.
He played a perfectly weighted pass for Ramires to run
onto inside the penalty area, and the 26-year-old
calmly lifted the ball over the advancing keeper him
and into the back of the net.
Danny N’Guessan thought he had halved the deficit for
the hosts early in the second half when he met a Jay
McEveley free kick and headed past Schwarzer, but the
goal was ruled out for offside.
Swindon were providing more of an attacking threat
after the break, but Schwarzer was rarely tested in the
Chelsea goal.
And the hosts were nearly punished for pressing
forward in the closing minutes but Torres and Willian
were both denied by resilient defending as the Premier
League side eased through to round four.
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