Eden Hazard came off the bench to fire Chelsea into the EFL Cup semi-finals as his goal secured a narrow 1-0 win against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had hosted Bournemouth at this stage of the competition last season but found the Cherries tough opposition - with Alvaro Morata being needed to secure passage to the semi-finals with his added-time winner.
Despite Bournemouth’s poor run of recent form, Eddie Howe’s side proved stubborn opponents again to break down as the visitors withstood an early onslaught from Chelsea to go into the break with the score still goalless.
Artur Boruc played a big part in that - with the goalkeeper denying Ross Barkley, Olivier Giroud and Willian in the first half.
Chelsea enjoyed the bulk of the possession but the Cherries used their pace on the counter to good effect as Callum Wilson fired wide and Lys Mousset’s fierce 36th-minute shot had to be kept out by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who impressed in a more advanced role, drove wide after the break before Sarri sent on Eden Hazard, Pedro and David Luiz in a bid to carve out a goal.
And though it took until the 84th minute to arrive, arrive it did for the Blues.
Unsurprisingly, it was Hazard who scored it although his close-range effort took a big deflection off Charlie Daniels before hurtling past Boruc and into the back of the net.
It was enough for Chelsea to secure their place in their 14th League Cup semi-finals as Bournemouth were left to rue another missed chance in this competition.
