A resurgent Chelsea beat manager-less Everton 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to progress to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

As promised, under-pressure Chelsea manger Antonio Conte started youngsters Ethan Ampadu Kenedy, and Charly Musonda in the Blues’ starting XI on Wednesday night. Michy Batshuayi lead the line in Alvaro Morata’s absence but it was Danny Drinkwater’s inclusion in the team sheet that gave the home fans plenty of cheer.

The summer signing started in Chelsea’s midfield for the first time and the former Leicester City man put in a tidy shift as he partnered the young Ampadu in the middle of the pitch with Kenedy and Davide Zappacosta offering support in their wing-back roles.

Everton, who were playing their first match since sacking manager Ronald Koeman, trotted out in a starting XI which had a mix of established players and youth prospects. Wayne Rooney lead the line, flanked by Kevin Mirallas and Aaron Lennon with Benni Baningime, James McCarthy and Tom Davies starting in the three-man midfield.

Caretaker-manager David Unsworth, who has spoken of his desire of taking up the job on a permanent basis, sent out the Toffees in a 4-3-3 formation as they sought to reignite their dreary season.

Chelsea would take the lead fairly early, thanks to unlikely source Antonio Rudiger. The centre-back, who suffered a tough time in Chelsea’ 4-2 win in the Premier League over Watford, beat Jordan Pickford in the 21st minute after jumping highest to meet Musonda’s cross at the far-post.

The cross had actually been slightly deeper than ideal, but to Rudiger’s credit, the German managed to adjust his leap to send in a perfectly-weighted header past the Everton custodian.

The hosts had most of the ball, but without Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard, were lacking that extra zing and Everton keeper Pickford comfortably dealt with all that came his way to keep his side in the game as the half-time whistle sounded.

Everton would start the second-half the stronger of the sides, with Rooney coming close to equalising with a volley but Willy Caballero made himself big to deny the veteran forward.

The Argentine shot-stopper then made life difficult for himself by needlessly giving the ball away to Lennon inside the box, but recovered to smother the winger’s effort as Everton continued to enjoy their best spell of the game.

David Unsworth then made an attacking substitution, bringing off defensive midfielder McCarthy for forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin in a bid to amp up the pressure on the hosts.

Mirallas then sent in a dangerous cross into the box but Lenon could not turn the ball into the net as the ball bounced awkwardly for him and it looked like Everton would score sooner than later. Mirallas continued to probe and thought he had scored when he connected well with a half-volley only for Caballero to once again deny the hosts.

Chelsea had a chance to put the game beyond doubt when a carless back pass from Rooney gave Batshuayi a clean path on goal and with Pickford stranded, it seemed the Belgian could not miss. However, the backtracking Phil Jagielka arrived at the right time to ensure the forward could not direct the ball into the goal.
Ademola Lookman, on as a substitute then almost scored what would have been a stunning equaliser when he cut in from the right wing to shoot but his effort would cannon off the crossbar.
Everton were camped in the Chelsea half as the hosts were content to hit them on the counter and it was the Blues who would score the second in the 90th minute to seemingly ensure them of progression.

Willian played a smart one-two with second-half introduction Cesc Fabregas before finishing well beyond Pickford to give the Blues a 2-0 lead.

However, Everton scored within seconds via Calvert-Lewin to ensure a frantic finish to the tie but a second goal was not forthcoming and Chelsea withstood a late barrage from the Toffees to progress to the quarters.