Chelsea, who let Pochettino return to the Premier League this season, under the leadership of Uncle Bo, still did not let fans see the effect of heavy reinforcement, the first 20 rounds of the Premier League, they were only ranked tenth in the standings, and there was no hope of impacting the league title, but fortunately, the Blues performed well in the domestic cups, after beating Preston North End 4-0 to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup, Chelsea ushered in the semi-finals of the English League Cup on this matchday, the first leg Chelsea went away to challenge the Championship team Middlesbrough, in the last 9 direct conversations between the two teams, the Blues maintained a winning record, which is also the pre-match fans optimistic that they can win awayAfter the start of the game, Chelsea dominated the field and created many threatening opportunities, but Manchester City's veteran Palmer staged a criminal performance and let Chelsea lose 0-1 to Middlesbrough!
In order to get off to a good start on the road, Pochettino followed the Blues' most familiar 4-2-3-1 system, with Petrovic coming in as the starting goalkeeper, in front of Gusto, Disasi, Silva and Colwill, with Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo in the back, Madueke, Conor Gallagher and Raheem Sterling in midfield, and Palmer as the lone arrow.
After the game officially started, Chelsea sent a big gift package, less than 1 minute into the opening game, Colwill's return pass error, directly gave Rattle a single chance, fortunately Petrovic held the opponent's low shot, did not let the Blues encounter the black opener, escaped Chelsea, and then began to dominate the field, constantly put pressure on Middlesbrough's goal, in the 31st minute after Palmer stepped in front, he took the ball to the front of the penalty area, but unfortunately his push was slightly off, missing the perfect opportunity to equalize for the team。
Middlesbrough opened the scoring in the 37th minute after flanking the Blues' onslaught, with a long ball from midfield-mates that Jones slotted into the Blues box before slotting a cross past Hackney, who stabbed his toe to give Middlesbrough a 1-0 lead.
In stoppage time, Palmer, who had wasted a scoring opportunity, once again stunned the fans, Enzo Fernandez directly kicked the goal outside the penalty area, causing the Middlesbrough goalkeeper to make a save, and the ball fell directly in front of Palmer, but in the face of the empty goal, Manchester City abandoned the kick and kicked it away to help Middlesbrough successfully clear the siege, such a criminal performance also made fans feel that they finally knew why he was given up by Guardiola.
Chelsea, who were unable to equalize in the second half, made substitutions in the 63rd minute, Armando Broja and Mudryk came on, replacing Enzo and Madueke, which shows the Blues' determination to strengthen the attack, and after the two came on, they were also very active in attack, in the 81st minute, Armando Broja crossed from the left, but unfortunately Sterling, who was outflanked in front of the goal, did not touch the ball, and Chelsea once again missed the goal.
A first-leg defeat is not a catastrophe for Chelsea, with the Blues having a chance to turn things around when they move to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of the EFL Cup later this month, but they will have to return to home and play a more dominant performance in attack.