- Chelsea lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final to Middlesbrough
- Pochettino made a strange claim about another supposed Boro cup scalp
- DOMINIC KING: Chelsea WON’T win the League Cup and they CAN’T spend again. It’s crass! It’s a money pit there – Listen to why on It’s All Kicking Off
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino caused some bafflement by claiming Middlesbrough beat a Brighton team containing Moises Caicedo last season.
Reflecting on Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss to the Championship side in the Carabao Cup semi-final, first leg, Pochettino said Caicedo told him his old club Brighton had lost at the Riverside Stadium.
In reality, Brighton won the FA Cup third round tie last January 5-1.
Asked for his emotions a few days after Chelsea’s defeat, Pochettino said: ‘If you see the previous years, other Premier League teams went out to Middlesbrough.
‘It was Caicedo telling me that “we lost last year to Middlesbrough with Brighton” and many Premier League teams, when they play in the cups there, they lose.’
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino caused bemusement by suggesting Brighton were beaten by Middlesbrough in last season’s FA Cup
He said ex-Brighton player Moises Caicedo had told him Middlesbrough beat them last year
In reality, Brighton thrashed Boro 5-1 at the Riverside Stadium to ease into the fourth round
Caicedo, who signed for Chelsea in a £115million deal back in the summer, played the entirety of Brighton’s 5-1 FA Cup win but clearly couldn’t remember what happened.
Alexis Mac Allister scored twice for the Seagulls, with Pascal Gross, Adam Lallana and Deniz Under also on target for the Seagulls.
The last time Boro beat Brighton was a 3-0 success at the Amex in the Championship in the 2015-16 season.
However, Pochettino was correct in saying Boro have claimed a few Premier League scalps in the past few years.
They knocked Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur out the 2021-22 FA Cup before losing to Chelsea in the quarter-finals.
The Argentine was fully accepting of the criticism that came Chelsea’s way on Tuesday night as he refocused on Saturday lunchtime’s home Premier League game with Fulham.
‘We are Chelsea and we cannot afford to lose these kinds of games but, to be honest, if you played 100 times, maybe you lose one because it is football and not another sport,’ he said.
Middlesbrough enjoyed a famous 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg
Chelsea are left with work to do in the second leg after being frustrated by the Championship outfit on Tuesday night
‘We got criticised but sometimes it is good, we can learn with the criticism and we need to be tough, we need to feel the pressure to grow.
‘For us it is important to perform and to win.
‘We didn’t perform badly against Middlesbrough. We came from a few victories. We need to keep the momentum. It is true after the first leg we are 1-0 down but we need to keep the belief.
‘It is important to realise we are still alive and we have the second leg at Stamford Bridge. We will fight to be in the final. We know when you lose a game to a Championship team, we need to accept the criticism.’
