Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea: 5 Talking Points as Spurs progress after intense penalty shootout | EFL Cup 2020-21

#3 Jose Mourinho's dilemma

Mourinho has a developed reputation as a serial winner, the reason why Tottenham craved his services and are giving him the tools to get the club where they feel they belong.

Frank Lampard's counterpart and former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, on the other hand, was not short of troubles of his own. The Portuguese tactician faces an incredibly dense fixture list, with another game in a couple of days as Israeli side Maccabi Haifa travel to London for their Europa League qualifying campaign.

Then, 2 days later, Spurs travel to Manchester to take on the Red Devils at Old Trafford before the international break, concluding a stretch of 6 games in 12 days.

Mourinho needs to keep his side in top shape till the 4th of October, and he needs to keep this up the entire season if he's to take away any silverware from his first full season in charge of the club.

His balancing act was brilliantly on display tonight, as the changes he made elevated the level of play from his side and allowed them to register a victory against their city rivals. Jose Mourinho surely would've loved having gotten one over his former employers.

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#4 Timo Werner finally breaks his duck

Chelsea's new talisman has his work cut out for sure, as his team aims for silverware as soon as possible.

Timo Werner has had a mixed bag of a time at Chelsea so far. He won a penalty in Chelsea's first league game against Brighton, but has had a bit of a struggle since then. Coming into this game, striker hadn't forced a save out of the opposition keeper with his last 11 shots.

The former RB Leipzig forward started the game out on the left flank, with him, Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi all part of a very fluid trio behind Olivier Giroud, who was the target man.

The plan was working quite well for majority of the game, as Chelsea were the more dominant side of the two. It was Chelsea's German attacker who finally broke the deadlock and opened his account with the club with a rasping effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. I doubt any keeper in the world could've done anything to stop that shot.

It was good to see Werner open his account, and football fans around the world will have a keen eye on Chelsea to see whether he can prove his worth in the Premier League or not.

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#5 The thrill of penalties and the absence of VAR

Tottenham Hotspur advanced against Chelsea after an intense penalty shootout.

Penalty shootouts really get the blood rushing no matter where you're watching, who you're supporting or what time it is. Last night was no different, as Tottenham put their previous shootout failure aside and triumphed on the night to head to the next round of the EFL Cup.

Except for Mason Mount (Chelsea), all penalty takers were successful with their attempts on goal, as neither goalkeeper even got close to making a save in the shootout.

Eric Dier showed his mental fortitude by stepping up to take Tottenham's first penalty. He made amends for his error in the same fixture two years ago, when his miss cost his side the chance to progress.

Another thing to take away from the game was that there were official announcements from the English FA stating that Video Assistant Referee would not be in play.

It certainly would've been really helpful during the tie, and the competition as a whole, as Gedson Fernandes was brought down by Kurt Zouma in his own box a minute or so after Chelsea had broken the deadlock.The ramifications of not having VAR meant that a subsequent penalty call was shushed, and play went on.

This is what keeps fans across the globe baffled about VAR. Clearly, the technology is there. Why there are so many rules and regulations that are still so unclear to the general public is something we fail to understand.