London [UK], August 31 : Chelsea's World Cup-winning midfielder Enzo Fernandez sent them to the Carabao Cup third round with a second-half goal against Wimbledon at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes to his team. He handed a debut to Diego Moreira, a home debut to Bashir Humphreys, and full debuts to Mason Burstow, Lesley Ugochukwu and Ian Maatsen.
The first half story was a tale of penalties, Chelsea made a defensive error in the opening 20 minutes which led to a penalty in favour of Wimbledon.
James Tilley stepped up from the spot and sent Robert Sanchez the wrong way to open the scoreline.
Just before the halftime mark, the hosts earned a penalty and Noni Madueke made no mistake from the spot to score his first goal at the Bridge. It was Madueke who did all the hard work in the box and earned a penalty.
Pochettino introduced Nicolas Jackson for Moreira at half-time and the Senegalese striker didn't waste time to make his presence felt.
Chelsea shifted gears to push for the second goal and it was Enzo Fernadez who got his first goal in the blue colour.
The Argentinian caught Wimbeldon's keeper off his goal line and found the wide-open goal staring at him. He didn't make any mistake to put Chelsea in front for the first time.
In the final minutes of the game, Madueke had the opportunity to increase Chelsea's lead but his shot was too close to Bass at the end of a swift counter-attack.
With five minutes left, both Maatsen and Enzo saw their curling efforts turned around the post by the increasingly busy Wimbledon keeper.
There was one final scare as Al-Hamadi briefly got free but found Disasi in his way. The Blues had been made to work hard for it, but in the end, they walked out with victory in their 100th League Cup game at the Bridge.
Chelsea will face Brighton & Hove Albion in the next round of the Carabao Cup.
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