Derby 1 Chelsea 3
Eden Hazard’s clinical low shot and second-half strikes from Filipe Luis and Andre Schurrle eased Chelsea into the Capital One Cup semi-finals.
The four-time League Cup winners led at the break after Hazard anticipated Richard Keogh’s sloppy pass and ran on to find the bottom corner.
Luis curled in a delightful free-kick after the break and although Derby hit back through Craig Bryson’s fine strike, the hosts had Jake Buxton sent off for a professional foul before Schurrle wrapped up the victory.
The only blemish on an otherwise relatively smooth evening in the East Midlands was a nasty looking head injury to Kurt Zouma.
The centre-back was taken off on a stretcher after lengthy treatment just before half-time when he was clattered by Petr Cech as the Blues goalkeeper cleared a corner.
Didier Drogba was also replaced after twisting his ankle after the interval but at that stage the win looked secure.
The Blues were in control at the break courtesy of a solid defensive midfield display by John Mikel Obi and Nemanja Matic.
And with Drogba also in dominant form up front, that allowed Cesc Fabregas the platform to supply Schurrle and Hazard on the break.
Hazard grabbed the goal, controlling the ball neatly before cutting inside and finding the bottom corner.
Luis and Drogba could have added a second, but that did not arrive until 11 minutes after the interval when the former curled in his first Chelsea goal – a delightful 25-yard free-kick.
But the Championship promotion hopefuls responded to set up a tense final 20 minutes.
Branislav Ivanovic tried a clever dinked pass out of defence which was cut out and, after a decent passage of play on the right flank, Bryson was on hand to find the bottom corner with a sweet 20-yard shot.
The Rams suddenly began to play with confidence but their hopes effectively ended when Buxton tugged at substitute Loic Remy as he raced towards goal.
And Schurrle’s simple finish, after Remy’s shot was saved, made the game safe against 10 men.
Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta, Zouma (Ivanovic 45+3), Terry, Luis; Matic, Mikel; Hazard (Ramires 84), Schurrle, Fabregas; Drogba (Remy 63).
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Salah, Willian, Costa.
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This post was last modified on 16/12/2014