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Thomas Tuchel was impressed by Chelsea’s performance against Tottenham, praising how his players adapted to different shapes in and out of possession – but admitted they could have scored more.

Chelsea earned a 2-0 advantage from the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. They punished Tottenham for their mistakes, with Kai Havertz putting them in the lead and the second goal coming off Spurs defender Ben Davies.

There were chances to increase the lead, while Tottenham offered very little at the other end. But there will still be work to do if Chelsea are to reach the final.

Still, manager Tuchel felt the result was “excellent”. He praised the focus of his players, a couple of whom were making rare appearances.

Tuchel told Sky Sports: “It seems like a deserved win, an excellent result because it reflects the game. We could have scored more but it is hard to score against Tottenham.

“We did create a lot, some huge chances. It could have been possible to score more. The up side is everybody knows it is going to be a tough match, it is not decided yet.

“It was impressive. It is easy to say fresh legs but if you have not played a lot it is sometimes unfair to put them in a big match like this and demand to see fresh legs.

“We never lost the focus, never lost the commitment. The guys who did not play in the past few weeks were strong.

“We played 4-4-2 when we had the ball, because there was no one left to play with a back five. We took some minutes on the training pitch to talk through the principles. I found the team very focused to do it right.

“We had some moments in defending where we created a back five. The team was very focused, very open minded.”

One of the players Tuchel brought in was Romelu Lukaku. He recently gave a controversial interview that led to his omission from previous lineups.

Tuchel reacts to Lukaku display

After apologising, though, the Belgian striker was back among the action. It was a slightly frustrating game for him, but Tuchel was content with his performance.

Tuchel said: “Good, absolutely happy. I was pretty sure he was not affected. Even the last days he seemed relaxed, fine with the situation and mentally moved on.

“Romelu can handle pressure and adversity. It was a good performance. He contributed a lot to our defensive set up and had chances.”

Elsewhere in his interviews, Tuchel also revealed goalscorer Havertz suffered a broken finger during the first half. He played on until half-time.

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Ziyech reacts to victory

One of Chelsea’s key performers was Hakim Ziyech. He was influential from a wide right position, while also doing his defensive duties.

The Morocco international agreed with Tuchel that Chelsea could have taken more chances. But they can still be happy with the outcome of the game.

He also noted how Tuchel’s tactical change caused problems for Tottenham.

Ziyech told Sky: “It was a good performance for the team – strong first half, second half was a little bit up and down but overall a good performance.

“The second half they had chances as well. We had bigger chances. But 2-0, we can be happy with that.

“We put pressure on them, don’t give them the space and time, I think we did good the first half especially.

“We had four at the back, normally we have five, so that gave us more opportunities up front. They didn’t know whether to follow the midfielders or step out.

“We forgot to finish the game, a lot of chances. Hopefully we get the job done there.”

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