MAURICIO POCHETTINO turned to his £106 million World Cup winner to see off ten free transfers.
Crack open the bubbly and start dreaming of Wembley Chelsea fans.
Enzo Fernandez scored his first Chelsea goal in a 2-1 win over AFC WimbledonRichard Pelham / The Sun
Noni Madueke also scored as the Blues came from a goal down in the Carabao Cup clashRichard Pelham / The Sun
The Premier League’s big spenders came from behind to see off League Two opposition and scrape into the Carabao Cup third round.
A goal in the 72nd minute from Enzo Fernandez finally allowed boss Pochettino to breathe easily on a night when yet again his club’s mix ‘n’ match, buy it quick and stack it high transfer policy was put under the cosh.
After going behind to a soft 19th minute penalty, Chelsea with all their vast wealth, trailed for 27 minutes before pulling level from the spot themselves against a squad with only one paid-for player in its starting lineup.
Even then it needed a heartbreaking cock up from otherwise flawless Dons’ keeper Alex Bass to hand the winning goal on a plate for a team about to surpass the billion pound barrier for transfer spending with the signing of winger Cole Palmer.
Not quite what Pochettino meant when announcing he wants to follow in the footsteps of legendary Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho by winning this competition in his first season.
Pochettino started with only four of the players who got him a first Premier League win last Friday at home to Luton.
By the end of this testy tie, he was forced to turn to a young man who won the World Cup last December to see him through with a few shredded nerves.
Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson rocked up with a team put together for a grand total of £200K.
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James Tilley put Wimbledon ahead with a penalty after 19 minutesRichard Pelham / The Sun
Tilley converted after the spot-kick was given away by Blues goalie Robert SanchezRichard Pelham / The Sun
Yet roared on by 5,000 boisterous fans from up the road in South West London, Stamford Bridge was stunned into silence when Wimbledon were awarded a free kick from which they would ultimately take the lead .
A foul by Conor Gallagher on Josh Neufville gave the visitors a free kick five yards outside the Chelsea box – as close as many thought the minnows would get to the opposition goal all night.
An inswinging cross dropped to the far post and Sanchez rushed to meet it on collision course with lanky Dons striker Harry Pell.
The keeper’s punch looked firm but fair.
However, ref Harrington thought otherwise and pointed to the spot, with the visiting player clearly milking it on the deck just to make sure.
Defender James Tilley faced the Matthew Harding Stand for his penalty and planted in the net with power and precision to send the opposite end of the ground housing 5,000 boisterous Wimbledon fans into delirium.
Chelsea got a penalty of their own moments before the breakRichard Pelham / The Sun
GettyNoni Madueke won the spot-kick before converting it for 1-1[/caption]
The drama wasn’t over as Pell was made to troop back to the dugout area before re-entering play and copped an earful from irate Pochettino in doing so.
The Blues boss was clearly as unconvinced as everyone else as to the severity of the challenge on the big striker who went down like a 6ft 3in feather.
Good to see that a striker called Harry, from The Lane – Plough Lane in this instance – can still cause aggro at The Bridge.
It all added to the heightened atmosphere inside a sold out stadium with Wimbledon making Pochettino, his players and the home fans squirm the longer they struggled to find a way through against such lowly opposition.
That lasted 26 minutes until Noni Madueke redressed the balance by winning a penalty for Chelsea as half time loomed.
Dashing into the box, the standout player in blue was felled by defender Alex Pearce on the by-line and ref Harrington gave his second spot kick of the opening 45 minutes.
Given recent misfortune from 12 yards, it was a result that Fernandez was on the bench at the time.
Fernandez came off the bench before firing home in the 72nd minuteRichard Pelham / The Sun
It was the midfielder’s first goal for the clubRichard Pelham / The Sun
Madueke stepped up in the Argentine’s place and there was no repeat of the feeble penalty which cost Chelsea dearly at West Ham a couple of weeks back as the England Under-21 winger calmly slotted home after a shuffle run-up.
Chelsea were back on level terms but Pochettino still dug into his reserves and brought on new striker Nicolas Jackson at half time to add more firepower up front.
He quickly tested Alex Bass with a powerful shot that the Dons keeper did well to palm away.
Bass then saved from Gallagher but still the noisy neighbours clung on and made life far more difficult for Chelsea than it should have been.
Wimbledon are unbeaten in League Two after five games yet this should have been the mismatch on grass that it was on paper.
They cracked when Marc Cucurella planted a long hopeful ball along the left flank.
Bass was first to it but his clearance kick struck midfielder Ian Maatsen and ricocheted to Fernandez who took two steps before rolling the ball into an empty net from distance.
It was still an uncomfortable ride through seven minutes of injury time however and unbowed Bass would still make a string of great saves, including a corker from Madueke, despite his earlier blunder.
Just to confirm it, Fernandez missed an open goal with the last kick of the game on a breakout counter attack from a Wimbledon corner.
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