As Facundo Buonanotte saddled up beside Alejandro Garnacho on the advertising hoardings in front of the pocket of away supporters after the latter opened the scoring at a jam-packed Cardiff City Stadium, for a moment or two everything seemed all right in the often chaotic world of Chelsea. Then, with 15 minutes remaining, the hosts equalised through David Turnbull’s sublime diving header and another awkward 48 hours were on the cards for Enzo Maresca.
Questions would surely have been asked of him by the Chelsea hierarchy had the League One leaders reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals at their expense. Fortunately for Maresca and Chelsea, the substitute Pedro Neto struck a late goal, his low shot sparing the Premier League side any embarrassment. Garnacho’s second in stoppage time sealed the result.
Cardiff were determined to savour the occasion, this stadium a sellout for a club match for the first time since April 2019, when Liverpool visited in the Premier League, when Neil Warnock was in the home dugout. These days it is Brian Barry-Murphy, by his own admission a Pep Guardiola obsessive. Barry-Murphy, like Maresca, is also a Guardiola protege of sorts. The 47-year-old Irishman got to know Guardiola across three years in charge of Manchester City’s development squad, after leaving Rochdale following relegation to League Two. “I was pretty sure he didn’t know where Rochdale was but he brought me into his office on my first day and immediately made me feel really valued,” Barry-Murphy said.
