Eden Hazard steals spotlight as Swansea progress to League Cup final

The Swansea ballboy decided to waste time by refusing to give Hazard the ball when he ran over to retrieve that. That didn’t go over well. GIF from @bubbaprog.

Hazard will earn an automatic three-game suspension for getting sent off for violent conduct, and given that he lashed out at someone who wasn’t even playing in the game, the FA is likely to hit him with a lengthier ban. Even if the kid on the receiving end of Hazard’s boot certainly wasn’t just an innocent bystander, the FA is going to come down hard on players who kick ballboys, every time.

The game’s big event game when Chris Foy decided to show a red card to Hazard, in the 80th minute. The ball rolled out of play in the 77th minute and Hazard attempted to retrieve it, but the ballboy shockingly refused to give it back to him and lied down on top of the ball. Hazard could have walked away and let the referee do his job, but instead decided to kick the ballboy in the side. Unsurprisingly, this earned him a sending off.

With just 10 men to attack with, Chelsea had no chance of pulling back two goals, and Swansea held on without a problem to clinch their first ever League Cup final berth.

Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. local time, 2:45 p.m. ET from Liberty Stadium in Wales.

A very winnable final against League Two minnows Bradford City awaits the victory, so both teams will be going all out for the victory - Swansea would make the first major final of the club’s history, while Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez is in need of proof that his reign at the Blues can be a success.

Swansea City injuries and suspensions

A League Cup final at Wembley awaits Bradford City after an utterly bizarre match at Villa Park ended in a 2-1 loss -- but a 4-2 aggregate win -- for the minnows.

It was all hands on deck for Villa from the outset, and after a few confused minutes to open the match, they quickly asserted themselves on the ball and began to lay siege to Matt Duke’s goal. Granted, their early chances were rather panicky -- they were on the verge of being knocked out of the Capital One Cup by a League Two side -- but it was obvious that despite rushing things they were going to make the breakthrough eventually.

But despite being absolutely hammered by their hosts (and nearly conceding another Benteke goal), Bradford were able to limp into halftime losing just 1-0 on the night. That means that they hold the aggregate lead -- but 3-2 feels nowhere near as comfortable as 3-1. There’s drama to come here.

Substitutes from: Jon McLaughlin, Ricky Ravenhill, Kyel Reid, Garry Thompson, Alan Connell, Michael Nelson, Blair Turgott.

Bradford City may have won a remarkable 3-1 victory in the home leg, but they now face an inevitable onslaught as they attempt to get out of Villa Park alive to seal a historic progression to Wembley.

Aston Villa injuries and suspensions

Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m, local time, 2:45 p.m. ET from Stamford Bridge.

Aston Villa appeared to be headed home as slight favorites to advance to the final of the League Cup, but Bradford City punched in a late insurance goal to expand their lead to two goals. The Villains pulled a goal back to cut Bradford’s lead to one in the second half, but Carl McHugh restored his side’s two-goal advantage to fire his team to a 3-1 win.

Rory McArdle doubled Bradford’s lead in the 77th minute, again following a set piece opportunity. After Bradford’s first corner was unsuccessful, the return ball into the box found an unmarked McArdle, who hit a perfect header into the back of the net.

Schedule