Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea
Jose Mourinho extended his unbeaten record against Arsene Wenger with the minimum of fuss, as goals from Cesar Azpilicueta – his first for the club – and Juan Mata sealed the deal.
The Blues may have been under-strength but their under-strength was considerably better than Arsenal's and a ninth game without a win for the Gunners boss against his Portuguese nemesis looked inevitable long before the end.
On the face of it, Jose Mourinho did not think the occasion warranted even smart-casual, dressed as he was in a sort of Feltham Young Offenders finery.
But don't be fooled. He loves the League Cup – to give the Capital One Cup it's unbranded name. It was the first trophy he won as Blues boss and he values any kind of silverware, such is his appetite for success.
Even with a team shorn of all but Gary Cahill from Sunday's little spat with Man City, the Blues looked highly motivated in the charged atmosphere of a derby in which 9,000 Chelsea voices could be heard and they were always in control.
The line-up may have been second stringish – much like Arsenal's – but it was far from being the youth team Mourinho threatened to field to spite the competition planners for staging it so soon after his team's weekend match.
Champions League winner Samuel Eto'o was introduced to the Capital One Cup for the first time and must have felt, given the vibe, that he had been missing out on something al these years.
Azpilicueta – given a generous name check in Mourinho's programme notes at the weekend for his patience as a fringe player - grabbed the opening goal on 25 minutes in a moment that bore an uncanny resemblance to the winner Fernando Torres cored against City.
Michael Essien, another of those almost forgotten figures at Stamford Bridge, bulldozed into a tackle and the ball ballooned up towards the Arsenal goal into Carl Jenkinson's orbit.
But the right back made a hash of his attempt to head back to keeper Lukasz Fabianski and Azpilicueta, reading the situation perfectly, stole in to volley in off the far post.
Mata made it 2-0 on 66 minutes with a strike from the edge of the area as Arsenal failed to deal with a throw in that Willian headed on into space for the little Spaniard.
The timing of the goal was sweet – coming a minute after Mezut Ozil had been introduced to help find a way back for the struggling Gunners, who looked second best throughout.
Mark Schwarzer, in for Petr Cech, watched a couple of shots whizz past his posts but had few real saves to make as the Blues cruised into the quarter-finals.
Line-up: Schwarzer; Azpilicueta, Cahill, David Luiz, Bertrand; Essien, Mikel; Mata (Kalas 90), De Bruyne (Ramires 68), Willian; Eto'o (Ba 82). Subs not used: Blackman, Ivanovic, Torres, Hazard.
Attendance: 59,455
