HACKNEY DIAMONDS

Hero Hayden gives battling Boro an advantage and leaves Poch and his wasteful Blues staring at a shock cup failure

HAYDEN HACKNEY evoked memories of Middlesbrough's glory days as he fired Michael Carrick's side to within 90 minutes of Wembley.

Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea millionaires bottled the first leg of this Carabao Cup semi-final as the England Under-21 midfielder gave the Teessiders a narrow lead.

Blues boss Pochettino is now under huge pressure to conjure a revival against the Championship side who were snappy, intense and tactically well-organised Pictures of Boro's only cup triumph - the League Cup two decades ago adorn the training ground and are seen by their players every day at work.

On this evidence they could get another crack at a final.

The omens were not great for Boro given the recent history of these fixtures, with Chelsea winning their last nine clashes without conceding.

But it took a route one move to smash that statistic and put Chelsea's hopes in peril. Jonny Howson pinged a quick ball forward over the top to find wing-back Isaiah Jones.