Havertz suffers gruesome broken finger that forces Chelsea star off vs Tottenham

 

Chelsea ace Kai Havertz went from ecstasy to agony after breaking his little finger in Chelsea's comprehensive 2-0 win over Tottenham in Wednesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.

The German striker fired the Blues into a fifth-minute lead before a farcical own goal from Ben Davies doubled the hosts' advantage.

Spurs failed to muster a response after the break, leaving Chelsea to head into next week's return leg with a 2-0 advantage.

But it came at a price for Havertz – who suffered his gruesome injury after his momentum carried him into Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris immediately after his strike.

The 22-year-old also suffered a bang to the head just before the break and, unsurprisingly, didn't re-emerge after the break.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed after the match that Havertz was withdrawn after breaking his finger.

"Kai, I think he broke his finger," Tuchel told Sky Sports. "He played through the pain for the first half but then it was too much. Hopefully it's not too big an issue."

On the bright side, Havertz finally ended his barren run in front of goal.

The £72million man hadn't found the net since he notched in November's 1-1 draw with Burnley and failed to convince in a brief stint in a central striking role over the past month with both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both sidelined.

But Havertz should have done enough to impress Tuchel during his 45-minute cameo role on the left of a front three.

The result ensured that former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was made to endure a rotten return to Stamford Bridge.

The Italian enjoyed a trophy-laden two-year stint with the Blues before he was ruthlessly axed by Chelsea chief Roman Abramovich back in 2018.

And he could only watch his Spurs side put in a sorry display under the lights in west London.