Chelsea suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak against Manchester City in the EFL Cup final.

Jorginho and David Luiz missed the decisive spot kicks for the Blues following an astonishing incident involving manager Maurizio Sarri and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in extra time.

The Spaniard refused to leave the pitch when Sarri attempted to replace him with Willy Caballero with his final substitution.

The show went on with Kepa in goal, only for Raheem Sterling to fire home the winning spot kick for City.

Simon Johnson was at Wembley to provide analysis for Standard Sport.

Sarri’s change of tactics buys him more time, but farcical scenes leave a cloud

Finally the penny dropped for the Italian and he made alterations to his tactics for a big game.

Sarri may have won few friends with his negative approach – especially in the first half - but he has proved to the fans and more importantly the board that he might not quite so stubborn after all.

By switching back to using Eden Hazard as a ‘false nine’, with Willian and Pedro supporting on the flanks, Chelsea were far harder to beat.

It wasn’t really set up as the trademark 4-3-3 system, but more of a 4-5-1 and it frustrated Pep Guardiola’s men for long periods.

Of course the downside of the tactic was that Chelsea carried very little threat in the opposing penalty area initially and the entertaining football he was hired to provide at Stamford Bridge was nowhere to be seen.

But given Chelsea were humiliated 6-0 trying to play their expansive way a fortnight ago, the club’s supporters must have preferred seeing them battle it out like this instead.

He even abandoned the customary Ross Barkley – Mateo Kovacic substitution to put crowd favourite Callum Hudson-Odoi on instead. Perhaps more surprising was Ruben Loftus-Cheek replacing Ross Barkley rather than Kovacic.

However, apart from losing on penalties, a positive outing turned for the worse with the bizarre situation at the end involving the aborted substitution of Kepa.

It looked like the latter overruled his coach and stayed on, despite Willy Caballero being prepared to come on.

Sarri was incandescent with rage and Antonio Rudiger appeared to have to physically restrain him from going after the Spain international in the interval before the penalties.

The controversy aside, Sarri should live to fight another day and get to prepare for the League game against Tottenham on Wednesday.

A penny for Eden Hazard’s thoughts

One of the consequences of Chelsea playing this way is that it is unlikely to appeal to their best player.

Hazard has spoken on numerous occasions about he doesn’t like to lead the line because it restricts what he can do.

That was clear for all to see as in the first 36 minutes; the 28-year-old had mustered a mere 10 touches of the ball.

When you have the possibility of a move to Real Madrid in the offing, it is games like this that will have him dreaming even more of the freedom of the Bernabeu.

But credit to Hazard, he worked tirelessly throughout, clearing balls from the edge of Chelsea’s area.

The Belgium international was inevitably the Blues’ main threat when they did go forward and there were a couple of occasions where it looked like he was taking on the Manchester City defence on his own.

He laid on two glorious chances for his team-mates in the second half but N’Golo Kante blazed one over the bar and Pedro bizarrely didn’t shoot at goal for the other.

Redemption for Rudiger and David Luiz

There were many Chelsea players that were embarrassed against City last time out, but the first choice centre half pairing were particularly humbled.

Luiz and Rudiger were all over the place as City players swarmed around them, capitalising on every mistake.

Of course the fact they weren’t offered much protection from those around them didn’t help, but they looked completely bewildered.

It was a similar story on Monday night when Manchester United knocked the holders out of the FA Cup.

But here they were fantastic, putting their bodies on the line to keep even the mighty Sergio Aguero quiet for 120 minutes.

Granted Luiz missed a crucial spot kick but Chelsea will hope that they can maintain this level of performance from now until the end of the campaign.

Emerson first choice left back at Chelsea?

The question has to be asked now the Brazilian international was selected ahead of Marcos Alonso this afternoon.

It is believed Alonso wasn’t carrying an injury and that Sarri simply preferred Emerson instead.

To add to Alonso’s woes, he wasn’t even chosen as one of the seven substitutes either and this will surely spark more speculation that he is not on good terms with the Chelsea coach.

However, no-one can say that Sarri got it wrong. Emerson’s superior pace and energy was one of the reasons why Chelsea were able to negate the defending League champions.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if he keeps his place for the visit of Spurs in three days’ time.

Raheem Sterling has the last laugh

Back in December, Sterling was on the receiving end of abuse from Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge.

Four Chelsea supporters were suspended and are still subject of an investigation from the Metropolitan Police.

In the aftermath Sterling was vocal on what he considered to be an agenda against him in the media as much as from people in the stands.

But my how has he responded since then as he has been a key element in City’s pursuit of a quadruple.

After scoring a brace against Chelsea a fortnight ago, he came back to haunt them yet again with the winning penalty at Wembley.

The fact that it was at the Chelsea end would have given him even more satisfaction.

It was a fine reward for an impressive individual showing, where he threatened Chelsea with his pace and dribbling.

This success will also help Guardiola’s men push on in the other three competitions and it will take a very good side to stop them now.