Chelsea Punch Their Ticket to the League Cup Final

Chelsea defeated a promising Liverpool side, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Capital One Cup to travel to the grandest stage of them all, Wembley Stadium.

It was expected that the Blues would notch this one up, and they did, outpacing every non-walking-alone Red.

The 'Pool were uncharacteristic underdogs entering the semis. They had a spark of inspiration from their young sensation, Raheem Sterling, to level the first-leg score at 1-1, but to prevail over Chelsea in their Stamford Bridge fortress needs more than few inspirational moments to carry the day.

It's no secret Liverpool has its problems. First, the strikers. Luis Suárez left and scoring went downhill. Now, days go by, with hopes Balo morphs into a vampire. Secondly, Steven Gerrard is past his prime and leaving; the good news in this regard may be, for how long? But that's not helping now.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are hitting jackpot after jackpot on their transfer market and club managers. As a result, they've won damn near every time they've taken the pitch, and they won here. It took a while for the winning goal -- and the only goal of the match -- but it came:

Branislav Ivanović is turning into a consistent late-game scorer for the Blues.

In the end, the predestined happened. Liverpool now have a tough task ahead of them to save their 2015 campaign. It may be only the season's midpoint, but it's already looking like it'll take a miracle just to qualify for European club competition.

Maybe it's a good thing they don't walk alone. That way, they'll have company in the wilderness.