Gary Cahill believes Chelsea showed tremendous character to come back and pick up a morale-boosting 5-4 victory over Manchester United in the League Cup, after suffering a demoralizing 3-2 defeat to the same team last Sunday.
The Blues came from a goal down on three occasions in normal time, before putting the game to bed in the extra period. The final equalizer, to make it 3-3, came via a penalty after Scott Wootton bundled Ramires inside the box, with Eden Hazard stepping up under immense pressure and calmly placing it into the back of the net.
"It was a massive moment us, and Eden put it away nicely," said Cahill, who scored the goal that made it 2-2. "We had a lot of chances and we could have put the game to bed a lot earlier than we did, but thankfully we managed to get a good battling result."
Chelsea, however, with all their attacking prowess, have looked shaky at the back, conceding nine goals in the last three games, and it is a trend that Cahill is desperate to stop.
"It is not ideal for defenders, letting goals in and there were a couple of mistakes, but that is how football is and we showed great character to come back from that," he said.
"We showed character to come back (from two goals down) in Sunday's game as well, and thankfully we were on the right end of the result this time.
"We have been more free-flowing this season, creating lots of chances up front, and maybe at times it does leave you more open at the back, but it is entertaining to watch and the most important thing is we are creating chances and scoring goals nearly every game.
"Defensively this season we have been strong most games, and we need to get back to that, but in these crazy cup games you just need to get them won."
The Blues now travel to Wales to take on a dangerous Swansea side, full of confidence after their 3-1 victory over Liverpool in the League Cup. "It was a tough game when we went there last season and drew 1-1," Cahill added. "It is going to be tough again but we have some momentum from Wednesday night and it was important to win after two disappointing games."
