Fabregas, Filipe Luis, and Ivanovic pick up minor injuries in League Cup semifinal win over Liverpool

It wasn't all good news and rustled jimmies as Chelsea eliminated Liverpool yesterday and booked a place in the Wembley final on March 1.  (And that's assuming the media's sudden obsession with stamp collecting doesn't result in actual, tangible bans for Diego Costa.)

Jose Mourinho was forced into two unscheduled changes as both Cesc Fàbregas and Filipe Luís picked up injuries, while Branislav Ivanović suffered a cut on his foot but finished out the game.

Just five minutes into the second half, it was John Terry who clattered into Fàbregas as they were both trying to desperately shut down the impressive Philippe Coutinho.  Terry did clear the ball, but Cesc stayed down and was substituted soon after.  Fortunately, Ramires was exactly the substitute that the doctor ordered -- his all-action style quite well suited to the haphazard, back-n-forth nature of the game -- and Willian proved a capable deputy in providing service from set pieces.

One other line: Fabregas has hamstring tweak. Mourinho said player told him: "I'm not injured, but I will be in a few minutes." #CFC

— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) January 27, 2015

Whether the injury was a direct result of the challenge or Cesc hurt himself in the process of going for the 50-50 is unclear and, in any case, academic.  With less than four days to go until the all-important Manchester City game, hopefully the Premier League's assist-leader can recover.

Another worrying injury may be Filipe Luís, who had to be helped off the pitch after picking up a calf problem.  While Cesar Azpilicueta is still presumably our first-choice left back, Luís has been playing quite a bit lately and any missed time would leave us with no real depth at the full back position outside of youngster Andreas Christensen and only-in-dire-emergency left back Nathan Aké.

Mourinho confirms Filipe Luis has a calf injury while Fabregas [hamstring] was precautionary -- Ivanovic also picked up a foot problem #CFC

— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) January 27, 2015

Wait, what's that last bit?  More full back concerns?

Mourinho: "Branislav Ivanovic's boot should be in the Academy, for the kids to see, the boot is full of blood. His foot was cut" #cfc

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) January 27, 2015

Oh, ok.  Nobody makes Bane bleed his own blood.  He'll be just fine.

Ivanovic's blood filled boot #warrior pic.twitter.com/4BddUAtguw

— Nour Agha (@NourAgha) January 28, 2015