IT WAS a night when Chelsea’s billionaire boys club was guilty of playing some Hackney Marshes football. <br /><br />And a night when a local lad called Hackney had Middlesbrough dreaming of Wembley. <br /><br />Mauricio Pochettino’s arm-and-a-leg side might still make it to the Carabao Cup final - unfortunately for Boro, they are not going to scrap two-legged semi-finals in this competition until next season. <br /><br />But while Chelsea dominated possession and showed flashes of expensive quality, they were wasteful in front of goal and worryingly fragile in defense. <br /><br />Michael Carrick’s Championship side were worthy of their first-leg victory, courtesy of Hayden Hackney, their England Under-21 midfielder from nearby Redcar. <br /><br />And Chelsea have some serious work to do in the return leg at Stamford Bridge in a fortnight if they are to overhaul Boro and reach their first final of the post-Abramovich era. <br /><br />This is a competition that used to be considered small fry for Chelsea but for Pochettino, as well as for Todd Boehly and his chaotic Clearlake ownership crew, it would mean the world. <br /><br />This is a talented but naive side, marooned in mid-table in the Premier League, which could well need a domestic cup to qualify for Europe next season.<br /><br />There were simply too many players in Blues shirts who were off it against a Boro side who defended with stoicism and showed glimpses of genuine class - as their chairman Steve Gibson celebrated his 66th birthday in some style. <br /><br />Hackney, who played wide-left here and has the hunched gate of Chris Waddle, is one to watch. <br /><br />Isaiah Jones was too speedy for Levi Colwill, who had a shocking first half.<br /><br />But Cole Palmer, starting as Chelsea’s makeshift center-forward, was guilty of two glaring first-half misses as Pochettino’s men were left frustrated.<br /><br />The Blues haven’t won a trophy since the 2021 Club World Cup - the sort of gap that was virtually unthinkable during the Abramovich years. <br /><br />For Boro, it was a first major semi-final since the 2006 UEFA Cup, and a chance to relive the marquee nights that used to be regular here a generation ago. <br /><br />Within the first minute, Colwill’s dodgy back-header let in Emmanuel Latte Lath but the Ivorian injured himself as he scuffed his shot at Djordje Petrovic and Axel Disasi slid in.<br /><br />Both Latte Lath and Alex Bangura were forced off through injury in the opening 20 minutes but Carrick’s boys were holding their own.<br /><br />Chelsea’s fans, recalling the 1997 FA Cup final between these two clubs, were singing for Roberto Di Matteo. <br /><br />Who says they ‘ain’t got no history’? It’s the present that’s bothering them. <br /><br />Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, the most expensive midfield duo in the history of mankind, were hardly pulling up any trees against Championship opposition. <br /><br />Noni Madueke forced a corner with a darting run and a saucy outside-of-the-boot centre was headed narrowly over by Colwill.<br /><br />But Chelsea’s first clear sight of goal came from a dozy Boro error as skipper Jonny Howson’s pass fell straight to Palmer,
