It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Garnacho's introduction at half-time helped changed the game on Tuesday night.

Cardiff City might ply their trade in League One but their performance was not one of a side two division below the Blues, as the Welsh club were arguably the better side in the first half.

Enzo Maresca had made 11 changes to his starting XI and with the game goalless at the interval, the head coach opted to introduce Garnacho and Joao Pedro from the bench. It worked.

The pair had an immediate impact as the Blues started to create chances and when Facundo Buonanotte intercepted a routine pass out from the back and fed the ball to Garnacho, Chelsea had the opener.

The winger calmly found the back of the net with the help of the far post and then came the customary celebration, as he took a seat on the advertising hording facing the pitch alongside Buonanotte, as delighted Chelsea fans patted him on the back.

‘It was good to do my celebration with the fans. It is funny because whenever I do it, one team-mate does it with me and it is funny,' Alejandro said.

‘I am really happy to be a part of this club. We have a really good group and a really good team so we can try to win something this season.

‘The fans always help us when we play away and in games like this so we are really happy [with the win].’

David Turnbull's impressive header for Cardiff 15 minutes from time looked as though it might send the game to penalties but after Pedro Neto put us back in front, Garnacho wrapped up the victory in injury-time with an even better finish than the first.

‘Enzo [Maresca] just told me ‘play your game and try to help your team’. And that is what I did,' Garnacho said.

‘Sometimes it is with goals, other times it is with hard work or other things but I will always try to help my team. Today it was with goals so I am really happy to score.’

It wasn't our best performance of the season at Cardiff, as we struggled against the League One leaders in the first half.

But Garnacho highlighted how in games like this, the opposition's increased motivation can be a factor.

He said: ‘Sometimes you play these types of games where you think it will be easier than in Premier League games but it is not like this.

‘These teams do not know when they will next play a club like Chelsea again so it is a bit like a final for them. They did a really good job.

'Playing away is never easy but we played a little bit better [second half] and we won the game so we are happy to be in the semi-final.’

Garnacho is one of the few Chelsea players who has a League Cup winner's medal, after being on the bench for Manchester United's triumph in 2023, and the 21-year-old is looking to add to his collection, which also includes the Copa America and FA Cup in 2024, with Chelsea this year.

He concluded: ‘When you play at Chelsea you have to fight in all of the competitions and this is one more. We will try to reach Wembley and the final, and win another trophy for the club.’