Chelsea produced a highly professional performance to ease their way into the final of the Carling Cup with a 1-0 (3-1 aggregate) victory over a lacklustre Everton at Goodison Park.

Joe Cole got the killer goal 21 minutes from time as he superbly took down a beautiful cross field pass from Florent Malouda before firing home a lethal finish that completely deflated the previously boisterous home fans.

With a one goal advantage from the first-leg, Chelsea knew that they could sit back and allow Everton to try and take the game to them but that was a task that always looked beyond the toothless Toffees.

Chelsea will now look to defend the trophy they won last year in a London derby against Tottenham on Sunday February 24th - with Spurs having beaten Arsenal last night.

However, Everton's only hope of returning to their first cup final since the 1995 FA Cup decider now rests with the UEFA Cup as they are now out of both domestic cup competitions.

While the game was still 0-0, Everton were always in with a chance, but with Andy Johnson up front on his own they could create nothing more than a couple of significant moments.

Joleon Lescott saw a decent header saved by Petr Cech in the first-half and in a little five minute spell of pressure early in the second-half Phil Neville and Phil Jagielka both came close, but in truth, Chelsea always looked more dangerous.

Just after the re-start the visitors nearly went in front when the highly impressive Nicolas Anelka curled an effort off the bar, as Avram Grant's side looked to close out the tie.

That aim was eventually achieved when Cole fired home his superb goal in front of the watching Fabio Capello, as Chelsea hardly missed their host of absentees, which included Michael Ballack who was a late withdrawal with a calf strain.

Johnson nearly put Everton back into the game moments after Cole's goal with Cech being forced into a good save, but in the closing moments the only side that looked like scoring was Chelsea.

Seán Fay / Eurosport