Chelsea secured their passage into the Carabao Cup semi-finals in dramatic fashion as they beat Newcastle 4-2 on penalties after snatching a late 1-1 draw.
Callum Wilson had seemingly set Newcastle on course for victory with his 16th-minute goal, but Chelsea struck back in stoppage-time through Mykhailo Mudryk.
They then won on spot-kicks after Kieran Trippier – whose error allowed Mudryk in for the equaliser – and Matt Ritchie missed from 12 yards.
Newcastle, last season’s beaten finalists, will have to continue their wait for a first trophy since 1969 for a bit longer.
It was an enthralling opening. Chelsea were lucky not to find themselves down to 10 men early on after a really poor challenge from Moises Caicedo on Anthony Gordon. Were VAR in use at this stage of the competition, the Ecuadorian would have surely seen red. Minutes later, Conor Gallagher’s dipping effort from the edge of the box rattled the Newcastle crossbar.
The goal for Newcastle was a gift from Chelsea. Coming from a Blues attack down the other end, Levi Colwill’s loose pass in the direction of Caicedo allowed Wilson in, who then ran the ball forward before Benoit Badiashile’s stumble allowed the striker into the box to finish coolly past Djordje Petrovic.
Win or lose, Eddie Howe would have been hoping to have got through the 90 minutes without any more injury problems, but early in the second half he saw star man Gordon hobble off.
SkySports
