SOCCER/Chelsea - 1 Charlton - 1: Brian Hughes held his nerve to knock holders Chelsea out of the League Cup in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at Stamford Bridge. Robert Huth was the villain for the home side as they joined Liverpool, ironically the beaten finalists last year, as shock losers. It was also their first defeat of the season.
Chelsea, having been held at Everton on Sunday, were similarly frustrated for 120 minutes as Charlton came back to take the game into extra-time.
John Terry had given Chelsea a deserved lead just four minutes before half-time but their advantage did not even last until the interval, Darren Bent scoring in stoppage time. And as the seconds ticked away towards the end of the 90 minutes last night it was the away side that almost won it, the substitute Jay Bothroyd bringing an excellent save from Carlo Cudicini with a stinging 20-yard shot.
There was a growing sense of inevitability before Chelsea took the lead. In the 37th minute Arjen Robben's left-wing corner found Huth unmarked, but the German headed well wide of goal. Four minutes later another inswinging corner from the Dutchman found Chelsea's other centre-back, and Terry headed emphatically home.
At the other end Bent was finding himself increasingly isolated against the Chelsea defence. Helpfully Huth created the equaliser for them, his hopelessly short back-header presenting the former Ipswich striker with a simple finish.
Five minutes after the break Terry threatened to restore their lead, with a first-time left-foot shot from 20 yards drifting narrowly wide. Few would have expected the centre-back to score in those circumstances, but the same could not be said of Gudjohnsen when Robben played him in after 57 minutes. The Iceland international ran into the penalty area but shot too close to Andersen and the ball bounced to safety.
Charlton created a chance in the 69th minute, and it came from an increasingly familiar source. This time it was Huth's right foot that let him down rather than his head, but the outcome was almost identical to the moment that Charlton equalised. The German's back-pass encouraged Bent to hare goalwards but this time Cudicini saved.
CHELSEA: Cudicini; Ferreira, Huth, Terry, Bridge (Lampard, 61); Wright-Phillips (Cole, 61), Geremi , Essien , Gudjohnsen, Robben; Crespo (Drogba, 83). Subs not used Cech, Diarra.
CHARLTON ATHLETIC: Andersen; Young, El Karkouri, Hreidarsson, Powell; Rommedahl (Thomas, 65), Holland, Murphy (Kishishev, 82), Hughes, Ambrose (Bothroyd, 73); Bent. Subs not used: Kiely, Spector.
Referee: A Wiley
