Chelsea pulled off a heart-stopping comeback to beat Newcastle and reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Callum Wilson's first-half goal looked to be sending the Toon through on Tuesday night before Mykhailo Mudryk struck in added time to rescue the Blues, earning a penalty shootout which Chelsea won after Kieran Trippier's miss and Djordje Petrovic's save from Matt Ritchie.
The early signs were good for Chelsea when Conor Gallagher cracked the crossbar within the first ten minutes, yet Newcastle started brightly and energetically off the ball - which helped force the opening goal.
Levi Colwill's loose pass evaded Moises Caicedo and the visitors broke quickly, yet even when both Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile got themselves between Wilson and the ball he still somehow snuck through to calmly finish past the goalkeeper.
Chelsea shook off their rattled response and went close twice in quick succession through Raheem Sterling, whose second attempt drew a vital goalline block from Bruno Guimaraes.
Chelsea make it through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup! 🔵🏆 pic.twitter.com/ueL1YWVQZj
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) December 19, 2023
Armando Broja, on for the unwell Enzo Fernandez, then broke behind the Newcastle line to chip home a finish as the offside flag went up.
Nicolas Jackson and Sterling went close after the break before Mauricio Pochettino reached for his trump card, the debutant Christopher Nkunku off the bench with just over 20 minutes left to go.
The dream scenario appeared to unfold as Sterling broke free and rolled the ball to Nkunku on his shoulder, but the pass was overhit and Newcastle escaped once again just as Chelsea's unrelenting pressure threatened to finally earn a breakthrough.
It was a former Blue who first came closest to levelling however, Tino Livramento's risky headed clearance denying Malo Gusto a tap-in but almost nestling in his own net.
And then fellow Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier handed Chelsea the route back into the game they had been praying for, poorly controlling a deep cross to see Mudryk in to score two minutes into injury time.
In the shootout, the first three penalties were dispatched before Trippier drilled his spot-kick wide. Chelsea's four perfect efforts were enough after Ritchie was spectacularly denied by Petrovic.
