Chelsea beaten by bold Blackburn in classic cup tie

Blackburn Rovers 3 Chelsea 3 (4-3 on penalties). Blackburn brought an end to Chelsea's nine-game unbeaten run in a highly entertaining Carling Cup quarter final at Ewood Park last night which will have at least given some comfort to the runaway Premier League leader's rivals. The Lancashire team will now face Aston Villa in the semis and will feel they have a good shot at getting their hands back on a trophy that they last won in 2002, especially since the two Manchester clubs were drawn together in the other semi final.

However Rovers had to dig deep for their victory on penalties, and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will be proud of the way his side stayed in this encounter despite playing the last 45 minutes of the 120 with just ten men after Salomon Kalou went off injured with all Ancelotti's substitutions made. Although absent as he recovers from heart surgery, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce will be elated that his resolute side turned over the Londoners, having been thrashed 5-0 by them in their meeting at Stamford Bridge in October.

The hosts started very brightly, setting the tone for a classic cup match, and Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic had already shot wide before he put Rovers ahead in the ninth minute. Pascal Chimbonda brought the ball forward, exchanged a neat one-two with Morton Gamst Pederson, then centred for Kalinic to tap home. Chelsea attempted to fight back, but their finishing was poor and Kalou, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Yuri Zhirkov all scorned good chances to level in the first half.

Ancelotti's commitment to the tie was apparent when Chelsea appeared after the interval with the Italian having made all three substitutions, bringing on Jeffrey Bruma, Transfer-gate starlet Gael Kakuta and Didier Drogba, and within three minutes of the restart the Ivorian goal machine was on the score sheet. A Florent Malouda cross was expertly dispatched past Paul Robinson, and when the visitors took the lead four minutes later through Kalou it looked as if the floodgates would open.

Drogba's compatriot Kalou should have added a third, but instead the next goal fell to Blackburn, as a deflected cross from Brett Emerton found its way past Hilario in the Chelsea goal. The injury to Kalou gave fresh impetus to Rovers and they appeared to have snatched the tie in injury time, but Benny McCarthy's strike was deemed offside. Rovers went ahead again within three minutes of extra time kicking off, when McCarthy made no mistakes with a penalty after Zhirkov was adjudged to have fouled David Hoilett in a goalmouth scramble.

Chelsea refused to give up, and deep into time added on to the second period of extra time Paulo Ferreira shot past Robinson to take the match to penalties. Ballack's first effort for the Blues was saved by the excellent Robinson, and while the goalscorer Kalinic's was also denied from the spot, Rovers celebrated when Kakuta couldn't get the ball past the Rovers keeper and the home side were through 4-3. ·