Newcastle stun Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea crashed out of the Carling Cup on Wednesday after a thrilling encounter with Newcastle United ended in a 4–3 defeat for the home team.
Led by Shola Ameobi, Newcastle came back from a one-goal deficit to earn a 3–1 lead. Ameobi got the winning goal in stoppage time after Chelsea had fought back to 3–3.
"It was a fantastic game. We played with fantastic sprit and came back in the game," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said after the memorable cup match. "It was a good evening."
Early lead for Chelsea
Chelsea youngster Patrick van Aanholt dispossessed the Newcastle defence after six minutes. Van Aanholt's shot went straight at keeper Tim Krul, who could only steer the ball into the net.
Newcaslte were soon back on level terms. With 27 minutes played, Shane Ferguson advanced down the left flank, sending a cross towards Peter Lovenkrands, whose header was going wide before Nile Ranger threw
himself at the ball at the far post to score.
Ameobi was fouled by Jeffrey Bruma on the edge of the Chelsea box five minutes later. Defender Ryan Taylor lined up to hit a swerving strike that found Ross Tumbull's far corner before the keeper could
react. Ameobi then came close after skipping past Bruma, but his shot was cleared by the Chelsea defence.
Paulo Ferreira hit a disastrous pass across his own defence four minutes after half-time. His loose ball was easily picked up by the inspired Ameobi, who began his run at Rodrigo Alex Dias da Costa, on
for John Terry at half-time, and when the Brazilian gifted him one yard too many he hit a low shot in the near corner that Tumbull probably should have saved.
Chelsea were then hit by two successive injuries to Salomon Kalou, himself a substitute, and Yossi Benayoun. With all three substitutions used, Benayoun could not be replaced, and Ancelotti's faced an
uphill battle with only ten men on the field.
Alex hit the post after a free-kick before Nicolas Anelka received a precise cut-back from van Aanhoult with 70 minutes played, guiding the ball into the far corner of the net to start Chelsea's comeback.
Alex earned his team a penalty after making minimal contact with the Newcastle defence in the area. Anelka stepped up and hit a cool penalty into Krul's left corner to put Chelsea level with four minutes
of ordinary time remaining.
Ferreira comes close before Ameobi gets final say
Ferreira then hit a spectacular volley from Anelka's cross, but his curling effort hit the outside of the post.
It was Ameobi who got the last word in injury time, as he approached Lovenkrands' corner at the near post and directed it into the far corner to send his team through to the fourth round of the competition.
The Carling Cup was the only domestic trophy that evaded Chelsea last season. The team will now focus on defending its FA Cup title and the Premier League.
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