First things first a bit of good news, my Sporting Chance bet came off! So stay tuned for tomorrow because we're on a winning streak. Anyway on to the game:
The first thing that caught my eye was how empty the Stadium of Light was tonight, it seemed the Sunderland fans weren't holding out much hope. Big mistake! Yes, Sunderland were underdogs and the gulf between the teams on paper seemed massive with Chelsea's bench alone costing around £140m. But 8 changes from the weekend for the Blues showed that they were still a little shaky, something Sunderland capitalised on in the opening 15 minutes when they were the better team. Their start was quite promising but possession soon began to level out. Chances were few and far between in the first half. Giaccherini was brought down by David Luiz for a yellow card just before the half hour mark. There were also two appeals for handball from Sunderland, before a Willian shot was deflected slightly wide for their London opponents. Before the half time whistle nothing really came to fruition for either team Adam Johnson made a decent run into the box only to lack the finish to complete the move.
After the break Chelsea immediately went for the jugular with Lampard pouncing on an Azpilicueta cross to drive the ball home from 2 yards. Hawkeye would be used to confirm that the ball had crossed the line, something which was only really disputed by the Sunderland players. Chelsea now began to dominate possession and Samuel Eto'o could have killed the game off when he intercepted a poor backpass, but he scuffed his finsihed wide. Substitute Ki Sung-Yueng then seemed to add new spark to the Sunderland team just before the hour mark. Surprisingly the biggest cheer of the night then came for a streaker running on the pitch, allowing Chelsea some time to recover after facing some pressure from the Black Cats. A quiet period then followed with a straight shot by Cattermole easily saved by Schwarzer. Azpilicueta then went off injured to be replaced by Mikkel Essien who slipped into the right back position. The game seemed to ease off for a few minutes, but both teams quickly showed a desire to swing for the fences as strikers Demba Ba and Fabio Borini were brought on as substitutes. With 10 minutes to go Hazard was also brought on looking to repeat some of the damage he had inflicted on the Mackems 2 weeks ago, but this was Borini's time to shine. Chelsea only had themselves to blame for failing to improve upon their narrow one goal lead, as Borini picked up on a rebounded shot from Altidore to hammer the ball home and take the fixture to extra time.
The first half of extra time was fairly quiet with Sunderland's keep Vitor Mannone forced into a few relatively easy saves, but Sunderland quickly established themselves as the team most likely to edge it. They pressed Chelsea hard and showed a greater will to win than Mourinho's men: chasing every ball, going hard into every tackle, tracking back to help the defence.
The second half began with Essien making a risky challenge against Giaccherini on the edge of the box for a yellow card. Larsson put in the free kick which was saved, but followed by a few dangerous rebounds until Chelsea were finally let off the hook. With 5 minutes to spare Ki pulled off a great diving header only to be denied by a superb Schwarzer save, but the Korean wasn't finished just yet. It seemed a stale mate had been reached and this was only heading in one direction - penalties! But no there was more drama to come, and Ki would take centre stage. With just two minutes to spare a cross was put into the box, Borini took it down and seemed to be looking for his second but instead slid it to his Korean teammate, Ki who composed himself and smashed it home into the back of the net leaving Schwarzer without a hope in hell of making a save. All that was left was for Schwarzer to helplessly fish the ball out and prepare for the restart, where Sunderland would see off the final moments comfortably.
Ki was the difference maker tonight, and grinned widely as he picked up a yellow card for taking his shirt off during his jubilant celebration. Ki won this trophy with Swansea last season and seems keen on repeating that feat as he netted his first Sunderland goal, and boy what a time to get it!
This win takes Sunderland's initially "far-fetched" ambition of silverware one step closer to reality as they advance to the semi-finals alongside Manchester City who beat Leicester City 3-1 tonight. It also gives them renewed confidence which will be vital in their bid to mount an escape from the relegation zone over this festive period. As for Chelsea another setback as Jose Mourinho's love affair with the League Cup ends, and I'm sure he'll face some searching questions in his press conference after the game. And with Premier League sackings abundant at the moment, Mourinho has just lost a credible opportunity to justify himself as a winning manager to his employers at the end of the season.
Man of the Match: Lee Cattermole
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Now we look to tomorrow for the two other quarter finals: with Sporting Chance and the report for the Stoke vs Manchester United game to be posted shortly
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