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Blues edged out in extra time

Everton 1 - 2 Chelsea [AET]

Everton hauled themselves back into this Carling Cup Fourth Round tie against 10-man Chelsea with a Louis Saha goal in the 82nd minute, could have won it when Denis Straqualursi somehow missed from six yards and then lost it in extra time when Jan Mucha could only parry into the path of Daniel Sturridge. The striker made no mistake in converting the rebound six minutes from the end and the Blues were sent out of the competition.

Ultimately, it was a game that turned with the dismissal for a second yellow card of Royston Drenthe in the first period of extra time. Everton had the momentum with an extra man but they couldn't find a second goal before the Dutchman went in with a second clumsy challenge of the night and referee Lee Mason had little option but to bring the teams level in terms of personnel with a red card.

David Moyes named a fairly strong side with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Louis Saha, Tim Cahill, John Heitinga and Jan Mucha coming into the side as changes from the team that started at Fulham.

The home side started well, with Saha in particular looking in the mood in the first 10 minutes, the Frenchman forcing a terrific save from Ross Turnbull before testing the Chelsea 'keeper from 30 yards with another well-struck effort.

But that good opening looked to have been ruined when John Heitinga dived in with an ill-advised tackle in Nicolas Anelka, sending the striker tumbling to the turf and prompting referee Lee Mason to award a penalty.

Anelka himself stepped up to take the spot kick and sent a wave of relief around Goodison Park when he chipped wide of Mucha's goal.

Barely two minutes later, the away fans were baying for another penalty when Sylvain Distin tripped Anelka right on the edge of the box but the referee waved play on.

Heitinga then drilled a free kick narrowly wide before Malouda put Lukaku past Heitinga and Mucha helped his shot across goal behind for a corner.

Bilyaletdinov shot straight at Turnbull from Drenthe's centre but just as the Blues were looking to get back on top, a terrible error by Mucha gifted the visitors the lead when he allowed Salomon Kalou's soft chip to run through his hands.

Distin headed inches wide from a corner in first-half stoppage time sending the Blues into the break a goal down.

It was increasingly lively stuff in the second half with Hibbert replacing Neville, until it culminated in Chelsea keeper Turnbull getting a red card for bringing down Saha. Baines waited for Cech to replace him, and fired it straight down the middle, enabling Cech to save but the rebound came back to Baines and he smashed teh rebound straight at Cech again.

Everton piled on the pressure, a great Bilyaletdinov header requiring another superb save to keep Everton at bay. Drenthe was another force pushing Everton forward.

It seemed, though that Everton's surge after Chelsea were down to 10 men ran out of ideas until Moyes finally gave up on Bily and put Coleman into the fray. And it wasn't long until a perfect cross from Coleman was met with a deft header by Saha, who loves scoring against Chelsea, 1-1 with 7 mins to go extra time...

Coleman was the catalyst who fired Everton forward again and again, searching for a winner that would avoid the extra time non-one wanted. It was end-to-end frenetic stuff in a breathless last few minutes. But Everton could not get past Cech again and the tie went into extra time, where Drenthe was ejected for a second yellow card.

David Moyes named a fairly strong side with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Louis Saha, Tim Cahill, John Heitinga and Jan Mucha coming into the side as changes from the team that started at Fulham.

The home side started well, with Saha in particular looking in the mood in the first 10 minutes, the Frenchman forcing a terrific save from Ross Turnbull before testing the Chelsea 'keeper from 30 yards with another well-struck effort.

But that good opening looked to have been ruined when John Heitinga dived in with an ill-advised tackle in Nicolas Anelka, sending the striker tumbling to the turf and prompting referee Lee Mason to award a penalty.

Anelka himself stepped up to take the spot kick and sent a wave of relief around Goodison Park when he chipped wide of Mucha's goal.

Barely two minutes later, the away fans were baying for another penalty when Sylvain Distin tripped Anelka right on the edge of the box but the referee waved play on.

Heitinga then drilled a free kick narrowly wide before Malouda put Lukaku past Heitinga and Mucha helped his shot across goal behind for a corner.

Bilyaletdinov shot straight at Turnbull from Drenthe's centre but just as the Blues were looking to get back on top, a terrible error by Mucha gifted the visitors the lead when he allowed Salomon Kalou's soft chip to run through his hands.

Distin headed inches wide from a corner in first-half stoppage time sending the Blues into the break a goal down.

It was increasingly lively stuff in the second half with Hibbert replacing Neville, until it culminated in Chelsea keeper Turnbull getting a red card for bringing down Saha. Baines waited for Cech to replace him, and fired it straight down the middle, enabling Cech to save but the rebound came back to Baines and he smashed teh rebound straight at Cech again.

Everton piled on the pressure, a great Bilyaletdinov header requiring another superb save to keep Everton at bay. Drenthe was another force pushing Everton forward.

It seemed, though that Everton's surge after Chelsea were down to 10 men ran out of ideas until Moyes finally gave up on Bily and put Coleman into the fray. And it wasn't long until a perfect cross from Coleman was met with a deft header by Saha, who loves scoring against Chelsea, 1-1 with 7 mins to go extra time...

Coleman was the catalyst who fired Everton forward again and again, searching for a winner that would avoid the extra time non-one wanted. It was end-to-end frenetic stuff in a breathless last few minutes. But Everton could not get past Cech again and the tie went into extra time, where Drenthe was ejected for a second yellow card.

With four minutes left until penalties, Sturridge followed up on a Malouda shot Mucha had saved to tuck it into the corner and seal the tie for the Londoners, ending Everton's futile quest for this trophy once again.

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