Times:
Chelsea crash out of Carling Cup after Gael Kakuta's miss in penalty shoot-out
Blackburn Rovers 3 Chelsea 3 (aet; 2-2 after 90min; Blackburn win 4-3 on pens)
Tony Barrett
When it was revealed, earlier this week, that Carlo Ancelotti has been bringing smiles to the faces of his players, little could the Chelsea manager have suspected that those expressions of joy could be jeopardised by a trip to Blackburn.
A little more than a month after Chelsea’s disposition had been lifted to new heights, thanks to a 5-0 hammering of Blackburn Rovers, they were beaten after extra time and penalties in an enthralling and keenly fought Carling Cup quarter-final tie with the same opponents.
The fateful penalty fell to Gaël Kakuta, the youngster at the centre of the suspended transfer window ban on the West London club, with Paul Robinson saving well to give the convalescing Sam Allardyce, at home recovering from heart surgery, the best possible pick-me-up.
Strikes earlier by Brett Emerton and Nikola Kalinic — a player regarded in his native Croatia as a genuine star in the making — were cancelled out by goals from Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou and although Blackburn thought that they had snatched a winner in stoppage time, Benni McCarthy’s effort was ruled out for offside.
The South Africa striker thought that he had second chance of glory after scoring from the penalty spot afterf David Hoilett had been brought down by Michael Ballack. But Chelsea, down to ten men after Kalou went off injury, with Ancelotti having used all his substitutions at half-time, extended the match to the dramatic shoot-out when Paulo Ferreira scoring in the second minute of time added on.
Ancelotti gambled with his team selection, making eight changes to the side that had dismantled Arsenal with such ruthless precision on Sunday. Only Branislav Ivanovic, Joe Cole and John Obi Mikel were retained, with the teamsheet supplied before kick-off serving notice that the Chelsea manager’s priorities this week lie with Saturday’s trip to the City of Manchester Stadium and a club who are trying to emulate the West London side’s big-spending master plan for success.
While there may not have been a John Terry, an Ashley Cole or a Nicolas Anelka, there were still at least eight players wearing navy blue and fluorescent yellow who have realistic hopes of being involved at the World Cup finals in South Africa next year. That was the size of the task facing Blackburn, who, as is the fashion these days, had also cut their Carling Cup cloth accordingly.
Should he ever establish himself in English football, Kalinic, who possesses intelligent movement and instinctive finishing skills, will have a lot to thank the Carling Cup for. In the previous round, he opened his Blackburn account with a well-taken goal against Peterborough United and, last night, Kalinic again found the competition to his liking when he finished off a well-worked move to give the home side the lead.
While Kalinic’s incentive was to try to make his name, the motivation for several Chelsea players was to prove to Ancelotti that they can play a greater role in the side’s assault on football’s biggest prizes. Kalou, consigned to bench-warming status by the superlative pairing of Anelka and Drogba, certainly could have boosted his prospects of a more regular first-team place had he found the back of the net with a diving header instead of guiding his effort wide as Chelsea went in search of an equaliser.
Ancelotti was clearly not impressed with what he was seeing and even a shot by Michael Ballack into the side-netting shortly before the interval was not enough to stop the Italian from taking drastic action at half-time. Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti and Deco were replaced by Drogba, Gaël Kakuta and Nemanja Matic as the manager sent out a clear message that he expected a great deal more urgency in the second period.
As has been the case so often throughout the early stages of this season, Ancelotti’s instinct paid off, only on this occasion surely even he was taken aback by just how quickly his adventure reaped dividends because within seven minutes of the restart the visiting team equalised, through a trademark header by Drogba, and then taken the lead when Kalou provided the finishing touch that Yuri Zhirkov’s expert through-ball so richly deserved.
As is so often the nature of a team put together by the convalescing Sam Allardyce, however, Blackburn refused to buckle in the face of the pretty patterns being weaved by their opponents and served notice of their desire to reach the last four when Emerton’s cross eluded Hilário in the Chelsea goal.
That was the signal for both sides to go on the attack, with neither enamoured by the prospect of extra time.
Blackburn Rovers (4-3-3): P Robinson — M Salgado, C Samba, R Nelsen, P Chimbonda — B Emerton, S N’Zonzi (sub: E van Heerden, 91min), M G Pedersen (sub: V Grella, 62) — N Kalinic, J Roberts (sub: D Hoilett, 69), B McCarthy. Substitutes not used: J Brown, G Givet, E-H Diouf, P Jones. Booked: Grella.
Chelsea (4-4-1-1): Hilário — J Belletti (sub: G Kakuta, 46), B Ivanovic, P Ferreira, Y Zhirkov — J Cole (sub: D Drogba, 46), M Ballack, J O Mikel, F Malouda — Deco (sub: J Bruma, 46) — S Kalou. Substitutes not used: R Turnbull, N Matic, S Hutchinson, F Borini. Booked: Bruma.
Referee: A Wiley.
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Telegraph:
Blackburn Rovers 3 Chelsea 3
By Oliver Brown
For Blackburn Rovers, the ecstasy; for Chelsea, the agony. Well, not quite. The shoot-out in which Carlo Ancelotti had to digest his first exit from an English competition was painful, as Paul Robinson’s decisive block from Gaël Kakuta’s penalty propelled Blackburn to a Carling Cup semi-final, but you have to wonder if the Italian truly cared.
Ancelotti did not exactly do a disservice to the Carling Cup, in that he eventually chose to play the man of the hour, Didier Drogba, but he did not seem too bothered that Robinson’s inspiration had put them out of it, either. Ancelotti brings the swagger back to Chelsea It was Ancelotti’s choice to send such a weakened team to Lancashire, a move that necessitated three changes at half-time, just as it was his choice for Kakuta to take the ill-fated fifth penalty. Trust Kakuta, the 18 year-old whose controversial acquisition from Lens had threatened Chelsea with a transfer ban, to steal the headlines once more.
On pushing the French teenager into such a tense situation so young, Ancelotti was defensive. The same applied to Jeffrey Bruma, another academy player tried out here in an expression of exactly how little the manager rated Blackburn’s threat. Refusing to acknowledge poor judgment, Ancelotti shrugged: “They both played very well. It was a good match for them to experience.”
It was a better match for Blackburn to win, and assistant manager Neil MacDonald, in charge for a fourth game as Sam Allardyce recovered from minor heart surgery, could not resist a swipe at Chelsea’s misguided selection.
“I hope they regret making so many changes,” the Scot said. “It’s their manager’s prerogative to chop and change, but it’s our priority to make progress in this competition.”
Chelsea were shorn of the talismanic influence of John Terry, but when the competition about which they cared least meant a trip to deepest Lancashire on a bitter December night, the desire was lacking, too.
They had lived precariously, falling behind to a Nikola Kalinic goal. When Benni McCarthy put away a penalty in the 93rd minute to give Rovers a 3-2 lead after Yuri Zhirkov fouled David Hoilett, it was a fair reflection of the game’s strange balance. Paulo Ferreira’s equaliser in the dying seconds of extra time to force the shoot-out was a bonus they did not merit.
How fitting, then, that Blackburn should still ultimately prevail, Robinson managing to deny Michael Ballack and then Kakuta with courageous saves.
Kalinic, so dynamic during normal time, also missed one for the home side, too, but it mattered not. Rovers were through, even if it had tested all of Allardyce’s patience watching on television. “I’ll probably end up having a heart attack if we have another game like that,” MacDonald joked.
Forty-five minutes of a lame first half were all that Ancelotti could stand, and it was time for Drogba.
One movement was all it needed for the striker to shuffle his feet, and head Florent Malouda’s ball into the top corner with power that Robinson could do nothing about.
Four minutes later and Chelsea had two, Zhirkov releasing Salomon Kalou on the left, the forward using just three touches to do the rest – the third being a simple slotted finish beyond Robinson. The gap was only one goal, but for a team of Chelsea’s depths this ought to have been open water.
But they reverted to the clumsiness of their start in gifting Blackburn a second, Emerson’s pass from the right taking a deflection on its way in, although Kalinic looked to have got a touch. Ferreira responded, dramatically, to McCarthy’s spot-kick, but Blackburn, heroically, held on when it mattered most.
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Mail;
Blackburn 3 Chelsea 3 (AET) Rovers win 4-3 on pens:Gael Kakuta is shootout flop as Paul Robinson saves day for hosts
By John Edwards
Teenage prospect Gael Kakuta could be forgiven for wondering what he let himself in for when he agreed to join Chelsea after his fledgling career in English football suffered another bewildering twist at Ewood Park.The 18-year-old’s arrival from Lens two years ago caused such a rumpus that Chelsea were hit with a 16-month transfer ban that was subsequently suspended on appeal.If that brought him unwanted attention when he made his Chelsea debut as a substitute against Wolves, he found himself under the spotlight again as adramatic Carling Cup quarter-final reached a nail-biting conclusion.
An equaliser by Paulo Ferreira with the last kick of extra time forced a penalty shootout that was finely balanced when Kakuta stepped forward for a kick he had to convert to keep Chelsea in it.Although he hit his left-footed effort with power, the Chelsea youngster was left holding his head in despair after directing his shot too close to Paul Robinson and seeing the Blackburn keeper save.While Blackburn’s jubilant players rushed to mob Robinson, Chelsea keeper Henrique Hilario did his best to console the visibly upset Kakuta.Chelsea had started brightly enough, but they went behind in the ninth minute when Pascal Chimbonda reached the bye-line on the left and cut the ball back for Nikola Kalinic to slot home from close range.Sensing his side lacked a cutting edge, manager Carlo Ancelotti sent on Didier Drogba at the start of the second half and saw it pay instant dividends as the Chelsea striker rose at the near post to power a header past Robinson from Florent Malouda’s 48th-minute cross.
There was an equally familiar look about the goal that put Chelsea in front four minutes later, Salomon Kalou latching on to a through-ball from Yuri Zhirkov and keeping his cool to sidefoot past the advancing Robinson.But Chelsea let slip their advantage as Hilario, distracted by Kalinic’s leap in front of him, allowed Brett Emerton’s cross to sail past him for a 64th-minute equaliser and they were trailing when Zhirkov fouled substitute David Hoilett for Benni McCarthy to convert a nerveless 93rd-minute penalty.They earned a reprieve when Ferreira forced home Malouda’s 120th-minute free-kick, but it was to prove short-lived as Robinson had the final say at Kakuta’s expense.Ancelotti revealed that he nominated Kakuta to take the all-important fifth penalty in a remarkable admission that underlined the ruthless side to his nature.
It looked a daunting task for a teenage newcomer to English football but the Italian coach brushed aside suggestions that Kakuta had volunteered to step into the breach, saying: ‘No, that was down to me. I put him forward to take the kick. I chose him for the fifth penalty.‘I had seen him on the training ground and appreciated how good he is at taking penalties. He kicks a good penalty, so I had no concerns about asking him to do it.'I have no regrets about the line-up I put out here because we looked at our priorities and realised they were in our Premier League games. Anyway, I would describe this as a strong team.
‘The first half was not so good because we didn’t take enough determination out on to the pitch with us. But after losing Salomon Kalou through injury we showed great spirit with 10 men against 11 and a good mentality. When you consider the young boys out there, this is good for the future.‘Kalou injured his leg but I am not sure how long he will be out. I thought the young boys who went on in the second half did well and Kakuta should not worry about his penalty because he showed he has very good quality and can play an important part at this club.'While Ancelotti must have some concerns about how Kakuta might cope with such an ordeal, he my be just as deterred by the way his side were given an ominous warning.
The Chelsea manager believes he has the resources needed to cope with the loss of key players to the Africa Cup of Nations after assessing the strength of his squad and concluding he has good cover.He may have to think again after making seven changes to the starting line-up that saw off Arsenal and seeing a side still packed with pedigree and know-how hustled out of their stride and rightly denied a place in the semi-finals.The way a lionhearted but limited Blackburn side came back from 2-1 down and proved too strong for Chelsea until the last kick of extra time should fill Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson with confidence in his battle to prevent the BarclaysPremier League title heading back to Stamford Bridge.
After absorbing the shock of going behind so early, Chelsea hit back after half-time when Drogba revelled in his unlikely role of substitute, and Kalou showed his customary composure in front of goal.But they were slowly but surely hustled out of their stride by Blackburn’s aggressive, direct style and, although Ferreira made the most dramatic of contributions in the final seconds of the added half-hour, Robinson snatched the glory for Rovers.So Blackburn head for a semi-final with Aston Villa, the perfect tonic for boss Sam Allardyce as he recuperates after heart surgery.
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Guardian:
Paul Robinson's shoot-out heroics for Rovers send Chelsea packing
Blackburn Rovers 3 Kalinic 9, Emerton 64, McCarthy (pen) 93 Chelsea 3 Drogba 48, Kalou 52, Paulo Ferreira 120
Paul Wilson at Ewood Park
Gaël Kakuta saw his last penalty of the shoot-out saved as Chelsea crashed out of the Carling Cup on a crazy night in east Lancashire. The 18-year-old reason for Chelsea's deferred transfer window ban probably should not even have been taking a penalty, let alone the fifth, which Paul Robinson beat out, but Carlo Ancelotti got every other aspect of his tactics wrong and was responsible for his side playing for well over 40 minutes with 10 men.
There seemed only one likely winner once Didier Drogba came on at half-time and two goals in four minutes wiped out a first-half deficit, but in using all three substitutes at once Ancelotti left himself unprepared to deal with a Blackburn fightback and, perhaps more importantly, with an injury to Salomon Kalou that saw Chelsea play out the last 15 minutes of normal time and everything that followed with 10 men.
Chelsea were hardly in the best shape for extra-time, in fact they did well to reach that stage with Blackburn piling on the pressure in the closing minutes of normal time. Nikola Kalinic and David Hoilett both went close and what looked like a winner from Benni McCarthy in stoppage time was ruled out for the narrowest of offsides. Ten of the men that crushed Arsenal might have seen off Blackburn, but the 10 Chelsea ended up with here included the raw and inexperienced Kakuta and an unfamiliar defensive line.
Weary and weakened, Chelsea lasted barely a minute of extra-time before going behind to a penalty. Hoilett was adjudged to have been tripped by Yuri Zhirkov in a pile-up of players and McCarthy scored confidently from the spot. Blackburn looked unlikely to let a lead slip a second time but 27 minutes later Paulo Ferreira slammed in an equaliser from a narrow angle with virtually the last kick of open play to take it to penalties.
Michael Ballack fluffed Chelsea's first and when Kalinic missed Rovers' fourth the scores were level at 4-4, but Hoilett scored a fifth and Robinson's save from Kakuta earned his side a semi-final against Aston Villa. If the recovering Sam Allardyce was watching this he shouldn't have been.
The visiting back line was something to behold, with Ferreira and Branislav Ivanovic in central defence protecting Henrique Hilário in goal. No sooner had Blackburn survived the first couple of skirmishes than they began making inroads of their own.
Kalinic put Rovers ahead in the ninth minute. Pascal Chimbonda carried the ball towards the Chelsea area and though he appeared in danger of straying offside in accepting a return pass from Morten Gamst Pedersen the flag stayed down and it was a simple matter for the Croatian to tap in a ball squared low across the face of goal.
The home crowd's worst fears were confirmed when Drogba appeared for the second half, although the fact that Ancelotti made his other two substitutions at the same time suggested he may not have been taking the game all that seriously. Not that Chelsea's substitutes in any way disappointed. It took Drogba a mere three minutes to put Chelsea back on terms with a firm header from Florent Malouda's cross, and four minutes after that the visitors were in front, Ballack's crossfield ball catching the Rovers defence too far upfield and Kalou keeping his nerve to beat Robinson with a cool finish.
But Rovers forced their way back into the game through a mistake. Kalinic hardly got a touch on Brett Emerton's cross but his leap distracted Hilário sufficiently and the ball bounced past him. Emerton got the credit. From then on until Kakuta's final act, the night just became crazier.
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Sun:
Blackburn 3 Chelsea 3
From MARTIN BLACKBURN at Ewood(aet: Blackburn won 4-3 on penalties)
PAUL ROBINSON went from zero to hero to book Blackburn's place in the Carling Cup semi-finals.
The England hopeful looked to have blown it for Rovers when his blunder allowed Paulo Ferreira to equalise in the last minute of extra-time.
But he made amends in a dramatic penalty shootout as he kept out efforts from Michael Ballack and Gael Kakuta.
That's right, Ballack missed one. So English goalkeepers can save penalties taken by Germans after all.
Maybe Fabio Capello should take him to South Africa for that reason alone.
But it is a good job his club manager Sam Allardyce, back home recovering from a heart operation, stayed away.
The number of twists and turns in this helter-skelter cup tie would have left Big Sam booking himself back in for more treatment.
It was a cup tie that had almost everything, including a baffling decision by Carlo Ancelotti which came back to haunt him.
The Italian threw on all three subs after a lacklustre first half and lived to regret it as they played the last 50 minutes with 10 men.
Salomon Kalou limped off and could not continue despite lengthy treatment and it gave Rovers the belief they could win the tie.
A look at the Chelsea teamsheet must have given the home side some hope back at the start of the night.
There was no sign of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien or Petr Cech while man-of-the-moment Didier Drogba was left on the bench.
A disappointing home crowd of 18,136 obviously had no faith in their team's chances but the players seemed determined to prove otherwise.
Blackburn took a deserved early lead as Chelsea failed to clear their lines and Morten Pedersen sent Pascal Chimbonda away down the left.
The French defender pulled back for £6million summer signing Nikola Kalinic to stab in from close range. Croatia boss Slaven Bilic rates Kalinic highly, but he has had a nightmare start to his Rovers career so this was a sweet moment for him.
Blackburn should have been further ahead before the interval with Benni McCarthy and Brett Emerton both going close.
For Chelsea, Ballack sent a volley into the side netting while Kalou planted his header inches wide - but there was little of note from the league leaders.
However, the sight of Drogba warming up sent a shiver down the spines of the home crowd - and their worst fears came true in a blistering start to the second half.
The Ivorian was on the pitch straight after the interval - and on the scoresheet within two minutes as he nodded home Florent Malouda's cross from the left.
The Blackburn defence was suddenly all over the shop and a slip by Michel Salgado allowed Yuri Zhirkov to slide a glorious through-ball to Kalou, who effortlessly raced clear to put Ancelotti's men ahead.
It was a stunning turnaround by Chelsea and it seemed to be a question of how many they would win by.
But Rovers hit back as Emerton's steepling cross was missed by the head of Kalinic and an embarrassed Hilario allowed the ball to bounce over him into the net.
They were back in the box seat as Kalou limped off but Hilario tipped away Kalinic's goalbound effort right at the death.
Rovers were back in front soon after the re-start as Zhirkov brought down Rovers sub David Hoilett and McCarthy put away the spot-kick.
Hoilett blew a couple of golden chances to make the tie safe and it proved costly.
In added time of extra-time Robinson flapped at Malouda's swirling free-kick and Ferreira squeezed the ball home from a tight angle. Robinson knew he had blundered but looked determined to make up for it - and he did.
He tipped Ballack's penalty on to the post but they were level pegging again when Hilario kept out Kalinic's poor effort.
But then Kakuta put his spot-kick down the middle and Robinson got enough on it to keep it out.
A lot is expected from the French teenager, who has become famous without even playing. Unfortunately for him, he made headlines for all the wrong reasons again.
And maybe Chelsea's so-called 'Unstoppables' are not unstoppable after all.
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