Chelsea crushed Newcastle United's dreams of back-to-back EFL Cup finals with a 4-2 penalty shootout win after a 1-1 draw in their quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.
Ninety minutes of Chelsea pressure would seemingly be rendered futile by Callum Wilson's solo goal, but Mykhaylo Mudryk was the Blues' hero of the hour as he forced spot kicks deep into second-half injury time.
While the hosts were perfect from 12 yards, Kieran Trippier - who was culpable for Mudryk's equaliser - blazed his penalty wide before Djordje Petrovic denied Matt Ritchie to propel Mauricio Pochettino's men into the final four and leave Eddie Howe's troops crestfallen.
Both managers resisted the temptation to make a spate of changes amid the unrelenting fixture list, but Pochettino was very nearly the happier of the two coaches in the seventh minute, as Conor Gallagher crashed a curling strike off the bar from just outside the box.
The Blues continued to probe without much success against the Magpies' compact rearguard, and the visitors subsequently turned defence into attack in the blink of an eye to take the lead in the 16th minute, albeit thanks to a Chelsea catastrophe.
Wilson latched onto the ball deep in his own half as Moises Caicedo failed to control a pass from Levi Colwill, and despite being squared up to by Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile, the Englishman forced his way through both of them before a calm outside-of-the-foot finish from inside the area.
Badiashile had seemingly done enough to get Silva out of jail, but a horrible howler from the Frenchman saw him inadvertently prod the ball back into Wilson's path, although Newcastle were soon on the back foot again.
Within the space of two minutes, Raheem Sterling fired just wide of the Newcastle goal before getting a second bite at the cherry from Gallagher's cutback, but Bruno Guimaraes got his positioning spot on to block the Englishman's goal-bound strike, roaring to the Magpies fans behind the goal after taking the ball in the unmentionables.
Chelsea's flow was then briefly interrupted by an enforced withdrawal, as Enzo Fernandez headed straight down the tunnel after being taken off for Armando Broja in the 32nd minute; the Albanian striker had the ball in the net just six minutes after coming on, but he was correctly denied by the offside flag.
Howe and Pochettino both opted for fresh legs at full-back for the second period, as Malo Gusto, Trippier and Dan Burn were all introduced into the fray, but the Newcastle injury crisis worsened when Anthony Gordon trudged off just six minutes after the restart.
The Blues continued to huff and puff in the final third, as Nicolas Jackson dragged a shot wide in the 55th minute, just one moment before Martin Dubravka got down low to deny Sterling the equaliser.
Upping the attacking ante even more, Pochettino brought on Christopher Nkunku for his long-awaited Chelsea debut to rapturous applause from the home crowd in the 69th minute, and the Frenchman was involved straight off the bat.
A two-on-one situation in the 75th minute should have ended with Sterling poking the ball across to Nkunku for a clear sight of goal, but the Englishman slightly overcooked his pass and the chance went begging.
The hosts' pressure remained incessant, and Tino Livramento was scarily close to heading the ball into his own net in the 87th minute - just about managing to turn the ball behind for a corner - but Chelsea's endeavours would finally bear fruit in added time.
There was not a single blue shirt to latch onto Gusto's inviting cross into the area, but as a bewildered Trippier failed to head the ball back to Dubravka, an alert Mudryk capitalised on the right-back's blunder to send the quarter-final to penalties.
Unsavoury scenes before full time saw a supporter invade the field to celebrate in Dubravka's face, before Mudryk reacted furiously to a needless Guimaraes barge on Ian Maatsen, and it would be Chelsea to kick first in front of the away end.
Following successful conversions from Cole Palmer, Wilson and Gallagher, Trippier's nightmare evening continued as he fizzed his strike wide, before Nkunku, Guimaraes and Mudryk all held their nerve.
Needing to score to keep Newcastle's hopes alive, Ritchie went for power as he aimed for the top corner, but Petrovic sprang to his left and produced a stunning stop to punch the Blues' ticket to the last four, where Fulham, Middlesbrough and either Liverpool or West Ham United will join them in tomorrow's draw.
Chelsea now take to the pitch on Christmas Eve for a Premier League date with Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Newcastle seek to bounce back away to Luton Town one day before. body check tags ::
