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Everton produced a spirited comeback via a late free kick from Leighton Baines deep into extra time and emerge victorious on penalties in the fourth round replay against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and thus avenged their 2009 final defeat.
Despite their faltering title chances, Chelsea were well placed to win their third FA Cup on the trot when they forced a fourth round replay against Everton following a Salomon Kalou equaliser which produced a 1-1 scoreline at Goodison Park. Ashley Cole went on to say that he values the FA Cup above everything else. But thanks to the champions’ over-confidence and faltering form, they blew it all up against Everton at Stamford Bridge earlier today. The newly signed Fernando Torres was cup-tied while David Luiz was not eligible. Chelsea came into the match after a pathetic 0-0 draw at Fulham, a match they were lucky not to lose and Everton came in after a miserable showing against Bolton Wanderers.
Intially, the game produced a lot of start-stop action as fouls and yellow cards flashed galore. During the 85th minute, Everton midfielder Fellaini almost broke the deadlock but his goal was ruled offside and thus invalid.. However, it definitely was a confidence boost for the Everton players who felt they were hard done by in the tie at Goodison Park where they outplayed the Blues for majority of the game.
Jubiliant Everton players celebrate after Phil Neville's winning penalty kick
The first half turned out to be goalless with little action to show. Despite the desperate attempts to score made by Lampard and Drogba in the first 90 minutes of the game, Chelsea got nowhere. Finally at the 104th minute, Anelka passed the ball to Lampard who scored the first goal of the game and roused Chelsea spirits. Chelsea was so confident that they’d win, especially when there were a couple of minutes remaining for the extra time to end. It was left to Leighton Baines’ 119th minute stunning free kick to crush Chelsea hearts and send the match into penalties.
Despite coming to life in extra time, Chelsea faced a stern test from Everton who exploded in the dying moments. Leighton Baines’ goal late into extra time produced a dramatic effect and changed the perception of the game. At the end of extra time, it was 1-1 and it went to penalties.
Baines was excellent throughout the game, but the Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard turned out to be the star performer.
Eventually during the penalty shootout, Lampard, Drogba, Essien scored, while Anelka and Cole missed. Everton got 4 goals by Jagielka, Arteta, Heitinga and Neville, while Baines failed to score one. Truly, it was a moment of eternal bliss for Everton when captain Phil Neville stepped up to take the winning penalty and sent Petr Cech the wrong way.
Everton thus progress into the fifth round after beating Chelsea 4-3 on penalties. It was a disappointing night for Chelsea fans whose team is effectively out of the reckoning in the title race. By being dumped out of the FA Cup, the UCL is where the Blues can seek redemption and save Ancelotti’s job.
