Carling Cup

Chelsea 1 v 1 Charlton Athletic

(Charlton win 5-4 on penalties)

GOALKEEPER Stephan Andersen was the hero as Charlton sensationally dumped Chelsea out of the Carling Cup on penalties after a dramatic night at Stamford Bridge.

The Dane saved Robert Huth's spot-kick while Darren Bent, Jay Bothroyd, Matt Holland and Hermann Hreidarsson all netted before Bryan Hughes fired home to clinch a 5-4 success.

John Terry had headed the hosts in front in the 41st minute from an Arjen Robben corner but some dreadful defending from the big German allowed Bent to fire Charlton level moments later.

Alan Curbishley had made four changes for this clash and despite playing in the previous round against Hartlepool United, Russian midfielder Alexei Smertin was unavailable due to his loan agreement with parent club Chelsea.

Radostin Kishishev was also given a breather from midfield with Hughes and Holland afforded the chance to impress in the midfield triangle.

There were also two changes at the back with Chris Powell back in on the left of defence with Jonathan Spector making way.

Chris Perry, ever-present in the Premiership this season, vacated his centre-back spot to Talal El Karkouri while Jerome Thomas returned from injury to take a place on the bench.

The hosts who had the first opening of the evening when Eidur Gudjohnsen teed up Paulo Ferreira, whose stinging drive was beaten away by Andersen.

The ball looped up just behind Hernan Crespo and the Argentinean's overhead angled effort was clutched low by the Danish keeper.

Dazzling footwork from Darren Ambrose opened up the first shooting opportunity for the visitors in the 18th minute but his tame effort posed no problems for Blues' second choice stopper Carlo Cudicini.

Then Rommedahl's cross was half-cleared to Danny Murphy who drilled his shot wide of the left-hand upright.

But the best chance of the game so far came in the 23rd minute as Wayne Bridge latched on to a delightful flick from Robben and delivered a wonderful cross into the danger zone.

Suddenly Crespo had ghosted away from his marker and the unmarked Argentine's header beat Andersen but scraped the left-hand upright.

Shaun Wright-Phillips blazed high over the bar after two corners and it was all getting a bit hairy in and around the Addicks penalty box before the visitors at last broke the shackles.

And it was Bent who broke purposefully towards the Chelsea box before being taken out by Michael Essien.

The Frenchman was booked by Alan Wiley and Hughes followed him into the notebook shortly afterwards for a similar challenge on Gudjohnsen.

Nothing came from the subsequent free-kicks but Rommedahl's stinging drive warmed the hands of Cudicini in the 31st minute.

The towering Huth steered a header well wide when left in space while Addicks' best chance to date came when Rommedahl picked out fellow flanker Ambrose, whose sizzling drive flew fractionally over the top.

But it was the hosts who drew first blood four minutes before the break after some dazzling wing-work from Robben.

The Dutchman outwitted Hreidarsson on the right and Powell again tucked back to concede the corner.

Robben himself delivered the flag-kick and Terry got ahead of his man to bullet an unstoppable header past Andersen.

With Chelsea in front, one feared for the visitors but they were level before the break.

Huth's attempts to deal with Young's headed clearance were woeful as his back header sold Cudicini short and Bent stole in to lash a low shot past the Italian and into the bottom corner.

The hosts started strongly after the break and Terry drilled a shot just wide from the edge of the box after a free-kick from Huth had crashed into the wall.

At the other end Rommedahl had faint shouts for a penalty after his drive clattered against a blue-shirted defender but it was Chelsea who continued to look a threat as Wright-Phillips spun and fired off target.

The Addicks were carved open by some superb interplay in the 56th minute with Robben eventually sending Gudjohnsen bounding through the middle.

The back-tracking Hughes put enough pressure on the Icelander whose shot brought another fine save from Andersen.

It was enough for Mourinho to send for the cavalry in the 61st minute as Frank Lampard and Joe Cole were unleashed from the bench with Bridge and Wright-Phillips making way.

Crespo's cheeky flick at a corner hit the side-netting before Curbishley shuffled his pack for the first time bringing on Thomas for Rommedahl.

Geremi was booked for a challenge on Thomas after a great advantage from Wiley and shortly afterwards Bothroyd entered the fray to replace Ambrose.

Kishishev came on for the hard-working Murphy eight minutes from time and Didier Drogba replaced Crespo as both managers completed their replacement allocation.

Terry bludgeoned Bothroyd right on the edge of the box after a long clearance and suddenly the Addicks found themselves in a terrific position.

Kishishev rolled the free-kick to Bothroyd who shifted along the edge of the area and arrowed a fearsome drive which was superbly tipped over by Cudicini.

Hughes and Young produced notable defensive contributions as the match headed into three minutes of stoppage time and Charlton hearts were in their mouths when Lampard's corner found Robben on the edge of the box only for the Dutchman to curl an effort agonisingly over the bar.

Then it was extra time.

After a short stoppage when El Karkouri received attention, some panicked defending in the Addicks box offered a half-chance to Lampard but the ball eventually snaffled into the side-netting.

The visitors were then rescued by some selfish play from Gudjohnsen after a slip from Powell let in the Icelander and while Drogba was in space, the midfielder elected to pursue his own path and Young got across to clear.

Brave work from Kishishev foiled Lampard at the expense of a corner but Curbishley, and the rest of the Addicks coaching staff, were fuming when Terry went in late on Andersen.

The big keeper had done well to clutch a Drogba effort low in the 101st minute only to be pole-axed by the Chelsea skipper as he held on to the ball.

Thankfully for the hosts Wiley produced only a yellow card after consulting his assistant and Gudjohnsen was well off target before the first period came to a close.

Andersen confidently plucked the ball off the head of Drogba soon after the restart and Powell covered ahead of Gudjohnsen at the expense of a corner.

Big Huth again seized possession at the edge of the box but, after his initial shot was blocked by a grounded Bothroyd, his second cannoned off El Karkouri.

This was resilience of the highest order from the visitors but their cause was hardly helped as El Karkouri hobbled off to leave them short-handed.

The Moroccan's super-human efforts earned a pat on the back from Curbishley as he lie prone by the touchline and Holland filled in at centre-back.

As extra time ended the sides headed for penalties.

Robben's strike was cancelled out by Bent before Andersen sprung to his right to deny Huth.

The keeper also guessed the right way for the efforts from Lampard and Drogba but saw the ball squeeze in on both occasions.

Bothroyd, Gudjohnsen, Holland and Hreidarsson all netted before Hughes sent the visiting fans into raptures at the end of a night to remember.

Charlton: Andersen; Young, Powell, Hreidarsson, El Karkouri; Ambrose (Bothroyd, 74), Holland, Hughes, Murphy (Kishishev, 82), Rommedahl (Thomas, 64), Bent.

Subs not used: Kiely, Spector.

Att: 42,198.