ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP Chelsea 1 Burnley 1; Burnley win 5-4 on penalties:IN 1956 THESE teams played an FA Cup tie that lasted five matches and nine hours, the length of time this tie must have felt to the Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari.
He watched his team concede the first-half lead given to them by Didier Drogba, making his first start for six weeks, as Burnley took the game to extra-time. The Championship side then beat the Premier League leaders on penalties thanks largely to the heroics of goalkeeper Brian Jensen.
With Chelsea struggling in the game's first quarter, it was Frank Lampard, rather than the promising Scott Sinclair, whom Scolari turned to when Juliano Belletti hobbled off injured. The midfielder made an instant impact with a perfectly weighted pass to Drogba, who glided past Michael Duff before side-footing the ball past Jensen. Drogba was booked for removing his scoring boot and waving it at Burnley supporters.
Wade Elliott was lively for Burnley and it was his dipping cross that was dropped by Carlo Cudicini, but Chris Eagles was unable to pounce on the loose ball.
Jensen produced a fine save from Florent Malouda, parrying his shot across goal away from Drogba's reach, before Malouda's free-kick was headed on to the crossbar by Branislav Ivanovic.
Burnley had their supporters on their feet again at the start of the second half. Robbie Blake's corner flew across the penalty area untouched by anyone, Cudicini missing his punch and Caldwell missing his kick. Chelsea too threatened from a corner when Ivanovic nodded Paulo Ferreira's cross over the bar.
Scolari spent much of the second half patrolling his technical area, and he was joined there with 20 minutes to go by the jubilant Burnley coaching staff after Eagles ran in behind Ferreira and brought about a fine save from Cudicini. Substitute Akinbiyi was the first to react to score.
Moments earlier Scolari had withdrawn Drogba from the field, and it was a decision he perhaps regretted as his replacement Franco Di Santo failed to connect with successive crosses from Lampard and Wayne Bridge, and Kalou wasted a chance after John Mikel Obi's ball into the box.
Guardian Service
CHELSEA:Cudicini, Ivanovic, Alex, Belletti (Lampard 25), Bridge, Ferreira, Deco (Mikel 46), Mineiro, Malouda, Drogba (Di Santo 68), Kalou. Subs Not Used: Hilario, Sinclair, Terry, Woods. Booked: Drogba.
BURNLEY:Jensen, Alexander, Duff, Caldwell, Jordan, Eagles, Gudjonsson (McDonald 97), McCann, Elliott, Blake (Mahon 76), Paterson (Akinbiyi 60). Subs Not Used: Penny, Rodriguez, Kay, MacDonald. Sent Off: Caldwell (116). Booked: Caldwell, Akinbiyi, Eagles.
Referee:Keith Stroud (Hampshire).
