Sunderland 2 Chelsea 1

Ki Sung-yueng was the hero as relegation-haunted Sunderland dumped Chelsea out of the League Cup to book a place in the semi-finals.

The South Korea international, on loan at the Stadium of Light from Swansea, struck in the final minute of extra time to complete a famous 2-1 win and end Jose Mourinho’s hopes of winning the trophy which gave him his first honour during his previous spell at Stamford Bridge.

Lee Cattermole’s own goal looked to have sent Chelsea through to the last four until substitute Fabio Borini struck with just two minutes of normal time remaining to send the tie into extra time.

Indeed, the Italian might have won it in stoppage time had it not been for Gary Cahill’s desperate challenge with the Black Cats mounting a late charge.

But Mourinho will have been fuming after the visitors had entered the closing stages of the initial 90 minutes in control and having squandered chances to kill the tie off.

Under pressure
They had taken the lead when the unfortunate Cattermole bundled Cesar Azpilicueta's 46th-minute cross past goalkeeper Vito Mannone under pressure from Frank Lampard.

Referee Anthony Taylor was alerted to the fact that the ball had crossed the line by the new technology in place in League Cup for the first time, with replays later confirming the Sunderland man had got the decisive touch.

However, Borini snatched an 88th-minute leveller after Jozy Altidore’s shot had been blocked to set the stage for substitute Ki.

The midfielder, a 63rd-minute replacement for Craig Gardner, had already forced a brilliant save from Mark Schwarzer, but needed no second invitation when the ball arrived at his feet with just seconds of extra time remaining.

Borini found himself in the right place at the right time to latch on to Altidore’s blocked shot and blast home the equaliser.

And there was nothing the visiting 41-year-old goalkeeper Schwarzer rcould do late in extra time to as Ki cut inside from Borini’s past and fired the ball low into the bottom corner.

Both sides enjoyed periods of first-half possession, but apart from an early flurry during which Mannone had to field long-range efforts from Andre Schurrle and Willian, neither goalkeeper was called upon in earnest.

Back four
Poyet had deployed Cattermole in front of his back four and the ploy served to frustrate Chelsea, who saw plenty of the ball, but struggled to find space in and around the penalty area.

What good work they did came largely courtesy of Willian and Schurrle with the latter drilling an 18th-minute ball across the face of goal, but crucially beyond the supporting blue shirts.

The home side gradually grew into the game and with Emanuele Giaccherini and lone striker Altidore causing problems for the visitors’ back four.

The Italy international might have done better when he met Sebastian Larsson’s 20th-minute free-kick beyond the far post, only to scuff his effort, and he blazed high into the stand after side-stepping John Obi Mikel with a minute of the first half remaining.

However, the deadlock was broken within 39 seconds of the restart. Full-back Azpilicueta broke into space on the right and drilled the ball across goal, where Cattermole got the decisive touch ahead of Lampard. Samuel Eto'o could have killed the tie off within minutes but he fired wide when clean through on goal.
SUNDERLAND: Mannone , Celustka, Dossena, Cattermole, O'Shea, Brown, Johnson (Borini 74 ) , Larsson, Altidore, Gardner (Ki 63 ) , Giaccherini. (Bardsley 108). Subs not used: Bardsley, Cabral, Roberge, Mavrias, Dixon. Booked: Dossena, Ki
CHELSEA: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta (Essien 70 ), Cole, Lampard, Cahill, Luiz , De Bruyne, Mikel, Eto'o (Ba 74), Willian, Schürrle (Hazard 83 ). Subs not used: Torres, Oscar, Terry, Blackman. Booked: Luiz, Essien, Mikel
Referee: Anthony Taylor