Chelsea vs Newcastle: Heroic Mudryk crucial as Blues beat Magpies in shootouts to advance to EFL Cup semis
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Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, London, England: Carabao Cup Football, Chelsea versus Newcastle United; Mykhaylo Mudryk of Chelsea celebrates after he scored for 1-1 in injury time of the second half || Image credit: Imago

FOOTBALL Chelsea vs Newcastle: Heroic Mudryk crucial as Blues beat Magpies in shootouts to advance to EFL Cup semis

Chelsea vs Newcastle: Heroic Mudryk crucial as Blues beat Magpies in shootouts to advance to EFL Cup semis

Faruq Ibrahim • 23:15 - 19.12.2023

Chelsea beat Newcastle via penalty shootouts to advance to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.

A late Mhykhailo Mudryk goal earned Chelsea a stay of execution and a chance at retrial through penalty shootouts, which Pochettino's men won to advance to the next round of the EFL Cup.

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While league football remains a source of heartache for Chelsea fans, the EFL Cup provided solace, as the win against Blackburn in the last round placed the Blues in the final eight and primed them to pick up the first piece of official silverware in a regular English football season.

An early Newcastle goal from Callum Wilson brought the nostalgia of Chelsea's league form to the fore, but Mudryk stunned late to send the game to penalties. Chelsea scored all their attempts, while the Magpies were only half as efficient, as the Stamford Bridge residents booked a spot in the final four.

How it happened

Chelsea had a brilliant first 15 minutes of the game, but it was Newcastle who scored first, somewhat against the run of play, when Calum Wilson beat Italian shot-stopper Gugliemo Vicario.

Chelsea had the bulk of the ball for the entirety of proceedings, hoarding 78% of the ball-in-play time, a number borne truly out of their dominance in the second-half, which unlike the first, was devoid of pockets of extended spells of Newcastle possession.

The Blues could not manage to turn this dominance into a goal, and Pochettino responded by making a number of offensive changes at different intervals after the hour mark, including not-so-new debutant Christopher Nkunku and eventual hero Myhhaylo Mudryk.

Despite the best efforts from the Tyneside club to escape with the result, Mudryk scored an equaliser in the 92nd minute to send the game into extra-time.

Penalty shootout

Penalty taker-in-chief Cole Palmer stepped up for the first attempt and fired hard into the bottom right corner; Callum Wilson returned the favour to restore parity.

The captain on the night, Conor Gallagher, came up for the second and restored the lead. Kieran Trippier, however, failed to match the effort to keep Newcastle on pace.

Both teams scored the third, and after Mudryk scored the fourth for Chelsea, Matt Ritchie was tasked with keeping the Magpies in the game, but Vicario saved his effort to send the West Londoners into the next round.

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Chelsea EFL Cup Newcastle United