Chelsea 5 Manchester United 4:
Eden Hazard scored from the penalty spot in the last minute of added time to hand Chelsea a Capital One Cup reprieve and send their tie against Manchester United into extra time.
And Daniel Sturridge put Chelsea into the quarter-final when he capitalised on a second mistake in seven minutes by young United defender Scott Wootton after 97 minutes.
Hazard had stepped up to beat Anders Lindegaard with a nonchalant penalty after Wootton had bundled into the back of Ramires.
There's no beating the Blues: Ramires (left) and Chelsea team-mates react after his extra-time goal
Match facts
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz, Bertrand, Romeu (Oscar 71), Mikel (Ramires 46), Moses, Mata, Piazon (Hazard 55), Sturridge.
Subs not used: Hilario, Ferreira, Marin, Saville.
Goals: Luiz (pen) 31, Cahill 52, Hazard 90(+4), Sturridge 97, Ramires 116
Booked: Romeu, Mikel, Luiz, Oscar, Ramires
Man Utd: Lindegaard, Da Silva, Wootton, Keane, Buttner (Powell 46), Anderson (Tunnicliffe 81), Giggs, Fletcher, Nani, Hernandez, Welbeck (Macheda 99).
Goals: Giggs 22, 120 (pen), Hernandez 43, Nani 59
Booked: Wooton, M Keane
Subs not used: Johnstone, Lingard, Vermijl, Brady.
Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 41,126
And, when Wootton’s woeful header back fell to Sturridge, the England striker netted Chelsea’s fourth and decisive goal.
Ramires put the result beyond doubt when he rounded off some excellent work by Hazard to score Chelsea’s fifth.
Ryan Giggs’ late penalty for United, after Cesar Azpilicueta had bundled into Javier Hernandez, was just a consolation for United.
It was the ninth goal of, dare we say it, an entertaining football match following all the controversy from Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash between the sides.
Goals from Giggs, Hernandez and Nani gave United the lead three times, but a David Luiz penalty, a Gary Cahill header and then Hazard’s penalty brought Chelsea back into it each time.
Anderson was excellent for United, playing his part in all three of their goals, although Roberto Di Matteo’s side will not wish to dwell on some poor defending.
There were five survivors from the Chelsea side which started Sunday’s game, with John Mikel Obi and Juan Mata, the players at the centre of the allegations against referee Mark Clattenburg, the most notable selections.
Di Matteo said before kick-off he had spoken to both players and been assured they would be ‘OK’.
Stirring the pot: Manchester United fans display a banner about Clattenburg, mocking the well-known slogan Chelsea fans attach to captain John Terry, who racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand
Message: Manchester United fans take aim at Chelsea over the race rows that have engulfed the club
No hiding: John Obi Mikel (centre) started for Chelsea amid the race row involving referee Mark Clattenburg
There was little chance of the Nigerian forgetting the events of Sunday, however. The players emerged from the tunnel to see a banner saying ‘Clattenburg. Referee, Leader, Legend’ unfurled by the Manchester United fans and there were even more pointed chants referring to the absence of John Terry, serving the third game of his four-match ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Mikel, however, managed to stifle a laugh when he was deservedly booked by referee Lee Mason for a late challenge on Danny Welbeck.
Sir Alex Ferguson made 10 changes to his United side, with Rafael the only player to start in both league and Cup games. Hernandez, who scored a controversial winner four days ago, did start this time after being a substitute on Sunday.
Here's how it all started: Oriel Romeu (centre) is dispossessed by Anderson, leading to the opening goal
Easy as that: Romeu (second right) can't get back as Ryan Giggs is left free to score past a defenceless Petr Cech
Noses in front: United celebrate after Giggs (centre, partly obscured) gave them the lead at Stamford Bridge
Going down: United left-back Alexander Buttner fouls Victor Moses to concede a penalty
No mistake: David Luiz stepped up to haul Chelsea level from the penalty spot with a low, powerful shot
On target: Blues defender Luiz celebrates after equalising from the penalty spot
A lazy pass by Darren Fletcher after five minutes fell nicely to Daniel Sturridge, but the striker failed to find Lucas Piazon in space on his left. If that was unfortunate, what followed two minutes later was little short of embarrassing.
Victor Moses delivered a curling cross, only for Sturridge to trip over his own feet and fall on his face.
With Fernando Torres suspended following his red card on Sunday, Di Matteo gave Sturridge his first start of the season as the figurehead of Chelsea’s attack but his clumsy back-heel and ill-advised cross-cum-shot in the first half did little to enhance his cause.
Chelsea's nemesis: Javier Hernandez celebrates scoring at Stamford Bridge for the second time in four days
Deadly: The Mexican striker showed his predatory instincts with a fine finish late in the first half
Rising high: Gary Cahill (third left) leaps unmarked to head in Chelsea's second goal of the night
Eye for goal: Chelsea centre-back Cahill celebrates his goal in the second half at the Bridge
Moses looked much more dominant. He was brought down by Alexander Buttner to win a penalty for Chelsea, which Luiz converted after 31 minutes. Chelsea had gone behind in bizarre circumstances nine minutes earlier when keeper Petr Cech played a short goal kick to Oriol Romeu, who was dispossessed by Anderson. Giggs picked up the ball and scored United’s opener by the time Luiz had ambled back on to the pitch.
The Brazil defender played more of a role in United’s second goal as he took the ball up field. But his attempted pass cannoned back into Chelsea’s half and Hernandez exploited the defensive hole to score his fourth goal in three games.
Making his point: Nani (right) celebrates with Anderson after scoring Manchester United's third goal
Top class: Nani chips the ball into the net over Petr Cech's despairing dive to put United 3-2 in front
Back from the dead: Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard celebrates scoring in the dying seconds of normal time
Held his nerve: Hazard (17) scores from the penalty spot deep into injury time to force another 30 minutes
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich shook his head and laughed.
Nick Powell was introduced for United at the start of the second half and sent Cech sliding to his left to save a swerving shot.
But Chelsea equalised when Cahill powered in a header from a Mata corner.
Dan's the man: Daniel Sturridge (right) celebrates after handing Chelsea the lead in extra-time
Can't miss: Sturridge scores after going round Manchester United keeper Anders Lindegaard
There was a brief United appeal that the ball had not crossed the line, but Rafael’s attempted clearance coming off the underside of the bar on its way out rather gave the game away.
After seemingly doing his best to look as if he would rather be anywhere but Stamford Bridge last night Nani suddenly burst into life to deliver United’s third. A smart one-two with Anderson saw the Portugal winger burst into space and finish with a cool right-foot finish. Cech collected a drinks bottle hurled on to the pitch.
Nail in the coffin: Ramires (centre right) rounds off a superb move to seal the deal for Chelsea
Di Matteo had introduced Ramires at the start of the second half and subsequently threw on Hazard and Oscar in pursuit of an equaliser in which both Ramires and Hazard played a crucial part.
Chelsea had already claimed another penalty after 73 minutes later when Mata’s shot hit Keane’s hands but Mason was unmoved.
Well, it wouldn’t be a proper match without one moment of controversy.
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