Chelsea 1-1 Charlton
Carling Cup holders Chelsea crashed out of the competition on penalties to Charlton following a 1-1 draw after a double blunder by German defender Robert Huth. Charlton won 5-4 on spot-kicks after Huth missed his penalty to add to his error in the first half of normal time. The 21-year-old gifted Charlton an equaliser when his attempted back-header never reached Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini and Darren Bent nipped in to score his ninth of the season. The goal cancelled out skipper John Terry's 41st-minute header from Arjen Robben's corner and Huth compounded his first-half mistake by missing Chelsea's second penalty. Mourinho refuses to blame Huth Mourinho made seven changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Everton in the Barclays Premiership on Sunday but it was still a team brimming with quality internationals. The draw on Merseyside had ended Chelsea's 100% start to the season and they appeared to be determined to make amends for the blip as Charlton goalkeeper Stephan Andersen was pressed into action as early as the 10th minute. Right-back Paulo Ferreira, who has failed to start the last four games, let fly with a ferocious 20-yard shot that Andersen did well to punch away to safety. England left-back Wayne Bridge, starting his first competitive game since breaking an ankle against Newcastle in the FA Cup last February, appeared to show no ill-effects from his long lay-off. The first quarter, predictably enough, was all Chelsea as Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Essien probed the Charlton defence in search of an opening. In the 22nd minute a sweeping move down the left-flank almost brought the home side an opening goal. Robben, having a quiet game by his own standards, cleverly fed the overlapping Bridge and the full-back delivered a perfect cross for Hernan Crespo to head narrowly wide of the upright with Andersen beaten. Two minutes later Crespo was put clear down the left by Essien and Charlton's defence did well to clear the ball for a corner as Chelsea increased the pace. In the 28th minute Essien was booked for a foul on Bent as the England striker strode purposefully towards the edge of the Chelsea penalty area. Three minutes later Charlton's Bryan Hughes found himself in Alan Wiley's notebook for pushing Eidur Gudjohnsen as the Icelander prepared to unleash a 20-yard drive. Charlton, nine points behind Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Premiership, finally tested Cudicini when Dennis Rommedahl hit a speculative effort into the Italian's hands from 25 yards but the visitors were rarely troubling Terry and Huth in the home defence. In the 36th minute, the unmarked Huth should have done better with a header from Robben's corner but the German directed the ball well wide of Andersen's left-hand upright. Terry showed him how it should be done in the 41st minute when he headed Robben's corner firmly into the net from eight yards to give Chelsea the lead in this third round tie. But Huth made a dreadful error on the stroke of half-time to gift Charlton an equaliser. The German tried to head the ball back to Cudicini but he did not apply enough power and Bent nipped in to fire past the stranded Italian. In the 50th minute Terry was only a foot away from scoring his second of the night when his left-foot volley just veered away from Andersen's right-hand post. Two minutes later, as Chelsea's tempo increased once more, Wright-Phillips sent a low drive wide of the target as Charlton found it difficult to stem the blue tide. Another delightful three-man move almost brought the success they craved in the 56th minute when Robben and Crespo shared passes before the Dutchman threaded the ball into the path of Gudjohnsen on the edge of the penalty area. A goal appeared to be the only outcome but Andersen dived low to his left to save the Icelandic striker's shot and keep the scores level. On the hour Frank Lampard and Joe Cole replaced Bridge and Wright-Phillips and it was the former who had the most impact with two typical long-range shots - one flying just over the crossbar in the 74th minute and the other into the arms of Andersen three minutes later. Charlton introduced both Jay Bothroyd and Radostin Kishishev into the action as they sensed an opportunity to steal a memorable victory and five minutes from time Bothroyd produced a stinging shot that Cudicini was forced to punch away for a corner. But the stalemate could not be broken by either side and the game went into extra-time and then penalties. Charlton scored all five through Bent, Bothroyd, Matt Holland, Hermann Hreidarsson and Hughes but Huth's effort was saved by Andersen to send Charlton through to the fourth round. Mourinho refuses to blame Huth Jose Mourinho had no complaints after the Carling Cup holders crashed out of the competition at the first hurdle when losing 5-4 on penalties to Charlton at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea coach was quick to point out that his side remained unbeaten in normal time but Robert Huth's missed spot-kick condemned them to defeat - Mourinho's first at home as manager. It was a double blunder by the German international, who was to blame for Charlton's equaliser on the stroke of half-time - a goal that victorious Athletic manager Alan Curbishley labelled as the turning point of the match. Huth's poor back header never reached Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini and Darren Bent nipped in to score his ninth of the season and cancel out John Terry's 41st-minute opener for Chelsea. But Mourinho refused to criticise Huth or the rest of his players after a dramatic finale to an enthralling third-round tie. 'I thought we were unlucky,' insisted Mourinho. 'I want to give my congratulations to them because they won. But we were the best team. 'We had chances to win the match in normal and extra-time. But they defended everything and fought a lot. 'When you go to penalties, anything can happen. But I have no complaints about my players. It is not one of those days when you go to the dressing and want to kill half-a-dozen. I have no complaints because we took the game seriously. 'I made the changes I did because I felt some of the boys needed to play and some of the others deserved a rest. I have to trust other people and give them the responsibility of playing in the game. I am not disappointed with them.' Mourinho revealed Chelsea had trained for the possibility of penalties over the two days leading up to the game and refused to criticise the unfortunate Huth. 'We trained for the game and in the last two days we have taken dozens of penalties,' said Mourinho. 'In those penalties Robert Huth scored all eight against three different goalkeepers - Carlo Cudicini, Petr Cech and Lenny Pidgeley. 'But again I have no complaints. Of course I'm sad because we don't like to be out of the competition. But I have no complaints against my players or myself. 'The first goal was a mistake but football is about human beings and human beings make mistakes. The penalty is another mistake but that is about human beings under pressure. I am sad but not disappointed. 'We didn't lose the game. Ninety minutes was a draw and it was a draw after two hours. We lost on penalties. We were the best team on the pitch. Their goal was a big mistake but the boy is a very good player and I trust him. He will have to learn from his mistakes.' Victorious manager Curbishley was delighted with a place in the fourth round and admitted that he was struggling for penalty takers after substituting Danny Murphy and Darren Ambrose during the game. But the Charlton boss pinpointed Bent's goal as the major moment in the game for his side. 'Scoring so quickly after they took the lead was a big boost for us,' said Curbishley. 'I was very disappointed with John Terry's header but we got back into it and it was a turning of the whole game. 'The only time I started thinking about penalties was near the end of the first half of extra-time and I could only get four names on my sheet because all my penalty takers were off - Murphy and Ambrose. 'Karkouri was a penalty taker but he ended up coming off in extra-time. There were a few blank faces but one or two volunteered and we went and done it. 'We were struggling to get five names. Bryan Hughes is a penalty taker and wanted to take the last one and Darren Bent wanted to take the first one. The problem was filling in the middle. 'It was a great night for us and a great achievement. Who knows what will happen in the next round. It was a night for the fans but I would swap it for a home win in the league. 'I guessed Chelsea's team except for Frank Lampard being on the bench. It is such a tough game against them but the lads defended brilliantly. 'The turning point was getting the equaliser so soon. Let's hope we get a decent draw and move on.' ___________________________________________________________ indomail - Your everyday mail - http://indomail.indo.net.id ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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