Ten-man Chelsea rode its luck to reach the fourth round of the League Cup with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win over Fulham after a 0-0 draw following extra time on Wednesday.

Andre Villas-Boas's side looked in trouble when Brazilian defender Alex was sent off two minutes into the second half for conceding a penalty with a professional foul.

But Pajtim Kasami hit the crossbar with the spot-kick and Chelsea managed to hold on to force a shoot-out.

Frank Lampard missed the Blues' first penalty, but Moussa Dembele squandered his kick and Bryan Ruiz did the same, with replays inconclusive as to whether the ball crossed the line, as Chelsea scraped through.

"Everybody was looking at each other wondering if it was celebration time. The linesman was there so maybe, this time, the decision is good," Villas-Boas said in reference to his belief Chelsea was treated harshly by the officials in its defeat at Manchester United on Sunday.

Fulham boss Martin Jol added: "To be fair, I haven't seen it. Somebody was standing in front of me and then I saw him (Ruiz) go towards the goalkeeper and I knew that he'd missed."

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 09/23/2011 page22)