toptop

Jermaine Easter's late goal saw League Two Wycombe claim a memorable 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg.

71 league places separated the two teams but the chasm in class was bridged by a lively Wycombe side, who were though aided by an unadventurous performance from the Premiership champions at Adams Park.

Chelsea started the game with only one recognised striker, if such a description befits Salomon Kalou, and Wayne Bridge operating as a makeshift winger.

Bridge was among Chelsea's better performers and he gave the visitors the lead in the first half, but a spirited performance from Wycombe earned reward through Easter, who maintained his record of having scoring in every round of this season's competition.

Wycombe made an energetic start and put pressure on their exalted visitors with the buffeting Tommy Mooney testing the concentration of unaccustomed central defenders Michael Essien and Paulo Ferreira.

Their first opportunity arrived in the 19th minute. Easter's cross was intended for Matt Bloomfield whose inadvertent flick found Kevin Betsy but a tight angle and a touch from Hilario thwarted the winger.

Claude Makelele's ball presented a hint of an opening for Bridge and Chelsea, but skewed efforts from Shaun Wright-Phillips and John Obi Mikel betrayed a fragile confidence.

By the half-hour mark their team had got to grips with their new positions and their League Two opposition and Bridge struck with more conviction after Chelsea kept a corner alive but Tommy Docherty was on hand to clear from the goalline.

Chelsea's unlikely threat did strike in the 35th minute. Latching on Kalou's pass, Bridge flighted a finish past Ricardo Batista from the edge of the area and into the back of the net for his first goal in almost three years.

Bridge's overdue celebration was tempered by a collision which left both he and goalkeeper Batista battered and bruised and requiring five minutes of physio attention.

Batista may still have been seeing stars when he made a hash of collecting Wright-Phillips's cross but Kalou could not force the ball home.

Wycombe found renewed impetus at the start of the second half, but missed a second glaring opportunity after Bloomfield scuffed a shot wide from Mooney's intelligent pass.

Michael Ballack had done little to silence growing doubters and another inauspicious performance from Wright-Phillips saw his evening cut short shortly after the hour as Israeli youngster Ben Sahar entered the fray.

World Cup winner Makelele clashed with Mooney, whose international experience began and ended with the now defunct Anglo-Italian cup, but The Blues' superior pedigree was in short evidence - Jose Mourinho's side were relying instead on their unstinting work ethic.

Frank Lampard was introduced for first-half livewire Bridge and a superb marshalling performance from Essien saw Chelsea keep Wycombe at arm's length for much of the second half.

But 12 minutes from time, Easter, the goalscoring hero of previous rounds, at last got the better of Essien from Mooney's header down and he stroked a shot beyond Hilario to lift the roof off Adams Park.

Substitute Sergio Torres saw a shot blocked and Stefan Oakes's long-range free-kick teased a winner but Paul Lambert's team can travel to Stamford Bridge in two weeks' time with their heads held high and are still in with a shout of an unlikely final place.

Teams

Wycombe Wanderers  Batista, Antwi, Williamson, Betsy, Bloomfield (Torres 75), Doherty, Martin, O’Halloran, Oakes, Easter, Mooney (Dixon 88)
Subs Not Used Young, Anya, Palmer
Booked  Mooney, Williamson
Goals  Easter 77

Chelsea  Hilario, Bridge (Lampard 67), A. Cole, Ferreira, Ballack, Essien, Makelele, Mikel, Geremi, Wright-Phillips (Sahar 61), Kalou (Sinclair 90)
Subs Not Used  Kalambay, Morais
Booked  Makelele, Mikel
Goals  Bridge 36

Attendance  5,771

Referee   S. Bennett