Blackburn are into the semi-finals of the Carling Cup

Blackburn are into the semi-finals of the Carling Cup after a dramatic penalty shootout success over Chelsea.

Nikola Kalinic fired the hosts in front early on at Ewood Park, but Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou completed a quick-fire comeback for Chelsea after the break.

Extra-time then appeared to have found a winner, with Benni McCarthy's penalty seemingly set to separate the two sides.

Paulo Ferreira had other ides, though, and rifled into the roof of the net with the last kick of the game to send the contest all the way.

Paul Robinson then established himself as the hero of the hour, saving two penalties to help Rovers to a 4-3 success.

Carlo Ancelotti made sweeping changes to his starting XI following the weekend win at Arsenal and the Blues appeared edgy from the off.

Rovers sensed an opportunity and were able to get themselves in front inside the opening 10 minutes.

Pascal Chimbonda, at his buccaneering best, broke down the left with just nine minutes on the clock and his low cross was turned in by Kalinic.

Chelsea offered little in terms of a response, with the hosts able to restrict the Premier League leaders to long-range efforts.

A triple substitution at the interval paid immediate dividends, though, as the visitors quickly turned the tie on its head.

Drogba nodded home a Florent Malouda cross with virtually his first touch on 48 minutes and Kalou calmly slotted Chelsea in front four minutes later after racing away from the Rovers backline.

Blackburn were not to be denied, though, and grabbed an equaliser after 64 minutes when a hopeful cross from Emerton evaded everyone and slipped past Hilario at his near post.

A topsy-turvy tie then tipped in favour of Rovers once three minutes into extra-time when Yuri Zhirkov hacked David Hoilett to the ground and McCarthy made no mistake from the spot.

That should have been that, but a mistake from Robinson allowed Ferreira to smash home the most dramatic of equalisers.

However, the Rovers keeper made amends in the shootout, saving from Michael Ballack and Gael Kakuta, to see Blackburn into the last four.