Chelsea in pole position

Chelsea have pole position in their Carling Cup semi-final with Everton after nicking a 2-1 victory over Everton thanks to a calamity own goal from Joleon Lescott. Chelsea overcame the dismissal of John Obi Mikel to snatch the injury-time winner.

Shaun Wright-Phillips put Chelsea one-up after 25 minutes played with a lovely curled finish after finding some space and time in the penalty box.

Minutes after the goal Joe Cole had a good chance to score a second, from the resulting free-kick (which should never have been given) Ballack went close. Ten minutes into the second-half Jon Obi Mikel was sent-off for a lunge on Phil Neville - a bit harsh from referee Peter Walton.

Three minutes later Pizarro was put through by SWP but failed to really test Howard. Everton equalised when Yobo cut back a McFadden free-kick for Yakubu to lash home. Despite Everton’s numerical advantage, the game was end-to-end during the final twenty minutes and in injury-time Joleon Lescott scored an own-goal when put under pressure by little SWP who was excellent throughout.

Deep into injury-time Lescott had an opportunity to redeem himself, but Hilario closed him down.