This was a cup tie certainly befitting the presence of England’s future king. Bursting with excitement, tension and penalties; the EFL Cup was still very much alive in this corner of west London last night.
Ultimately, Prince William would have left Stamford Bridge disappointed after watching his beloved Aston Villa crash out on in a shoot-out – Reece James firing home Chelsea’s decisive spot-kick after Ashley Young and Marvelous Nakamba missed for the visitor’s.
The heir to the throne, however, can’t say he wasn’t entertained after this enthralling encounter.
The Academy graduate Cameron Archer squandered three opportunities to score. The 19-year-old’s first opportunity arrived in the eighth minute when he was sent through by Morgan Sanson but could only fire over bar.
Chelsea’s only chances were a wayward header from Saul Niguez that bounced harmlessly wide and Hakim Ziyech’s long-rage effort that was routinely held by Jed Steer.
Indeed, the Blues weren’t really at the races during the first-half. Fit again Ruben Loftus-Cheek showed some promise on his first senior appearance for Chelsea since the start of last season, while Trevoh Chalobah was looking assured in the Blues defense.
But that wasn’t enough to satisfy Thomas Tuchel, who was clearly agitated at his team’s performance – Ben Chilwell, who was in closest proximity to the German during the opening 45 minutes, bearing the brunt of the Blues boss’ frustrations.
His mood would have plummeted had Archer taken one of two late chances to give Villa a deserved advantage – while Reece James had to be alert to clear Anwar El Ghazi’s effort off the line.
Mason Mount’s introduction in place of N’Golo Kante, who was brought off with Saturday’s huge clash against Manchester City in mind, was indicative of how Tuchel felt about his team’s first-half.
And Chelsea emerged after the restart like a team transformed. The opener, when it arrived in the 54th minute, was inevitable as Timo Werner nodded home Reece James’ peach of a cross.
The Germany international should have notched another two minutes later, but he flicked narrowly wide following Hakim Ziyech’s pass before Steer denied the Moroccan’s powerful effort as Chelsea threatened to put the game to bed.
You’d have put your mortgage on Chelsea doubling their lead at this stage, but Villa simply wasn’t done.
Against the run of play, they leveled, Archer, making light of his earlier misses to send a bullet header from Matty Cash’s brilliant cross past Kepa.
Had Anwar El Ghazi, Jaden Philogene-Bidace, or Emilio Buendia taken one of three golden opportunities soon after Archer’s equalizer, then the Villa faithful would have been in dreamland.
Instead, they had to endure a late Blues surge, Mount and Ziyech wasting good chances.
Tuchel even threw on record signing Romelu Lukaku in hope of finding the winner in normal time – but Villa held on for penalties, only to be left disappointed after Young hit the bar and Kepa saved from Nakamba leaving James to fire Chelsea into the fourth round.