Chelsea needed penalties to advance in the Carabao Cup for a second consecutive round as they edged past Southampton with a 4-3 shoot-out victory at Stamford Bridge following a 1-1 draw.
Reece James again provided the decisive kick, just as he did against Aston Villa in the previous round, with Theo Walcott and Will Smallbone missing for the Saints.
Kai Havertz headed Chelsea into the lead seconds before half-time, guiding a header into the bottom corner from a corner.
But Southampton would force spot-kicks when Che Adams fired in on the rebound after Kyle Walker-Peters’ effort was saved by the legs of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Hands up if you're through to the next round! 🙋♂️ pic.twitter.com/uXWrPbIxTV— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 26, 2021
Across London, Calum Chambers scored his first goal in more than two years before Eddie Nketiah punished his former club to send Arsenal into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Leeds.
Chambers scored with his first touch of the night after coming off the bench to replace the injured Benjamin White 10 minutes into the second half.
And former Leeds loanee made sure of the Gunners’ place in the quarter-finals when he punished a mistake from Liam Cooper, whose defensive header never had the power to reach Illan Meslier.
Instead Nketiah skipped through, lifting the ball over the goalkeeper before watching his scuffed finish tuck just inside the post as Leeds defenders scrambled to get back.
The result means Arsenal have now won six of their last eight in all competitions, and are unbeaten since August.
"Hello, this is the Quarter-Finals calling, how may I help you?" ☎️ #EFL | @Arsenalpic.twitter.com/KWh3PLExVY— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) October 26, 2021
It also went to penalties at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, where League One Sunderland dumped out QPR with a 3-1 shoot-out victory after a goalless draw.
Charlie Austin thought he had scored a late winner to send QPR into the last eight for the first time since 1988.
But a tight offside call went against the home side, and Austin’s misery continued when his spot-kick – the first of the shoot-out – was saved by Sunderland goalkeeper Lee Burge.
He was not the only culprit, though, with Ilias Chair and Yoann Barbet failing to find the target from the spot as QPR went out to League One opposition for a fourth year in a row.
