Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel scored one goal and set up another as Aston Villa upset Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the semifinal of the League Cup.
His side struggling in the league, Angel fired Villa ahead in the 17th minute and had a shot blocked for Gavin McCann to hit the second after Joe Cole had equalized.
PHOTO: EPA
Middlesbrough edged Spurs 5-4 on penalties in Wednesday's other quarterfinal at White Hart Lane after the two teams had finished level at 1-1 at the end of extra time.
The result meant Spurs missed out on a two-leg semifinal with north London neighbor Arsenal which reached the final four by beating division one leader West Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Tuesday
Bolton, which edged Southampton 1-0 after extra time on Tuesday, was drawn to face Villa.
Beaten 2-1 at home up Bolton in the Premier League on Saturday, Chelsea produced another shaky performance at Villa Park to lose for the second time.
"Everything was wrong for us," said Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. "We tried to win the match but Villa played better than us.
"It wasn't because of our system. Angel played fantastically. We put them under pressure in the second half and when we equalised I was sure we could win, but Villa had a very big heart and won the match."
Neil Sullivan, who started instead of Carlo Cudicini, did well to block a shot from Darius Vassell before Villa went ahead in the 17th.
Chelsea defender William Gallas was deceived by the bounce of the ball and Angel took advantage, charging past John Terry and firing a powerful shot into the roof of the net from 20m. It was his 11th goal of the season.
Cole shot just wide of the post from 25m as the Blues tried to hit back but Villa, which has been struggling in the league all season, went into half time deservedly ahead.
Ranieri sent on Frank Lampard for the second half with Hernan Crespo going on soon afterwards but Angel almost put Villa further ahead.
After Spurs half cleared a free kick, the Colombian fired a first time drive from just outside the area which flew past the post. Then he got free in front of goal but Sullivan blocked his shot with his legs.
Chelsea should have equalized midway through the second half when Lampard set up an easy chance for Crespo but the Argentina striker shot wide from 12m.
But Crespo made up for that a minute later with a weaving run and a brilliant inside pass for Cole to run through and lift the ball over Thomas Sorensen in the 69th for the leveler.
Chelsea was back on terms for only nine minutes before Villa regained the lead. Angel fired in a shot that Sullivan failed to hold and McCann followed up to prod the ball home.
A minute from the end, Terry had a header cleared off the line and then Cole shot into the side of the net with many of the Chelsea fans thinking it had gone in.
Middlesbrough had gone seven games without conceding a goal but that streak ended after just 62 seconds at White Hart Lane.
Dean Richards sent Stephen Carr down the right and, although veteran defender Colin Cooper half cleared his cross, the ball dropped to Darren Anderton who fired a low shot past Mark Schwarzer.
Spurs looked like completing the job in 90 minutes but Paul Boateng charged down the right in the 86th and Michael Ricketts beat Carr to his cross before sweeping the ball past Spurs' American 'keeper Kasey Keller to send the quarterfinal into extra time.
Ricketts headed wide from a good position and Juninho missed the target from close range before Keller saved from Ricketts. The American keeper then made a brilliant diving, one-handed stop to keep out a powerful shot from Stewart Downing in the final seconds of extra time.
In the penalty shootout, Franck Queudrue fired the clinching shot for a 5-4 victory after Ricketts, Juninho, Boudewijn Zenden and Danny Mills had also hit the target but Gaizka Mendieta had missed.
Robbie Keane, Carr, Paul Konchesky and Frederic Kanoute converted Spurs' four penalties but Gustavo Poyet and Mauricio Taricco missed.
Bundesliga
Bayer Leverkusen got two goals from striker Dimitar Berbatov to beat Stuttgart 3-2 on Wednesday and allow Bayern Munich to spend the Bundesliga winter break in second place.
Stuttgart could have jumped over Bayern with a victory, but Felix Magath's slumping team instead dropped its first match at home and fell to fourth place, remaining winless in four straight Bundesliga matches.
The outcome left three teams tied on 35 points, with Werder Bremen finishing the first half of the season as the leader with 39.
Bremen beat Hansa Rostock 3-0 on Tuesday and Bayern routed Freiburg 6-0.
Borussia Moenchengladbach beat 1860 Munich 2-1 on the road, while the other three matches Wednesday all ended in draws -- Borussia Dortmund 1, Kaiserslautern 1; Hannover 2, Bochum 2; and Schalke 1, Wolfsburg 1.
Bayern kept second place on goal difference, ahead of Leverkusen and Stuttgart, which had led much of the season but lost its second straight.
The season resumes Jan. 31.
In Stuttgart, captain Carsten Ramelow fired from the edge of the area into the lower right corner to put Leverkusen ahead after 24 minutes. In the last minute of the first half, Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand fumbled a shot and Berbatov easily netted from close range.
After 56 minutes, Kevin Kuranyi ended Stuttgart's goal drought -- Magath's team had not scored in the previous three matches. Cacau shot from the right, Hans-Joerg Butt could not hold onto the ball and Kuranyi put it back over the Leverkusen goalkeeper into the net.
But in the 62nd, Berbatov notched his second by lobbing the ball brilliantly over Hildebrand from the edge of the area.
Only six minutes later, Stuttgart captain Zvonimir Soldo prodded the ball home after Leverkusen's failure to clear a corner.
In Dortmund, both sides were missing more than a dozen players each through injuries. With time running out in the first half, Jan Koller scored from a scramble in front of the Kaiserslautern goal.
In the 76th, Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller advanced far from his line to catch a long cross but dropped the ball and midfielder Lincoln easily scored for a deserved Kaiserslautern equalizer.
Schalke went ahead after 26 minutes through Hamit Altintop, who picked up a splendid through ball from Niels Oude Kamphuis, had his first effort blocked but got the rebound and drove the ball into the roof of the net.
Wolfsburg pulled even in the 41st, when Martin Petrov finished a smart fast-break move.
Sven Vermant hit the post of Wolfsburg's goal in the 53rd.
Moenchengladbach's Ivo Ulich picked off a bad clearance by the 1860 defense and slammed home the opening goal after 16 minutes, but Benjamin Lauth got the equalizer in the 63rd with a well-placed shot.
In the 83rd, however, striker Arie van Lent headed in the winner after a fast break.
Thomas Brdaric scored the first goal for Hannover 96 after 18 minutes, charging into the box and slotting the ball inside the far post.
Peter Madsen tied the score after 53 minutes, guiding a Paul Freier cross into the net after a Hannover defender stumbled and missed the clearance.
Ten minutes later, Canadian international Julian de Guzman drove home from 16m out to restore Hannover's lead, but not for long. In the 75th, Vahid Hashemian rose at the far post to knock in a cross from the left for his 11th goal of the season.
Nebojsa Krupnikovic hit the Bochum post with two minutes left from a free kick.
Copa del Rey
Defending champion Mallorca was knocked out in the second round of the Copa del Rey by second-division Levante after striker David Aganzo scored twice Wednesday to give the team a 2-0 victory.
Mallorca, which lifted the trophy last season for the first time in its history, never recovered after Aganzo netted in the 15th minute from a pass by Ivorian midfielder Felix Ettien. Aganzo killed off Mallorca's hopes in the 79th minute, when he slipped past Mallorca defender Javier Olaizola and struck Levante's second goal.
The surprise victory earns the Valencia-based club, which lies in second place in the second division, a berth in the last 16.
Racing de Santander was the only other first-division team to be eliminated on Wednesday. Santander lost 3-2 on penalties to second-division Eibar after the teams played for two hours without a goal.
FC Barcelona, Valencia and Deportivo de La Coruna all won their games to advance. Barcelona downed second-division Ciudad de Murcia 4-0.
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