Frank Lampard scored the winner with two minutes left as Chelsea beat Fulham 2-1 to reach the League Cup semifinals on Tuesday.
In the other match, Football League Championship side Watford eliminated Premier League club Portsmouth 3-0.
At Craven Cottage, Chelsea took the lead through Damien Duff in the 55th minute. Fulham leveled in the 74th when substitute Elvis Hammond set up US international Brian McBride. But goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was at fault for the winner, allowing Lampard's shot through his hands.
"We beat them 4-1 here a couple of weeks ago [in the league] so we knew that was fresh in their minds," Lampard said. "We never think we're invincible -- Arsenal got to that level last year and we've got to get there.
"We want to go on and win this competition -- a potential trip to the Millennium Stadium means we could have a cup in the bag by the end of February.''
Heidar Helguson struck twice and set up Bruce Dyer for the third goal as Watford eliminated Portsmouth. It was the first loss for Pompey since manager Harry Redknapp quit last week.
Wednesday's quarterfinal matches are Manchester United vs. Arsenal and Tottenham vs. Liverpool. The winner of the League Cup, England's second tier club knockout competition, gets entry to the UEFA Cup next season.
The sex scandal that prompted the Football Association's top official to resign just won't go away.
The secretary whose affairs with FA chief executive Mark Palios and England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson made headlines over the summer is now accusing another senior FA official of sexual harassment.
Faria Alam, who no longer works for the FA, is seeking compensation of a year's salary of around ?30,000 (US$56,700), contending she was forced to quit her job.
"She wants all this out in the open," Alam's adviser, Max Clifford, said Tuesday. "All she wanted was for this to be settled and she is prepared to go public if she doesn't get what she wants."
Neither Clifford nor media reports identified the FA official accused of sexually harassing Alam. He reportedly still works at the organization.
Alam's affairs with Palios and Eriksson plunged the FA into crisis in July and August.
Palios resigned, as did the communications director, Colin Gibson, who tried to broker a deal with the tabloid that broke the story.
After an initial denial, the FA confirmed that Eriksson had an affair with Alam. The FA board investigated whether the Swede misled them about the affair but ruled he had no case to answer.
Brian Barwick, former controller of ITV Sport, was appointed last week as Palios' replacement. He takes over on Jan 31.
Diouf admits spitting
Senegal World Cup striker El Hadji Diouf will miss Bolton's next three games after he admitted a misconduct charge on Tuesday for spitting in an opponent's face.
Diouf, who has a history of similar conduct, spat at Portsmouth captain Arjan de Zeeuw during Bolton's 1-0 loss at home on Saturday.
It is the second time that the striker, who is on loan from Liverpool, has been fined for spitting.
Diouf issued an apology after Saturday's incident but Bolton fined him two weeks' wages before the Football Association served a charge of improper conduct.
Suspensions handed out
Middlesbrough defender Franck Queudrue and Aston Villa's Lee Hendrie were each suspended for three matches on Tuesday after losing appeals against red cards.
Queudrue was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Noe Pamarot in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Tottenham. 'Boro appealed against referee Phil Dowd's decision, but the petition was rejected by the FA.
Hendrie was banned for three matches after the FA also rejected his appeal against a red card.
The England international midfielder was dismissed for violent conduct by referee Mike Riley after he faked a headbutt in the direction of defender Danny Mills.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but