We had dominated possession throughout the game and seen several good chances come and go before Mykhailo Mudryk calmly found the bottom corner in the second minute of stoppage time.

The Ukrainian’s third goal for the Blues took the quarter-final tie to penalties and it was there that Djordje Petrovic made his mark, superbly saving Matt Ritchie’s spot-kick to secure our progression to the last four.

‘It was a very tough game,’ a delighted Petrovic reacted.

‘We conceded an unlucky goal but we trusted in ourselves, in our job, and Misha scored in the last minute. We had patience, and I want to congratulate the team because everyone deserves it.’

‘It means a lot to score and to win this match,’ added Mudryk.

‘This can happen when you trust in each other and believe until the end. Sometimes when the game is tough you need to keep pushing and believe until the last second because it’s football and anything can happen.’

Petrovic enamoured himself to the Chelsea faithful on his second start for the club. He joined from New England Revolution in August and showcased his quality with that eyecatching stop from Ritchie.

‘In my opinion I don’t have pressure [in the shoot-out] because they need to score and I can be the hero,’ he said of his involvement.

‘I just did my job and that’s it.’

We now have a two-legged semi-final to look forward to in the new year, and Mudryk is eyeing a first piece of silverware at Chelsea for himself and many other members of this new-look Blues squad.

‘Like our gaffer said we are going to try to win this title. Before this game and after this game our plans didn’t change.

‘In my humble opinion we are going in the right direction. We have to trust the process and trust our gaffer. We are building a really strong team. Sometimes to create something big you need time.’