Chelsea win on penalties in Carling Cup tie.

Third-round Carling Cup ties with second-string teams are not supposed to be as dramatic as this, nor call on “super-human effort”. And they are not supposed to have the Chelsea manager talking about exorcising two ghosts for his new club so early in the campaign.

There was also the most arresting of finishes with a penalty shoot-out after the players had run themselves to a standstill through the 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra-time, with Fulham's new £10.5 million striker Bryan Ruiz crashing his decisive spot-kick against the crossbar only for the ball to then bounce down and land flush on the goal-line. Did it cross? It didn’t appear to but in the confusion nobody was sure apart from referee Chris Foy and his assistants.

There was more drama. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was taken to hospital for a scan at half-time after complaining of dizziness following a collision during the first period of the game. That was all the more alarming given Cech’s history of head injuries, having suffered that stress fracture to the skull five years ago, but Andre Villas-Boas confirmed afterwards that the player had been given the all-clear and would be able to play this weekend.

There was a further scare with Daniel Sturridge limping off and fearing ligament damage to his knee but it is hoped that he is also not as severely injured as first feared.

Chelsea were also dealt a blow when Alex was sent off with a straight red card by Foy, having brought down the impressive Kerim Frei to concede a penalty. As if to act as a taste of things to come Pajtim Kassani’s kick struck the cross-bar.