Chelsea are made to struggle

Chelsea scrambled into the third round of the Coca-Cola Cup despite a stirring performance by Blackpool in the second leg at Stamford Bridge last night.

The Second Division side, trailing 4-1 from the first leg, took a 2-0 lead early in the second half thanks to goals by Tony Ellis and James Quinn. John Spencer then struck for Chelsea, but after 61 minutes Blackpool again got within touching distance of their Premiership opponents when Ellis scored his second goal of the night.

Chelsea were visibly shaken and a triple subsitution after 73 minutes by the Blackpool manager, Gary Megson, almost paid dividends when Andy Preece's left-foot shot five minutes from the end was deflected wide by Frank Leboeuf.

Swindon Town upset Queen's Park Rangers at Loftus Road, where a 3-1 victory gave the Wiltshire side a 4-3 aggregate victory over the home side. Peter Thorne scored the winning goal in extra time.

Southampton had a comfortable 4-1 victory at Peterborough to go through 6-1 on aggregate. Gordon Watson and Simon Charlton put Southampton two ahead at half-time and, although Sean Farrell pulled one back for Peterborough, Jim Magilton and Richard Dryden added further goals for the Premiership side.

Wimbledon's 1-0 lead from the first leg lasted until the 41st minute at Portsmouth, who took the lead through Jimmy Carter. However, after 47 minutes Marcus Gayle scored to end Portsmouth's hopes of a shock victory.