28 October 2014:Â The Blues struggled on a wet Greenhous Meadow Stadium pitch, but took the lead after the break when Didier Drogba swept in a half-volley.
Shrewsbury scored a deserved equaliser 13 minutes from time when substitute Andy Mangan stabbed in.
That joy was short-lived as Jermaine Grandison turned in Willian’s cross.
It seemed extra time might be on the cards when Mangan, recently back from injury, poked in to send the home fans into raptures.
Chelsea, whose line-up contained Drogba, Oscar and Andre Schurrle, barely threatened a well-organised Shrewsbury defence during the first half.
However, Jose Mourinho’s men improved markedly in the second period, and took the lead three minutes after the restart when Drogba latched on to Mohamed Salah’s pass and slammed his shot past Jayson Leutwiler.
Shrewsbury Town manager Micky Mellon told BBC Radio Shropshire:
“We’ve had an amazing Cup adventure and made a lot of friends along the way, but we’re out.
“We’ve played in a way that has been pleasing on the eye and beat some very good teams.
“But I am hugely disappointed because we pegged it back to 1-1. And I can’t believe I’m standing here actually saying I’m disappointed we haven’t beaten Chelsea, but I couldn’t be more proud of the players.
“They are bringing on £300m of talent but we caused them all sorts of problems and you have to give my players unbelievable credit for that. They all ran themselves into the ground.”
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:
“Yes I was worried when they equalised but we go through and Didier played a massive part in that.
“Hopefully he will be good for the weekend but we will have to see because right now his character is stronger than his body.
“Maybe what he has done today is through his character – not his body.
“That’s what makes players special and any of the young players lucky enough to play alongside him, learn from that.”
