Mile Jedinak kept his head, but those around him lost theirs as Crystal Palace fell in a penalty shootout to Cardiff City, shattering the Australian's dreams of a League Cup final at Wembley.
Mile Jedinak-s dream of playing in the League Cup final at Wembley has ended with his Crystal Palace side falling to Cardiff City in a dramatic penalty shootout at Cardiff City Stadium.
Jedinak was the only Crystal Palace player to find the net in the shootout, calmly slotting his spot kick past Cardiff keeper Tom Heaton to keep Palace in the shootout after their first two kicks were saved.
Their survival was short-lived though, with defender Jonathan Parr missing the target on the fourth attempt to see wild celebrations erupt as Cardiff fans invaded the pitch, while Palace players stood rooted to the middle of the Welsh ground in shock.
In truth it was a fair result, Cardiff dominated the possession flow of the match with 69 per cent and had many more chances than their visitors on this day, only to be frequently denied by either the woodwork or Eagles- keeper, Julian Speroni.
The match couldn-t have started much worse for Palace with their 1-0 aggregate lead evaporating in just the seventh minute when Anthony Gardner turned a header into his own net, the hero from the first leg quickly becoming the villain of the piece.
From there City were buoyed and Palace looked to be a team playing on desperation, which would only get worse in the 78th minute when captain Paddy McCarthy saw his second yellow card for a rash challenge on Cardiff striker Kenny Miller.
Cardiff now await the winner of Premier League giants Manchester City and Liverpool, the latter holding a 1-0 lead ahead of tomorrow-s semi-final at Anfield.
The League Cup final will take place on February 6 at Wembley.