In the end, Chelsea did not need all five of their penalty kicks to beat Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup last night.

The game was decided by a shootout and an incredible save from Djordje Petrovic made it 4-2, meaning Chelsea‘s fifth taker never had to go up.

However, had Matt Ritchie converted his spot kick, Armando Broja would have been in line to score the Blues’ winning penalty. The striker confirmed to football.london after the game that he was up next.

West London rivals Fulham, Middlesbrough, Liverpool or West Ham United now await Chelsea in the semi-finals of the competition. One of Liverpool or West Ham will be knocked out tonight after their clash at Anfield.

Armando Broja was Chelsea’s fifth penalty taker

Broja was so close to having the opportunity to become Chelsea’s hero. However, the 22-year-old was still pleased for Petrovic.

When asked if he was meant to take the Blues’ next penalty, he said: “Yeah, I was. I was quite excited actually to be taking. But Petro put on an unbelievable display, so it didn’t quite get to me but I was excited to take.”

“I can’t tell you that. I can’t tell you that one,” the forward then cheekily replied when asked where he planned to go.

Mauricio Pochettino would have backed Armando Broja to score

Anything can happen in a penalty shootout, but Broja obviously has a lot of confidence if he was ready to go last.

And being a striker, Mauricio Pochettino probably would have fancied him to bury that fifth spot kick. Thanks to Petrovic’s heroics, though, we will never know.

Ironically, journalist Ben Jacobs recently suggested that Newcastle could actually be a potential suitor for Broja next month.

The Albania international may need to leave Stamford Bridge for more game time if Chelsea end up bringing in a new striker.