So this hazy, crazy, Cup year careers on. As if the lunchtime exit of Manchester United was not enough of an upset, albeit to a Premier League side, Chelsea were humbled by Barnsley on a Yorkshire night made for the underdogs. So no member of the big four reaches the semi-finals of the Cup and all is right with the world outside the Champions League. The Cup holders are out.

Barnsley’s goal came midway through the second half from Kayode Odejayi, a Nigerian, who rose high above Carlo Cudicini to continue Barnsley’s single-handed slaying of giants. First Liverpool, now Chelsea. This was another proud night for Barnsley, another proud night for the Championship. It will be Barnsley’s first semi-final since 1912, just after the sinking of the Titanic.

Then, they went on to beat West Bromwich Albion to win the Cup. Doubtless Sid “Skinner” Normanton was playing and Michael Parkinson and Dickie Bird were in the stands.

What price a repeat? West Brom take on Bristol Rovers today, mindful of an unlikely reprise of another age.

This was a night for celebration of the unsung and underfunded. Barnsley made a brief appearance in the Premier League a decade ago, but the gaps have widened since then.

Chelsea, 4-0 winners over Olympiakos in midweek, could not be faulted for effort or accused of complacency, but they were hurried and harried out of their stride, particularly in the first half, by a side who took up where they left off at Anfield. “When Chelsea’s team sheet went up in the dressing room, the players looked at it and turned away,” said Simon Davey, the Barnsley manager. “There was no fear.”

Avram Grant looked even more downcast than usual. “This is the most disappointing day since I came to Chelsea,” said the Chelsea manager. “It was very, very disappointing, but I need to congratulate Barnsley. They showed a good spirit.”

Not for the first time this season, a top side made the mistake of underestimating more lowly brethren. Chelsea might, as Grant claimed, have put out a side that should have beaten Barnsley, but without Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Chelsea are vulnerable in games of grit and muscle.

Nicolas Anelka is a different type of centre-forward, mobile and swift, but last night tellingly absent when the crosses came in. One moment summed up his night as Joe Cole broke down the right, reached the byline and saw his low cross roll across the six-yard box with Anelka drifting to the near post and no one following up behind him.

For a spell, Chelsea did threaten to breach the left side of the Barnsley defence but Dennis Souza, a burly Brazilian, and Stephen Foster threw body and soul into the fray and, particularly as Chelsea laid siege to the Barnsley goal in the closing 10 minutes, blocked every shot.

The goal came midway through the second half and from an unlikely source. The last goal Odejayi scored was against Scunthorpe in September, but long before he rose to head beyond the flailing Cudicini, he had terrorised John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of one of the steeliest defences in the land.

Before last night, his main claim to fame was to be Ade Akinbiyi’s cousin. He is certainly from the same stock, powerful and strong, but prone to goal droughts and subject of some vociferous barracking from the home fans. Odejayi had his revenge last night and, much to his surprise, got a signed shirt from Terry as a memento.

Barnsley set about their task with a purpose and an invention that must have surprised Chelsea. Davey had instilled in his side a real belief, not difficult when you have won at Anfield, but he might also have pointed out that his team had gone four games without a win since Liverpool.

If Odejayi was significant to the growing confidence of the home team, little Jamal Campbell-Ryce, a jack-in-the-box of a winger, gave Juliano Belletti a torrid opening quarter. One dribble past two static Chelsea defenders was ended by a gang of blue shirts. The energy fizzed through the team like an electric cable. Barnsley began to believe that lightning could strike twice.

Cole, Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips all weaved pretty patterns on the bare but far from unplayable pitch. Barnsley stood resolute in defence and, like Chelsea, broke swiftly when the moment came.

Cudicini’s hesitation almost allowed Odejayi to score in the first half as a back pass caught the keeper unawares and Istvan Ferenczi, Odejayi’s strike partner and, at £250,000, Barnsley’s most expensive purchase, hit the outside of the post after a neat piece of control from a free kick.

Still, it seemed only a matter of time before the laws of economics asserted themselves. Surely Chelsea could not follow United out of the Cup. Surely Bristol Rovers could not last longer than all of them? Chelsea lifted the tempo, but just as Barnsley began to tire, Odejayi outjumped Cudicini from Martin Devaney’s long cross to power home his second goal of the season. “When is the dream going to end?” asked Davey. No one had a ready answer.

Barnsley: Steele 7, Van Homoet 6, Foster 8, Souza 8, Kozluk 7, Campbell-Ryce 7, Hassell 6, Howard 6, Devaney 6 (Togwell 73min), Odejayi 9 (Coulson 80min), Ferenczi 7

Chelsea: Cudicini 5, Belletti 5 (Pizarro 74min), Terry 6, Carvalho 6, Bridge 5, Wright-Phillips 5, Essien 5, Ballack 6, J Cole 7, Anelka 5, Malouda 4 (Kalou 62min)

Scorer: Odejayi 66
Star man: Kayode Odejayi (Barnsley)
Referee: S Bennett
Attendance: 22,410

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