Andriy Shevchenko paid back some of his 30 million pound investment made by Chelsea by propelling the club into the league cup final as the league champions ran riot at Stamford Bridge, defeating Wycombe Wanderers 4-0 in the semifinal. 

Shevchenko, who was in the news for quiet some time, almost all of it for bad reasons, was given another chance to prove both manager Jose Mourinho and the media wrong. Things started badly enough for the Ukrainian captain as he missed a great chance to score from 6 yards out in the opening minute.

Wycombe made their game plan plain enough by letting the home side have the bulk of the possession while they put all the men behind the ball. Lampard could have put Chelsea in the lead in the 9th minute with his trademark drive, but the shot was well wide of the target.

However Chelsea took the lead in the 22nd minute when Tommy Doherty foolishly back passed the ball straight to Shevchenko, who made no mistake this time to score his seventh goal for Chelsea. The home team settled into the driver's seat by scoring the second goal just 3 minutes before half time.

Shevchenko timed his run perfectly to latch on to a fine pass by Didier Drogba and slotted the ball past a flaying Batista to score his second of the night. Wycombe's first real chance came in the 62nd minute when Petr Cech saved a stinging free-kick from 25-yards by Stefan Oakes and a few minutes later saved another from Russell Martin.

Chelsea continued to press forward and were rewarded in the 69th minute when Shevchenko's lofted pass found Lampard who coolly chipped the ball over the keeper and passed the ball into the net. Lampard completed the proceedings for the night by scoring Chelsea's fourth, and his second, after Drogba had made a great cross across the Wycombe goal.

However the day belonged to Sheva, who is being seen as the man responsible for the rift between Mourinho and club owner Abramovich. Mourinho was pleased with the Ukranian and said that he was slowly learning the way in which the club plays.

"I demand commitment, effort, being aggressive, working and playing for the team, working with the ball, working without the ball, that's what I demand. He (Shevchenko) did that, scored two goals, created some more. He was alive all the time while on the pitch. I think it's a step forward in the direction of how we want him to play and perform on the pitch. The team is happy with him. It's not just about me being happy with him", Mourinho said.

Shevchenko said that the support shown by the fans and players alike was pleasing. "I'm very happy to reach the final. It's important the team plays very, very well. I'm happy for the victory of the team today. The support of this team and fans has been unbelievable", he added.