For anyone who had not watched Cardiff in League One this season, this might have been quite a surprise.
Gone is the robust, direct style of play favoured by Neil Warnock, Mick McCarthy and other previous managers.
That has been replaced by a freewheeling, possession-based brand of attacking football carried out by a young team brimming with Bluebirds academy graduates.
Admittedly, Cardiff are playing in the third tier of English football for the first time in more than two decades, but this season has been unusually joyous for a club who had lost their way in the Championship.
Having seen off Premier League Burnley and ambitious fellow Welsh side Wrexham in previous rounds of the EFL Cup, this was a first chance for Barry-Murphy’s charges to test themselves against a real heavyweight.
They rose to the challenge admirably, impressing out of possession with positional discipline and coordinated pressing, while also causing their illustrious opponents problems.
Callum Robinson and Turnbull saw early efforts saved, while Isaak Davies was a nuisance on the left wing and his deflected low cross had Chelsea keeper Filip Jorgensen scrambling.
The Bluebirds’ endeavour was rewarded when Ng cut in from the right and arced a beautiful left-footed cross for Turnbull, who shifted his bodyweight and headed smartly into the net to spark wild celebrations.
The home crowd were baying for more at that stage and, although the giant-killing was not to be, this was a performance full of skill as much as heart to enhance the reputations of every Cardiff player and their boss Barry-Murphy.
