Mario Balotelli ended his long Liv­erpool goal drought as the Reds beat 10-man Swansea 2-1 in the League Cup, while Chelsea joined them in the quarter-finals after surviving a scare at Shrewsbury.

Liverpool had looked like exiting the competition as the game headed into the closing stages with the Swansea in front thanks to smart finish from Dutch striker Marvin Emnes.

But Balotelli, without a goal in almost 500 minutes of action and under major pressure, turned home Javier Manquillo’s cross to level matters with just five minutes remaining.

The game then turned against Garry Monk’s side with a contro­versial red card, harshly awarded to defender Federico Fernandez for a challenge on Philippe Coutinho.

That meant five minutes of add­ed time and that proved enough for Brendan Rodger’s side to win it with defender Dejan Lovren head­ing the dramatic winner.

Elsewhere, Jermaine Grandi­son’s own goal broke Shrewsbury’s hearts after Chelsea narrowly avoided an upset to snatch a 2-1 win.

The Town defender turned in Willian’s cross with nine minutes left but Jose Mourinho’s side were made to work to reach the League Cup’s last eight.

Andy Mangan had scored 84 seconds after coming on as a 75th-minute replacement to cancel out Didier Drogba’s opener before Grandison’s unfortunate interven­tion.