The story is particularly cruel for Kidderminster who led until extra time in regulation time before seeing Declan Rice, entered after the break, equalize (1-1, 90 + 1).
And the scenario repeated itself during extra time, Jarrod Bowen giving victory to the Hammers a few seconds before a penalty shootout that seemed inevitable (2-1, 120 + 1).
Two goals that made us forget Alphonse Areola's completely failed aerial outing on Alex Penny's opener (1-0, 19th).
But without rhythm and for a long time without much conviction, the 5th in the Premier League, who is aiming for a place in the Champions League next season, had the greatest difficulty in enforcing the hierarchy.
For its part, Chelsea, 3rd in the championship but deprived of its coach Thomas Tuchel, who tested positive for Covid before the match, also had difficulty getting rid of Plymouth.
From the 8th minute, the "Pligrims" opened the scoring with a header from Macaulay Gillesphey who got rid of a very soft Romelu Lukaku in his marking (0-1, 8th) in an aerial duel.
But unlike their London neighbours, Chelsea created a host of clear chances that made Michael Cooper, the opposing goalkeeper, shine.
The Blues still joined the locker room at the break after having managed to catch up, on a heel goal from Cesar Azpilicueta, after a good combination where Jorginho had perfectly offset Mason Mount (1-1, 41st).
During extra time, it was Marcos Alonso who gave his side the advantage, receiving a center back from Kai Havertz (2-1, 105 + 1) just before half-time in extra time.
Far from being disunited, the third division team managed to obtain a penalty three minutes from the end, on a fault by Frenchman Malang Sarr.
Unfortunately for her, Kepa, who started on the right side, deflected Ryan Hardie's too soft strike, and the Blues will be there in the eighth round at the start of March.
This will not be the case for Manchester United, eliminated Friday at home by Middlesbrough (D2) on penalties (1-1, 8-7 ap. tab).
© 2022 AFP