McDonald cup double as Burnley oust Arsenal

(CNN) -- Kevin McDonald scored twice as Burnley followed up their shock win at Chelsea in the previous round by overpowering Arsenal 2-0 to reach the Carling Cup semifinals on Tuesday.

Burnley went through on penalties at Stamford Bridge, but their latest triumph over London's elite was far more emphatic with McDonald on target after six and 57 minutes on a bitterly cold night at Turf Moor.

Arsenal's young guns -- average age 19 -- looked impressive in earlier rounds but were always chasing the game after Scottish midfielder McDonald gave his second tier club the lead.

Chris Eagles swung in a superb cross from the right and when goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski failed to gather midfielder McDonald took full advantage to score from inside the six-yard box.

Burnley extended their lead when Arsenal were caught napping from an Eagles throw-in and McDonald raced clear before rifling a shot into the far corner.

The result was pandemonium around the ground with the supporters sensing a famous victory. McDonald then came off on the hour and was replaced by Joey Gudjonsson.

Goalkeeper Brian Jensen, a hero at Chelsea, again played a huge part -- protecting Burnley's advantage with saves from Mark Randall and Niklas Bendtner having already denied the latter before the opening goal.

Arsenal were stung and manager Arsene Wenger responded by bringing on Jay Simpson who had shown his potential in the last round with a double in the victory against Wigan.

However Paterson should have made it 3-0 to Burnley in the 65th minute only to send a soft header into Fabianski's arms following a cross from Blake.

When asked if Burnley could win the cup, keeper Jensen told Sky Sports 1: "With a good draw and a little bit of luck then who knows. We'll see who we get. It's a massive game for the club because it's the semifinals now. It doesn't really matter whoever we get."

Jensen also praised the efforts of his team-mates and in particular McDonald. "If they would have scored a goal then it would have been a massive task so it was bit tough but credit to the lads and big Kev, he scored two great goals tonight," he said.

McDonald paid tribute to Jensen's efforts and was delighted to get on the scoresheet. "They are the best goals I have scored in my career," he said. "We have a great keeper here. We knew it would be hard to give 100%. That was the main thing."

It is the first time in four years that Arsenal have failed to make at least the semifinals while Burnley were left celebrating a hat-trick of triumphs over capital clubs having also eliminated Fulham.

Burnley are in the semifinals of a major cup competition for the first time in 25 years and they were joined by fellow Championship club Derby who won 1-0 at Premier League Stoke City.

Derby were relegated last season when their rivals made the opposite move and claimed some consolation when an injury-time penalty from Nathan Ellington sent them into the last four.

It is the first time Derby have reached that stage of a top cup competition since 1968.