IT was, in the end, a step too far for Middlesbrough. There will be no remarkable repeat 20 years on from their most famous day and no Wembley visit. At least not in the Carabao Cup.

Boro’s joyous journey that took them from Huddersfield to Bolton, Bradford, Exeter and Port Vale, all leading to a brilliant Riverside night that will live long in the memory, ended in sobering fashion at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

What started as, let’s be frank, something of an inconvenience, led to Wembley hotels being booked and now, unfortunately, cancelled.

At full-time there was applause and appreciation from the sell-out away end - recognition at the end of a memorable journey.

The fans – more than 4,000 of them who packed the away end at Stamford Bridge and never stopped singing – had been urged by Michael Carrick to dream but within 45 minutes it had turned into something of a nightmare for Boro. The one-goal advantage from the first leg was wiped out within 15 minutes and by half-time the home side’s advantage was four on the night and three in the tie. By that stage it was damage limitation for Boro.

In fairness to Carrick’s side, they did limit the damage to an extent, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men only adding two more after the break – before Morgan Rogers curled in a fine late consolation. A parting gift?

The frustration for Boro is the fact they brought a lot of their first half problems on themselves. Chelsea – despite their Premier League struggles – are stacked with individual talent but Boro paid the price for naivety. In the opening half, they repeatedly played themselves into trouble and all four goals could have been avoided. Lukas Engel was at fault for the Jonny Howson own-goal that levelled the tie and Enzo Fernandez’s goal that put Chelsea in front. Matt Clarke and Hayden Hackney gifted Axel Disasi their third goal and Hackney’s careless pass and Dan Barlaser’s slip led to the fourth through Cole Palmer.

The tie was long dead by the time Palmer scored his second and Chelsea’s fifth 13 minutes from time, before substitute Noni Madueke wrapped it up three minutes later. The supporters deserved the cheer Rogers’ goal brought.

Boro will look back with frustration at the incident against Rotherham that ruled Isaiah Jones out. He was a huge miss on the right and his absence prevented Carrick from starting with a three-man defence and wing-backs, the system that worked so well in the first leg.

Jonny Howson was fit to return but in being asked to drop deep, almost as a third centre-half at times, Chelsea repeatedly exploited a gaping hole in the middle of the park. For Chelsea, the returning Ben Chilwell, who missed the first leg, made a big difference. He floated around from the left and caused no end of problems.

Despite the struggles of their team on the pitch, Boro’s supporters never stopped singing. Stamford Bridge’s Shed End was the Red End and the night started with hope.

But even with the lead and even with Chelsea feeling very much like a team and a club on the edge, the hosts were the favourites. They had to be. Even with several key players absent, their starting XI cost £502m.

In the absence of Jones, Marcus Forss started for the first time since recovering from his injury, while Rav van den Berg and Matt Crooks started. So too did Jonny Howson, fit, crucially after missing Rotherham.

If Boro were to do the unthinkable the opening stages felt pivotal. The longer Chelsea were chasing, the more the pressure on those on the pitch and the tension in the stands would build. That the home side were actually quite sluggish out of the blocks made it all the more frustrating when the tie was levelled after just quarter of an hour.

Boro were the brighter of the two sides in the first five minutes or so but the tide soon started to turn and it was left-back Chilwell causing the problems. The first real warning came when he ghosted in behind the Boro defence and beat Glover to Thiago Silva’s floated ball. To the relief of the Aussie keeper, Chilwell’s header bounced just wide.

But just moments later it was the England full-back who started the move that led to the tie-levelling goal, advancing unopposed in the centre of the pitch before splitting the defence with a pass that caught out Engel and teed up Sterling. Broja got lucky, his touch was poor but bounced off the unfortunate Howson and in.

While Chilwell was having fun, Engel was struggling down Boro’s left. After being caught out for the first, his momentary lapse also proved costly for Chelsea’s second goal. The Dane failed to follow the run of Axel Disasi, who latched on to Sterling’s backheel and teed up Enzo, who couldn’t miss.

Disasi made and scored the third. He was sharper to Clarke’s loose pass than Hackney, who was on his heels, and after the interception the full-back’s forward charge continued, meeting a Sterling pass and making no mistake.

Boro were making plenty. The fourth goal was a shocker, Hackney, the hero in the first leg, again sloppy. He was under no real pressure when he received the ball midway inside his own half but rather than turn and drive, he opted to go backwards to Barlaser, who had Palmer for company. Barlaser slipped, Palmer made him and Boro pay.

After the humbling first half, Carrick tinkered with the shape at half-time and introduced the fit-again Anfernee Dijksteel. It steadied the ship, though Palmer scored a fifth before Madueke added a sixth soon after. The away supporters did at least get something to cheer about when Rogers curled in his late goal, perhaps his last in a Boro shirt amid Aston Villa’s interest.