Mile Jedinak’s dreams of a trip to Wembley for next month’s League Cup final have been crushed following Crystal Palace’s semi-final defeat on penalties to Cardiff City.

Crystal Palace, reduced to 10 men for the final 42 minutes of the match, had their one-goal advantage from the opening leg wiped out in the seventh minute with the scores locked at 1-1 on aggregate following extra time in Wales.

The home side emerged triumphant on penalties 3-1 thanks to goalkeeper Tom Heaton, with Jedinak the only one of the south London side’s opening four penalty takers to hit the back of the net.

Crystal Palace’s tough evening started when defender Anthony Gardner, who scored the goal in the first leg, headed the ball in the back of his own net.

Palace was forced to play the last third of the clash with only 10 men after defender Patrick McCarthy was sent off for a second yellow card offence in the 78th minute.

Former A-League player Jedinak, in his first season at Crystal Palace, put in a tireless performance and continually repelled a dominant Cardiff City side that hit the woodwork on three occasions.

After his teammates missed the first two penalties, the 27-year-old kept his cool to briefly keep his side in the contest before Jonathan Parr’s miss sealed the result.

Cardiff City will meet heavyweights Manchester City or Liverpool in the decider at Wembley on February 6.

Liverpool take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg of Wednesday’s semi-final at Anfield.

The south Londoners have only once made the final of a major cup, losing the 1990 FA Cup replay to Manchester United.

They were in early trouble when Gardner made a mess of a sharp cross and headed the ball into his own net.

With their tails up, the home side dominated and Cardiff City marksman Kenny Miller came close to scoring in the final minute of the first half with his shot smacking against the post.

The visitors suffered a major blow 12 minutes from the end of normal time when McCarthy was sent off for a needless foul on Miller.

Cardiff City were unable to press home their numerical advantage with Filip Kiss and Gunnarsson both hitting the bar for the home side before penalties were needed.

Jedinak, moved to England from Turkey in the off-season, having come to the attention of clubs for his efforts during Australia’s run to the Asian Cup final last year.