Manchester United captain Harry Maguire could scarcely believe his eyes after David De Gea allowed a simple shot from Mason Mount to spill under his arms.
The Spaniard was at fault for two of Chelsea's three goals as the Blues booked a place in the FA Cup final to face Arsenal in a fortnight's time.
United made a lacklustre start against the Blues, who were helped in no small part by the five changes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made due to the extra 48 hours preparation time Frank Lampard's side had for the game.
Sergio Romero had started all of the previous ties in the FA Cup but the Argentine watched on from the sidelines as De Gea failed to deal with Olivier Giroud's opener.
Replays showed Victor Lindelof was slow to track Giroud's run, which meant the blame was shared between the Swede and De Gea.
But there was no disguising De Gea's role in Mount's goal, as the Spaniard allowed an easy shot to creep under his grasp and into the net.
That gave Solskjaer's side a mountain to climb and Maguire could barely contain his reaction, as the United captain was seen with his hands over his face in disbelief at the mistake.
The former Leicester ace was seen with his hands over his mouth, while Bruno Fernandes looked on helplessly from the halfway line as De Gea retrieved the ball from the net.
United's day got even worse as Maguire's own goal gave Chelsea a three-goal cushion and it was too late to mount a comeback after Fernandes grabbed a consolation with six minutes left in normal time.
Solskjaer warned De Gea after the game that he must raise his performance level or face losing his spot as number one.
'Obviously everyone has to perform,' said Solskjaer.
'Everyone has a chance every time we perform to stake a claim in the team. David knows he should have saved the second goal, that's done now and we have to look forward to Wednesday.
'It's hard for a keeper to make amends, apart from David making two or three fantastic saves after'.
United must put the defeat behind them as they face West Ham on Wednesday, where they need a win to take into the final game of the season against Leicester.
The Foxes' 3-0 defeat to Spurs means United need only a draw at the KingPower Stadium if they manage to beat the Hammers on Wednesday.
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