Carabao Cup Wrap: Man City beat Chelsea to advance; Liverpool through after shootout win over Derby
Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez were both on target as Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 to book a place in round four of the League Cup.
Both sides played with attacking intent in a lively, but goalless, first half with Alvarez and Jack Grealish going close for the hosts, while Christian Pulisic and debutant Lewis Hall almost netted for Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola’s men upped the ante following the interval and a two-goal blast in five minutes secured the victory. First Mahrez curved a fine free-kick through a poor Chelsea wall before the Algerian’s saved shot was tucked home by Alvarez.
Brighton & Hove Albion came from to knock Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup, inflicting a first home defeat of the season on Mikel Arteta’s side in the process.
Arsenal took the lead slightly against the run of play following a rapid counterattack led by Reiss Nelson, who charged through the middle before playing in Eddie Nketiah, whose right-footed curling shot nestled in the top corner.
Arteta made a raft of changes for the game, including handing Karl Hein a debut, but it was baptism of fire for the 20-year-old as he took out Danny Welbeck, conceding a penalty and was perhaps fortunate not to see red. Welbeck sent the young Estonian the wrong way but refused to celebrate against his former club, as the first half ended 1-1.
The Gunners made a bright start to the second period and came within a whisker of taking the lead, Nketiah’s first-time shot crashing off the inside of the woodwork before bouncing to safety.
But it was Brighton who scored the game’s all-important third goal, with Kaoru Mitoma finishing an intricate attacking move off just shy of the hour-mark.
Roberto De Zerbi’s charges would only grow in confidence from here and they put the game out of Arsenal’s sight when Tariq Lamptey burst through and stuck the ball between the legs of Hein.
It was an occasion to remember for Brighton’s 6,000 fans, who took great delight in watching their free-scoring side claim a third successive victory.
Liverpool’s EFL Cup specialist Caoimhin Keller saved three penalties as the reigning champions edged Derby County on penalties.
The spot kicks did provide drama though as Wildsmith first saved from Stefan Bajcetic and then Kelleher denied Conor Hourihane and Craig Forsyth.
Firmino then clipped a spot kick high over the bar, before a fantastic Kelleher stop from Louie Sibley’s effort diving to his left gave Harvey Elliott the chance to win the game – and he made no mistake.
Nottingham Forest advanced to the last 16 with a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground to extend their unbeaten run at home to four matches in all competitions.
The first half ended goalless in the East Midlands, but Steve Cooper’s side came the closest to breaking the deadlock as Taiwo Awoniyi’s effort cannoned back off the post in the 10th minute.
However, the Reds struck 10 minutes into the second half to take the advantage in the cup tie, as Renan Lodi’s curling effort from the edge of the 18-yard box found its way past Fraser Forster and into the far corner.
Forest’s night then got even better seven minutes later as Jesse Lingard nodded home Sam Surridge’s flick on at the back post to score his first goal for the club.
The home side had to play out the last 14 minutes of the cup tie with ten men, as Orel Mangala was sent off for a second bookable offence following a reckless challenge on Richarlison.
The Tricky Trees held their nerve late on to dump Spurs out of the competition and will find out who they play in the next round when the draw takes place on Thursday evening.
