Carabao Cup Review – Third Round
After the a surprise filled second round, where thirty-two teams emerged from the carnage left behind, we entered the third round of the Carabao Cup, Tuesday, September 26th. Who is left from an exhilarating round, that gave us a couple of big time upsets?
The final 16 have been drawn for the next round with some tasty fixtures on offer. Let’s dive straight into our review of the third round.
Underdogs Shine Bright:
Newcastle United 1 – 0 Manchester City
Alexander Isak scored the winner as Newcastle knocked out one of the favorites of the competition early. The Geordies who themselves were the losing finalists last year in the same competition fielded a mixture of first team and reserve squad. Manchester City on the other hand had fielded an experimental side.
Pep had Haaland on the bench but didn’t even bring on his star striker as his side went down to an impressive Newcastle side. Eddie Howe got the tactics spot on to eliminate one of the favorites of the tournament.
Aston Villa 1 – 2 Everton
Everton built on their first Premier League win of the season to knock Aston Villa out of the competition. James Garner and Calvert-Lewin scored for the Toffees while Kamara grabbed a consolation for the Villans.
It was quite a turnaround for Dominic Calvert-Lewin as it was at Villa Park in August when Everton fans jeered him off the pitch in a 4-0 loss. Looks like Sean Dyche isn’t the only one who is having an upward curve to their redemption arc.
Ipswich Town 3 – 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Upset no. 1 on our list. When it comes to form, does it count as an upset? Yes, it still does! Championship side Ipswich dumped Premier League side Wolves out of the Carabao Cup. Hwang Hee-Chan and Toti had given Wolves a commanding 2-0 lead only for Ipswich to make a comeback and finish off the tie.
Hutchinson and Ladapo scored in the same half to draw the game then came the moment of the match. Jack Taylor took aim from 25 yards out and pinged the ball into the net to score the winner. Ipswich, the Championship high flyers were in the in-form team going into this tie.
Exeter City 1 – 0 Luton Town
An upset of the highest order as League One side Exeter City eliminated Premier League’s Luton Town. Demetri Mitchell scored a late winner for the Grecians and then got himself sent off too in this humdinger of a tie.
Luton had their chances to score but keeping with the tradition of not being a form team they couldn’t capitalize on those chances. Exeter too had chances of their own, one of which they took and are now sitting pretty in the Round of 16.
Expected Dominance & Turnarounds:
Liverpool 3 – 1 Leicester City
Dominik Szoboszlai! That’s it. Leave everything and watch the Hungarian’s goal from last night.
Liverpool dominated the whole game, Leicester scored from their very first attack of the game and then went into a shell. Despite not scoring in the first half, Liverpool came back roaring in the 2nd half, and goals from Gakpo, Szoboszlai, and Jota secured an ultimately easy win for the Merseyside club.
Liverpool might be having some sort of bet with someone as to how many games they can win with the 3-1 scoreline.
Manchester United 3 – 0 Crystal Palace
A quite comfortable and rather much-needed win for Manchester United. United who haven’t had the best start to the season on and off the field needed this result. The defending champions have started their defense on the front foot.
Palace on the other hand never got going and it looked like they just turned up to get beat in the tie. Garnacho, Casemiro, and Martial scored the three goals for the Red Devils.
Salford City 0 – 4 Burnley
Another much-needed win for another side who are struggling in the Premier League. Burnley were rampant against Salford as they ran out 4-0 winners. Kompany will be hoping this is just the start of a more promising run in the next league fixtures.
Bournemouth 2 – 0 Stoke City
The Cherries won the tie rather comfortably against the struggling Championship side to advance to the Round of 16. It was a pretty routine win for Bournemouth as goals from Solanke and Rothwell were enough to send them through to the next round.
Mid-Tier Showdowns:
Blackburn Rovers 5 – 2 Cardiff City
Blackburn thrashed fellow Championship side Cardiff 5-2 to dump them out of the competition. It was sort of an expected result considering the in-form Cardiff side made 11 changes to concentrate on the league more but take nothing away from Blackburn who put on a commanding display of attacking football to knock the Welsh side out of the Carabao Cup.
19-year-old Andrew Moran was the highlight of the night as far as Blackburn is concerned as he struck two goals against Cardiff.
Bradford City 0 – 2 Middlesbrough
While it is not going the way Michael Carrick wants in the league this season, Boro definitely has something to smile about as they made it through safely into the Round of 16 of the Carabao Cup after eliminating Bradford.
Latte Lath and Morgan Rogers were the goalscorers for Boro as they ran out comfortable winners in the end.
Edge of the Seat Battles:
Brentford 0 – 1 Arsenal
Arsenal knocked Brentford out of the cup with a 1-0 win. Reiss Nelson scored the only goal of the game as the Gunners advanced into the next round. Brentford had their chances but Ramsdale made some crucial saves to deny the Bees an equalizer.
Reiss Nelson’s goal came from a mistake from the home defense.
Lincoln City 0 – 1 West Ham United
West Ham United escaped with the skin of their teeth at Lincoln City. The Imps gave the Premier League side a proper fight in the tie but some unconvincing finishing from the League One side led to their exit.
Tomas Soucek scored the only goal of the game from a corner to send the Hammers to the Round of 16. Lincoln City had 15 shots in the game with 5 on target. If not for wayward finishing we would be sitting here talking about an upset.
Fulham 2 – 1 Norwich
Goals from Carlos Vinicius and Iwobi helped the London side beat Norwich. Sainz scored a consolation goal for the Canaries. It was an end-to-end tie but Norwich were unable to find an equalizer to force the game to penalties.
Chelsea 1 – 0 Brighton
Chelsea and Pochettino got a much-needed win over an in-form Brighton side to progress to the next round. Much criticized Nicolas Jackson scored the game’s only goal to hand Chelsea a much-needed win.
Pochettino will hope this win will finally kick-start Chelsea’s dire campaign thus far. The signs are there, let’s see if this was a false dawn or if Chelsea has finally turned the tide.
Mansfield Town 2 – 2 Peterborough (Mansfield won 3-1 on pens)
The only tie to go to the penalties in the third round of the Carabao Cup. Mansfield and Peterborough traded blows in normal time to take the game to the penalties where the Stags prevailed 3-1.
Port Vale 2 – 1 Sutton United
Funso Ojo scored the winner as Port Vale ousted Sutton United from the Carabao Cup. Sutton United had already scalped two League One oppositions in two previous rounds but this time they themselves became the victim.
Sutton United who have been having a miserable league campaign will hope this run to the third round will inspire some sort of upturn in their league form. As for Port Vale, they march on to the Round of 16 for only the 2nd time in their history.
