Carabao Cup
MAN UNITED REACH LEAGUE CUP LAST 16 AS CORONAVIRUS CAUSES CHAOS
Manchester United moved into the League Cup fourth round with a 3-0 win at Luton, while West Ham boss, David Moyes and two of his players contracted the coronavirus ahead of their 5-1 victory against Hull as the pandemic caused chaos on Tuesday (Sept 22).
Moyes, Josh Cullen and Issa Diop all left the London Stadium after learning of the tests before kick-off and will self-isolate, with the trio said to be asymptomatic.
West Ham were not the only Premier League club affected by the virus as Tottenham’s tie at Leyton Orient was postponed after their fourth tier opponents suffered a Covid-19 outbreak.
The news of the virus striking at football’s heart came after British Prime Minster Boris Johnson dealt a major blow to the sport’s financial future on Tuesday.
Johnson said fans would not be allowed back into stadiums in October as originally planned due to a spike in virus cases.
He suggested the measures introduced on Tuesday would remain in place for “perhaps six months”, leaving teams facing the prospect of playing most of the season behind closed doors.
At Kenilworth Road, United bounced back from a dismal 3-1 home defeat against Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener on Saturday.
In United’s first meeting with Championship side Luton since 1992, boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made 10 changes, giving full debuts to goalkeeper Dean Henderson and close-season signing Donny Van De Beek.
United went ahead in the 44th minute when George Moncur fouled Brandon Williams and Juan Mata dispatched the penalty.
Henderson is hoping to replace the error-prone David De Gea after an impressive loan at Sheffield United last season.
He preserved United’s advantage with his only save of the match in the final minutes, keeping out Tom Lockyer’s header at the far post.
Marcus Rashford came off the bench to net in the 88th minute before fellow substitute Mason Greenwood’s stoppage-time goal put a flattering gloss on the scoreline.
United will travel to Brighton or Preston in the fourth round.
West Ham’s match went ahead as planned despite the virus tests, with assistant manager Alan Irvine taking charge of the Hammers.
Sebastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko both struck twice for the east Londoners after Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring.
West Ham will play Fleetwood or Everton in the last 16.
Tottenham’s clash with Orient has yet to be rearranged amid reports Jose Mourinho’s men could be given a bye into the last 16, where they would face Chelsea or Barnsley.
Orient had revealed the positive cases on Monday after Tottenham paid for their opponents’ testing, but the match was not called off until two hours before kick-off.
“If I was doing this again I would not do the testing – this is an incentive not to test and that is bad for football and bad for health and safety,” Orient chairman Nigel Travis told the BBC.
In the midst of a hectic spell of five games in 10 days, Tottenham might not be disappointed to get a night off before they travel to Macedonia for their Europa League third qualifying round tie against Shkendija on Thursday.
West Bromwich Albion crashed out against second tier Brentford, losing 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns.
Albion pipped Brentford to promotion from the Championship last season, but they became the Bees’ second top-flight victims this season after Thomas Frank’s men won at Southampton in the second round.
Hal Robson-Kanu scored two penalties in normal time for Albion, only for Emiliano Marcondes and Marcus Forss, with a spot-kick of his own, to equalise for Brentford.
Grady Diangana was the only Albion player to miss in the shoot-out and Christian Norgaard netted Brentford’s winner to earn a tie against Fulham or Sheffield Wednesday.
Newport reached the competition’s last 16 for the first time in their history as the fourth tier side beat Championship club Watford 3-1.
-AFP
Tens of thousands of Newcastle United fans gathered in the city on Saturday to celebrate the club’s first domestic trophy in 70 years, with the streets turning a sea of black and white for the open-top bus parade.
Newcastle United Victory Parade – Newcastle, Britain – March 29, 2025 General view of Newcastle United fans during the victory parade REUTERS/Scott Heppel
About 150,000 people were expected to catch a glimpse of the League Cup that Newcastle lifted on March 16, after a 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the final at Wembley Stadium.
For manager Eddie Howe, Saturday’s event was an emotional moment as the city honoured him with a massive banner, unfurled outside St James’ Park.
“I can’t thank everyone enough, from Newcastle, the way they’ve embraced me and my family and I’m glad to have given them some joy,” he said atop the bus that carried the team around the city.
As the bus and crowd approached the Town Moor site, white smoke blanketed the area as the crowd sang Hey Jude, replacing ‘Jude’ with ‘Geordies’, and ABBA music was played over the speakers for a party expected to last long into the night.
-Reuters
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Tottenham Hotspur survived a furious Manchester United comeback to reach the League Cup semi-finals with a 4-3 home victory in a gripping tie littered with bizarre errors on Thursday.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were cruising against a lacklustre United with Dominic Solanke’s double and a goal for Dejan Kulusevski putting them 3-0 up after 54 minutes.
But the home crowd were left chewing their fingernails as two terrible mistakes by their keeper Fraser Forster allowed substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo to give United hope.
There were still 20 minutes left when Diallo made it 3-2 and United were close to equalising on several occasions before Son Heung-min appeared to have sealed it in odd fashion, deceiving United keeper Altay Bayindir directly from a corner.
There was still time for Jonny Evans to head a third for United in stoppage time but a relieved Tottenham hung on.
Tottenham are seeking a first trophy since 2008 when they won the League Cup for the fourth time.
Postecoglou’s side let a 2-0 lead slip to lose 4-3 at home to Chelsea in their last home game and for a while it looked as though their innate ability to shoot themselves in the foot was coming back to bite them.
This time, however, the fans went home happy and Postecoglou moves a step closer to making good on his reputation for securing silverware in his second season at clubs.
Tottenham are at full stretch because of injuries but still dominated Ruben Amorim’s side which showed five changes to the starting lineup that stunned Manchester City on Sunday.
Solanke put the hosts in front in the 15th minute when Bayindir fumbled a well-hit shot by Pedro and the striker fired in the rebound off the post.
Bruno Fernandes had a couple of efforts and Rasmus Hojlund volleyed wide but Tottenham were comfortable and in cruise control straight after the interval when Lisandro Martinez could only turn a James Maddison cut-back into the path of Kulusevski who made no mistake.
Solanke was then allowed to dribble across the area before sliding a shot inside the post in the 54th minute and the tie looked over as a contest.
But Forster then played a casual pass out of his area and Fernandes intercepted and the ball reached Zirkzee to tap in.
Forster then compounded that error by taking an age to make a routine clearance and Diallo slid in to charge down his kick and divert the ball into the net.
Tottenham looked a bundle of nerves as United swept forward but captain Son restored calm with an inswinging corner that went over the head of Bayindir to ripple the net.
Substitute Evans’ riposte came too late to save United who will regret the way they started the tie.
-Reuters
Ethan Chidiebere Nwaneri, Nigerian parentage, scored a brace for Arsenal in their Carabao Cup third round 5-1 defeat of Bolton Wanderers at the Emirate Stadium on Wednesday.
Those were the first goals of the 17-year old for the club.
He made his English Premier League debut against Brentford in September 2022, becoming the youngest ever Arsenal player, and the youngest player to appear in the top flight of English football aged just 15.
In Tuesday’s League Cup match, Declan Rice opened scoring for Arsenal with a goal from 18 yards out in the 16th minute before Nwaneri made his presence felt in the 37th, latching onto a cross from Sterling to finish into an empty net from close range.
Nwaneri netted his second of the night soon after the break when West Ham were caught trying to play out from the back and Rice found the teenager who finished from just inside the penalty area.
Sterling, on loan from Chelsea, and Havertz put the game out of reach with goals in the 64th and 77th minutes.
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