Chelsea and Everton escaped scares against fourth-tier opponents on Wednesday to move to the third round of the English League Cup.
It was another Premier League club, Sheffield United, that suffered the biggest shock of the second round, losing a penalty shootout to third-tier Lincoln in the end.
Chelsea had a widely rotated starting lineup against Blackpool, missing players like Raheem Sterling and Enzo Fernandez, and went behind to a 19th-minute penalty at Stamford Bridge.
Noni Madueke equalized with his own penalty in first-half stoppage time, and Fernandez, who came on as a 65th-minute substitute, scored seven minutes later after a defensive mix-up to seal a 2-1 triumph.
Everton left it much later for their 2-1 triumph over Doncaster, with Beto — a Portuguese striker signed from Udinese on Wednesday — and Arnaut Danjuma scoring in the 73rd and 88th minutes, respectively, to cap a tense comeback.
Everton have lost three consecutive Premier League games without scoring a goal, and the pressure would have mounted on manager Sean Dyche if his team had been ousted by a team languishing in last position in the fourth tier.
Sheffield United, like Everton, has 0 points from three league games and will have no League Cup games to look forward to in the coming weeks. Sheffield United lost the shootout 3-2 after a 0-0 draw at home against Lincoln.
Burnley won 1-0 against Nottingham Forest in an all-Premier League game in the 90th minute thanks to substitute Zeki Amdouni, a freshly signed Switzerland international, and second-tier Blackburn smashed fourth-tier Harrogate 8-0.
Blackburn’s biggest away win in the club’s 148-year history.
Draw For The Third Round
The teams competing in European play this season join the League Cup in the third round. The draw was done following Wednesday’s games, and there were five all-Premier League pairings chosen, with Newcastle hosting Manchester City standing out. Manchester United begin their title defense against Crystal Palace at home.
Here’s a look at the draw:
- Ipswich vs. Wolverhampton
- Exeter vs. Luton
- Aston Villa vs. Everton
- Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace
- Port Vale vs. Sutton
- Bradford vs. Middlesbrough
- Bournemouth vs. Stoke
- Lincoln vs. West Ham
- Brentford vs. Arsenal
- Chelsea vs. Brighton
- Salford vs. Burnley
- Fulham vs. Norwich
- Blackburn vs. Cardiff
- Liverpool vs. Leicester
- Newcastle vs. Manchester City
- Mansfield vs. Peterborough
