Capital One League Cup Round-Up

Chelsea hit Wolves for six and Aston Villa stunned Manchester City after extra time at the Etihad, but Championship side Leeds probably produced the biggest shock of the night as they beat Everton 2-1 at Elland Road in the Capital One League Cup 3^rd Round on Tuesday night.

Ten-man Sunderland saw off League One outfit MK Dons, Wigan thrashed West Ham 4-1 at Upton Park, while Southampton proved too strong for Sheffield Wednesday at St Marys and Swansea had to come from behind before finally prevailing at Crawley.     

John Terry put the trauma of his ongoing FA hearing behind him to captain Chelsea to a 6-0 romp against Wolves at Stamford Bridge. Two goals in the opening ten minutes from Gary Cahill and Ryan Bertrand set them on their way. When  Juan Mata made it 3-0 on 17 minutes, the tie was done and dusted and it was merely a case of trying to keep the score down.  

But Wolves misery continued as Romeu added a fourth from the spot just after the break. Fernando Torres then opened his account for the season with a great header just before the hour, before Victor Moses scored his first goal for Chelsea on 71 minutes to complete the rout.  

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini made eleven changes to his team from the weekend for the visit of Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa, but his ‘weakened’ side which included the likes of Kolo Toure, James Milner, Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott and Mario Balotelli in the starting line-up were undone 4-2 by Aston Villa after extra time in the tie of the round at the Etihad.

Balotelli opened the scoring for the home side with a low shot from the edge of the area on 27 minutes, but Villa, who gave as good as they got all night, were deservedly level just before the hour when Gareth Barry deflected the ball into his own net to bring his old club level.  Alexsander Kolarov restored City’s advantage within five minutes, but Villa were level for a second time on 70 minutes courtesy of Gabriel Agbonlahor.  City had a couple of chances to win it in normal time and were made to pay as Charles N’Zogbia and another from Agbonlahor in each period of extra time saw them home.  

Wigan continued their good form in this competition as they easily overcame West Ham at Upton Park in the other all-Premier League tie of the night. After putting four past Nottingham Forest in the last round, they served up more of the same in east London this time out.

Two goals in three minutes from Ivan Ramis and Mauro Boselli just before the break gave Roberto Martinez’ men  a comfortable 3-1 advantage at half-time. The home side had made a dream start when Modigo Maiga put them ahead with a low shot on seven minutes before Boselli levelled matters on 14 minutes. West Ham fought hard in thr second half, but a Jordi Gomez penalty seven minutes from time put the tie beyond doubt.

The shock of the night came at a rain-soaked Elland Road as Championship side Leeds deservedly saw off Premier League outfit Everton 2-1. Leeds went ahead courtesy of a superb Aidy White finish after just four minutes, his first goal for the club. Indeed, David Moyes’ charges didn’t turn up for the first half and were lucky not to concede a second just before the break when Steven Naismith was forced to clear a Luciano Becchio header off the line.

Rodolph Austin steered home a Danny Pugh strike to double the lead on 69 minutes, before a fine header from Sylvain Distin nine minutes from time brought Everton back into it. They pressed forward in search of an equaliser but the home side held firm to secure their place in the fourth round draw.   

Sunderland skipper Lee Catermole saw red for a professional foul just after the half hour as the Black Cats made hard work of their tie at League One MK Dons, but second half strikes from Craig Gardner and James McClean eventually saw them through. Meanwhile, Jay Rodriguez scored in each half for  Southampton who followed on from their comprehensive league win over Aston Villa at the weekend with a routine 2-0 victory over Championship new boys Sheffield Wednesday at St Marys.