Last night saw the return of the ‘Carling Cup’ with 13 Premier League sides entering the newly named ‘Carabao Cup’ 2nd round. With games played over one night, extra time and penalties if necessary, 90MAAT takes a brief look at the EPL sides in action.
Watford were the only club to fall victims of a ‘cup upset’ losing 3-2 at home to championship side Bristol City. A quiet first half sprang into action in the 2nd 45 with midfielder Etienne Capoue giving the Premier League side the lead. Bristol City hit back with two unanswered goals and added a third three minutes into extra time.
Mariappa managed to grab a goal but it was too late for Watford who will not find themselves in the hat for round 3. After fielding a strong starting XI I’m sure Marco Silva will be disappointed with the result. However, after getting off to a good start in the Premier League, I’m sure the Carabao Cup was not priority for the Hornets this year.
Tony Pulis was another to field a strong side against league 2 Accrington, who gave a debut to new summer signing, Gareth Barry. This strong outfit showed as the Premier League club brushed aside Accrington with a 3-1 away win with goals from Rondon, Rodriguez and Phillips. Crystal Palace left it late to see of championship high-flyers Ipswich but two goals from James McArthur was enough to see the Premier League side advance to the next stage. A relief to many after their poor start to this seasons EPL campaign.
Also, impressive away were another Midlands club, Leicester City. Although making 8 changes to the side who beat Brighton 2-0 at the weekend, Shakespeare felt his side could do the job. A opinion looking questionable at half time when the Premier League side went in at Brammel Lane against championship club Sheffield United with the score sitting at 0-0. Yet, the 2nd half showed why Leicester’s starting XI amounted to £98m, with the foxes eventually running out 4-1 victors with goals from England’s Demari Gray, 2 from Islam Slimani and one from Ahmed Musa, who put in a persistent shift on the wing for Leicester.
Bournemouth and Swansea both performed away from home too with both clubs putting an end to Birmingham’s and Milton Keynes Dons chances in the cup respectively.
Both the Premier League clubs fell behind in the first half to their lower league opposition yet proved their Premier League status and bossed the game with Bournemouth coming out 2-1 winners and Swansea being 4-1 victors with two goals from Leroy Fer and one Tammy Abraham which is assured to please Swans boss, Paul Clement.
Brighton got their first competitive win of the campaign with a hard thought, 1-0 win over League 2 Barnet, a goal from 19-year-old James Tilley being enough for the Premier League side to find themselves in the third-round draw, one for the future one the South Coast no doubt.
Written by Eamon Kitching.
