Manchester City kept up their free-scoring form by thrashing Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-2 in the League Cup, while Chelsea and Blackburn scored late winners in extra time to advance to the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Buoyant after routing Manchester United 6-1 to take a five-point lead in the Premier League, City rallied with three goals in a four-minute span just before halftime after conceding an early goal at Molineux.
Adam Johnson and Samir Nasri started the comeback, with Edin Dzeko adding a double either side of an own goal by goalkeeper Dorus de Vries in a dominant display at Molineux.
Substitute Daniel Sturridge scored Chelsea’s winner with four minutes left in extra time as the London club beat Everton 2-1 in a match that saw both teams finish with 10 men.
Blackburn left it even later to beat Newcastle 4-3, with French defender Gael Givet scoring in the last minute of extra time to inflict a first defeat on the visitors this season, while Liverpool rallied to beat Stoke 2-1 thanks to a second-half brace by Uruguay striker Luis Suarez in another all-Premier League match.
Manchester United, Arsenal, Cardiff and Crystal Palace reached the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
City took their tally of goals to 15 in their last three away matches, but needed Nenad Milijas’ 18th-minute goal to stir the visitors into action.
Dzeko — fresh off a double as a substitute against United — bundled in the third and fifth goals from close range, sandwiching an unfortunate own goal by De Vries in the 50th.
Jamie O’Hara grabbed a consolation for Wolves a minute later.
With United easing past fourth-tier team Aldershot 3-0 on Tuesday, City could face their local rival in the last eight.
While City made wholesale changes to the team that thrashed United over the weekend, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish fielded a number of first-team players and will be thankful he retained Suarez.
The striker missed a number of chances in the 1-1 league draw against Norwich on Saturday, but was more efficient against Stoke, equalizing with an unstoppable curling shot after dribbling past Ryan Shotton.
Suarez grabbed the winner for the seven-time League Cup winners by heading home a volleyed cross by Jordan Henderson.
Salomon Kalou made up for Nicolas Anelka’s missed penalty in the 16th by putting Chelsea ahead at the Goodison Park before the visitors had goalkeeper Ross Turnbull sent off in the 58th for bringing down Everton striker Louis Saha.
Petr Cech, Turnbull’s replacement, saved the resulting penalty by Leighton Baines, but Saha took the game into extra time with a near-post header in the 83rd.
Royston Drenthe was dismissed for Everton in a frenetic extra 30 minutes before Sturridge slipped home a rebound after Florent Malouda’s shot was parried out.
An eventful game at Ewood Park saw Newcastle force extra time with goals in second-half injury time by Danny Guthrie and Yohan Cabaye, canceling out efforts by Ruben Rochina and Yakubu.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two