Manchester City suffered a surprise exit from the League Cup on Tuesday as Aston Villa clinched a 4-2 third-round win at the Etihad Stadium, while Chelsea welcomed back controversial captain John Terry with a 6-0 rout of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
City manager Roberto Mancini made 11 changes from the side held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal on Sunday and the Premier League champions were not able to win with their stand-ins.
Italian striker Mario Balotelli fired City ahead in the 27th minute, but Villa equalized in the 59th minute when their former midfielder Gareth Barry deflected the ball into his own net.
Photo: AFP
City regained the lead when Aleksandar Kolarov clipped a free-kick past Shay Given in the 64th minute, but Gabriel Agbonlahor restored parity six minutes later.
Then, in the sixth minute of extra-time, Agbonlahor fired in a shot that City goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon could not hold and Charles N’Zogbia was on hand to slot home, before Agbonalahor completed the upset with seven minutes remaining.
At Stamford Bridge, Terry skippered Chelsea just hours after appearing at the second day of a Football Association disciplinary hearing into charges he racially abused Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in October last year.
Photo: AFP
It took Chelsea just four minutes to welcome Terry back as his central defensive partner Gary Cahill headed home from Juan Mata’s free-kick.
Ryan Bertrand doubled Chelsea’s lead with a close-range finish four minutes later and Mata increased the hosts’ advantage when he slotted home in the 17th minute.
Oriol Romeu bagged his first Chelsea goal from the penalty spot after Victor Moses was fouled by Wolves goalkeeper Dorus de Vries in the 53rd minute.
A Fernando Torres header five minutes later piled on the misery for Wolves, who conceded for the sixth time when Victor Moses, a £9 million (US$14.5 million) signing from Wigan Athletic last month, claimed his first goal for Chelsea in the 71st minute.
“We wanted John to start,” Chelsea assistant manager Eddie Newton said. “We had a phone call saying he was making his way back from the FA nice and early. We’d covered all the bases, all the scenarios, and the best one happened.”
Leeds United caused the biggest upset of the night as the Championship club defeated Everton 2-1 at Elland Road.
Toffees boss David Moyes made six changes to the side that beat Swansea City 3-0, but his reserves were not up to the task.
Aidan White rocked Everton in the fourth minute when the Republic of Ireland under-21 international weaved his way past several challenges, before curling a shot past Jan Mucha.
Everton squandered several chances to equalize before Rodolph Austin poked home Danny Pugh’s pass in the 70th minute and Sylvain Distin’s 81st-minute goal was too late to spark a comeback.
“The atmosphere and the rain made it a real old-fashioned cup tie,” Leeds boss Neil Warnock said. “We deserved it and we should have scored two or three other goals.”
Wigan recovered from a goal down to claim an impressive 4-1 win at West Ham United.
Modibo Maiga’s powerful strike put West Ham ahead in the seventh minute, but Wigan striker Mauro Boselli equalized from close range in the 14th minute.
Ivan Ramis blasted his first goal for the Latics from long range in the 38th minute.
Boselli struck again four minutes before the break and Jordi Gomez added an 84th-minute penalty.
Southampton eased to a 2-0 victory over Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday at St Mary’s thanks to two goals from striker Jay Rodriguez.
Sunderland saw off League One outfit Milton Keynes Dons 2-0, despite playing over half the match with 10 men following Lee Cattermole’s red card.
Craig Gardner and James McClean got the goals for the Black Cats.
Swansea City avoided an embarrassing exit at League One side Crawley Town as Michael Laudrup’s team fought back to win 3-2.
Tuesday’s other results:
‧ Bradford City 3,
Burton Albion 2 AET
‧ Preston North End 1,
Middlesbrough 3
‧ Swindon Town 3, Burnley 1
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