Carabao Cup
MAN UNITED REACH LEAGUE CUP LAST 16 AS CORONAVIRUS CAUSES CHAOS
Manchester United moved into the League Cup fourth round with a 3-0 win at Luton, while West Ham boss, David Moyes and two of his players contracted the coronavirus ahead of their 5-1 victory against Hull as the pandemic caused chaos on Tuesday (Sept 22).
Moyes, Josh Cullen and Issa Diop all left the London Stadium after learning of the tests before kick-off and will self-isolate, with the trio said to be asymptomatic.
West Ham were not the only Premier League club affected by the virus as Tottenham’s tie at Leyton Orient was postponed after their fourth tier opponents suffered a Covid-19 outbreak.
The news of the virus striking at football’s heart came after British Prime Minster Boris Johnson dealt a major blow to the sport’s financial future on Tuesday.
Johnson said fans would not be allowed back into stadiums in October as originally planned due to a spike in virus cases.
He suggested the measures introduced on Tuesday would remain in place for “perhaps six months”, leaving teams facing the prospect of playing most of the season behind closed doors.
At Kenilworth Road, United bounced back from a dismal 3-1 home defeat against Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener on Saturday.
In United’s first meeting with Championship side Luton since 1992, boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made 10 changes, giving full debuts to goalkeeper Dean Henderson and close-season signing Donny Van De Beek.
United went ahead in the 44th minute when George Moncur fouled Brandon Williams and Juan Mata dispatched the penalty.
Henderson is hoping to replace the error-prone David De Gea after an impressive loan at Sheffield United last season.
He preserved United’s advantage with his only save of the match in the final minutes, keeping out Tom Lockyer’s header at the far post.
Marcus Rashford came off the bench to net in the 88th minute before fellow substitute Mason Greenwood’s stoppage-time goal put a flattering gloss on the scoreline.
United will travel to Brighton or Preston in the fourth round.
West Ham’s match went ahead as planned despite the virus tests, with assistant manager Alan Irvine taking charge of the Hammers.
Sebastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko both struck twice for the east Londoners after Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring.
West Ham will play Fleetwood or Everton in the last 16.
Tottenham’s clash with Orient has yet to be rearranged amid reports Jose Mourinho’s men could be given a bye into the last 16, where they would face Chelsea or Barnsley.
Orient had revealed the positive cases on Monday after Tottenham paid for their opponents’ testing, but the match was not called off until two hours before kick-off.
“If I was doing this again I would not do the testing – this is an incentive not to test and that is bad for football and bad for health and safety,” Orient chairman Nigel Travis told the BBC.
In the midst of a hectic spell of five games in 10 days, Tottenham might not be disappointed to get a night off before they travel to Macedonia for their Europa League third qualifying round tie against Shkendija on Thursday.
West Bromwich Albion crashed out against second tier Brentford, losing 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns.
Albion pipped Brentford to promotion from the Championship last season, but they became the Bees’ second top-flight victims this season after Thomas Frank’s men won at Southampton in the second round.
Hal Robson-Kanu scored two penalties in normal time for Albion, only for Emiliano Marcondes and Marcus Forss, with a spot-kick of his own, to equalise for Brentford.
Grady Diangana was the only Albion player to miss in the shoot-out and Christian Norgaard netted Brentford’s winner to earn a tie against Fulham or Sheffield Wednesday.
Newport reached the competition’s last 16 for the first time in their history as the fourth tier side beat Championship club Watford 3-1.
-AFP
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants defender Marc Guehi to be allowed to play in their League Cup final against Arsenal, saying the club will ask organisers to reconsider eligibility rules.
City booked their place at Wembley with a 3-1 home win over Newcastle United in Wednesday’s semi-final second leg, completing a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Competition rules make Guehi ineligible for the final because he featured earlier in the tournament for Crystal Palace, and joined City after the first leg of the semi-final.
“Why should he (Guehi) not play? Why not? We pay his salary, he is our player,” Guardiola told reporters.
“You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play, for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it.
“I told the club we must ask – hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc can play the final.”
The League Cup final between City and Arsenal is scheduled for March 22.
-Reuters
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Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said reaching Wembley for the first time since 2020 – thanks to a 4-2 aggregate League Cup semi-final win over Chelsea – would give his players a boost for a hectic season run-in.
“It’s the best vitamins we can put in our bodies because we are playing every three days,” Arteta told reporters after Arsenal beat their London rivals 1-0 on Tuesday to seal their place in the final of England’s second domestic cup competition.
The Spaniard said the prospect of a return to Wembley for the first time since he guided his team to victory in the FA Cup final – also against Chelsea – six years ago was magical, before adding: “Now we are going to have to go and win it.”
Arsenal had failed to make it through their previous four major cup semi-finals – two in the League Cup and another two in Europe – before overcoming Chelsea on Tuesday.
With the visitors desperately seeking the goal they needed to level the tie on aggregate, former Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz ran clear to score in the final moments of the semi-final second leg
The German has missed much of this season through injury and Arteta hailed his return to form.
“Today was a special moment for him and I hope that he fully enjoys it,” he said.
The Premier League leaders – who are also competing in the FA Cup and the Champions League – will face either Manchester City or Newcastle United who play their semi-final second leg on Wednesday with City 2-0 ahead from the first leg.
Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior said his players’ disciplined performance showed how much the team had developed since the chaotic 3-2 home loss to Arsenal in last month’s first leg, which was only his second match in charge after replacing Enzo Maresca.
“Ultimately their goal comes when we’re throwing the kitchen sink at the game. That’s going to happen,” Rosenior said. “We can’t let this setback affect our future. There were aspects of our game that I am very happy with.”
He said winger Pedro Neto and club captain Reece James had not made the squad on Tuesday after picking up “small knocks” and he praised 18-year-old Brazil winger Estevao who made a 48-hour round trip to Brazil for compassionate reasons but was back in London to come off the bench for Chelsea in the second half.
-Reuters
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Omar Marmoush scored twice as Manchester City set up a League Cup final date with Arsenal after a comprehensive 3-1 second-leg victory over visiting Newcastle United secured a 5-1 aggregate win in their semi-final on Wednesday.
The home side were ruthless in the first half as Tijjani Reijnders also got on the scoresheet and now face Arsenal at Wembley on March 22 in a battle between City manager Pep Guardiola and his protege Mikel Arteta.
“We showed a very good mentality,” Marmoush told Sky Sports. “We were together as a team, from the first minute, we were very focused on the job. We showed our mentality and passion, and are very happy to reach the final.
“We are here to win trophies. We give our best every day to reach these finals and win silverware. Hopefully, we can do it for all the new players and also the players that were here.”
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, the last thing Newcastle needed was to concede early at the Etihad Stadium, but Marmoush’s shot deflected off defender Dan Burn and into the net inside six minutes.
The Egypt international added a second on the night with a close-range header from Antoine Semenyo’s cross. Marmoush has now scored 12 goals for City and five have come against Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.
A rampant City scored a third before halftime and Semenyo was involved again as he created the chance for Reijnders to finish.
Newcastle pulled a goal back just past the hour mark when substitute Anthony Elanga showed quick feet to work a shooting chance and curled his effort past James Trafford in the home goal.
Elanga missed two superb chances to reduce the deficit further, one scarcely believable from right in front of the goal, while Erling Haaland brushed the post at the other end.
City won four League Cup titles in a row between 2018 and 2021 and have eight in all; only Liverpool (10) have won it more.
Arsenal have not lifted the trophy in 33 years and have two previous wins.
-Reuters
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