Liverpool and Chelsea have a history of deciding cup ties from twelve yards, and the latest one at Anfield turned on a defender taking the fifth kick. Liverpool won 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday, 28 October, with Joe Gomez scoring the decisive spot-kick and Wesley Fofana putting Chelsea’s over the bar. The round also produced a bigger shock, with Fleetwood Town of League Two knocking Arsenal out.
Gomez had not scored in 280 appearances for the club. He picked the right night to change that.
The 90 minutes were not much of a game. Both goals came inside four minutes at the end of the first half, and both were penalties the defending side did not need to give away. Ryan Gravenberch lunged in from behind on Moises Caicedo when the midfielder was moving away from goal. Morgan Rogers converted. Then Fofana raised an arm to a cross and Cody Gakpo equalised from the spot.
Neither goalkeeper was seriously worked after the break. The game drifted towards the shoot-out both benches seemed to expect.
Rulli keeps City’s defence alive
Manchester City needed their back-up goalkeeper to stay in the competition. Geronimo Rulli saved from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk as City beat Brighton 4-3 on penalties after drawing 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
Brighton led through Malick Yalcouye on 30 minutes. Mateo Kovacic levelled before the break, then missed in the shoot-out. Georginio Rutter put Brighton back in front and later hit the bar, before Vitor Reis turned in a Rayan Cherki free-kick to force penalties.
Enzo Maresca made nine changes to the side beaten at Aston Villa and left Erling Haaland, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol out altogether.
Sunderland end a five-year wait
Three goals in ten first-half minutes took Sunderland through. Chemsdine Talbi, Timur Tutierov and Malick Fofana scored inside that spell at the Stadium of Light, with Jocelin Ta Bi involved in all three. Brentford pulled one back through Callum Wilson and made it 3-2 in stoppage time through Igor Thiago, but Sunderland held on to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in five years, when they were a League One club.
Bournemouth are in the last eight for the first time in eight seasons after beating Aston Villa 3-0 at the Vitality Stadium. Amine Adli scored in the seventh minute, Lewis Cook added a fortunate second early in the second half and Alvaro Rodriguez finished it. Villa, five-time League Cup winners, were beaten for the first time in eight games.
Crystal Palace won 1-0 at Fulham through Eddie Nketiah’s first-half goal. Everton host Newcastle on Thursday for the last quarter-final place.
Fleetwood take out the champions
That tie came a night earlier at Highbury Stadium, where Fleetwood Town of League Two beat Arsenal 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, 27 October. Aaron Loupalo-Bi put the home side ahead in the 21st minute, Viktor Gyokeres levelled just after the break, and Max Dowman was sent off with five minutes left.
Fleetwood sit 84 places below Arsenal in the pyramid, and they held their nerve in the shoot-out in front of 5,002 people. The tie also stopped for eight minutes in the first half when a drone appeared over the ground and the players were briefly taken off the pitch.
The win puts Fleetwood into the quarter-finals, where they meet Everton or Newcastle United.
For Chelsea the defeat is Xabi Alonso’s third at Anfield as a manager. For Liverpool it is another cup night that went the full distance, decided by a player who had waited 280 games for a goal.
