IRISH GOALKEEPER CAOIMHÍN Kelleher produced another night of penalty-shootout heroics in the Carabao Cup to help holders Liverpool through to the fourth round. Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by League One Derby County at Anfield, which sent the game to penalties after 90 minutes.
Kelleher saved three of Derby’s five spot kicks, having initially been beaten by retired Irish international David McGoldrick. Kelleher then saved a spot kick from from compatriot Conor Hourihane and then from Craig Forsyth, before being beaten by Louie Sibley. Liverpool, meanwhile, saw Stefan Bajcetic’s penalty saved and then Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s scored. Roberto Firmino then skewed his horribly over the crossbar, while Darwin Nunez rolled his into the corner and beyond Derby keeper Joe Wildsmith.
On the fifth round of spot kicks, Kelleher threw himself to his left and brilliantly batted away Lewis Dobbin’s penalty, allowing Harvey Elliott to score his and send Liverpool through to the next round.
It furthers Kelleher’s remarkable record in shootouts: he scored the winning penalty in last season’s Carabao Cup final, and is the first goalkeeper in the club’s history to emerge victorious in four shootouts.
That it had reached that point was perhaps no surprise as Liverpool, who made 11 changes from Sunday’s win over Tottenham, have not won a League Cup tie in normal time at Anfield since a 2-0 victory over Leeds in November 2016.
Jason Knight, meanwhile, was introduced as a late sub, while Irish U21 international Eiran Cashin played the full game.
Elsewhere, Manchester City won the heavyweight tie of the Carabao Cup third round, beating Chelsea 2-0 courtesy of second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and Jesus Alvarez.
Both North London sides, meanwhile, slipped to surprise defeats.
Spurs were shocked 2-0 away to Nottingham Forest, despite the fact Forest finished the game with 10 men after Oriel Mangala’s 75th-minute red card. The goals came in the space of seven second-half minutes: first Jesse Lingard set up Renan Lodi, before scoring the second goal himself.
It’s a disappointment for Spurs made all the worse by the strength of their starting line-up, with Harry Kane, Ivan Perisic, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, and Eric Dier all starting while Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski were introduced as substitutes.
Matt Doherty earned a rare start for Spurs, and was replaced by Djed Spence on the 65-minute mark.
A much-changed Arsenal slipped to a 3-1 loss at home to Brighton, despite taking a first-half lead through Eddie Nketiah. Danny Welbeck equalised from the spot seven minutes later, while Kaoru Mitoma and Tariq Lamptey won the game for Brighton with their second-half goals. Mikel Arteta sent for his cavalry to try and rescue the game – all of Gabriel Martinelli, Zinchenko, and Gabriel Jesus were introduced from the bench – but to no avail. Irish underage internationals Evan Ferguson and Andrew Moran were unused substitutes for Brighton.
Wolverhampton Wanderers dispelled some gathering gloom by beating Leeds United 1-0, courtesy of an 85th-minute goal by Boubacar Traore. It was a significant night for Irish midfielders Joe Hodge and Connor Ronan made their first starts for the club. Hodge played the full game, while Ronan was subbed on the 66-minute mark for Daniel Podence. Nathan Collins played the full game for Wolves.
Half of the night’s eight games were settled by spot kicks.
Newcastle United beat Crystal Palace 3-2 on spot kicks after a 0-0 draw at St James’ Park, a game in which ex-Drogheda midfielder Killian Phillips was an unsued substitute for Palace. Nick Pope enhanced his World Cup credentials with three penalty shoot-out saves.
Managerless Southampton also needed penalties to beat Sheffield Wednesday, after a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes. Gavin Bazunu wasn’t in the Southampton squad with veteran Alex McCarthy goalkeeper Alex McCarthy saving Dominic Iorfa’s spot-kick to spare Saints’ blushes in a 6-5 shoot-out triumph over League One opposition.
Finally, Angelo Ogbonna missed the crucial penalty as a youthful Blackburn dumped West Ham out of the Carabao Cup 10-9 on spot-kicks. After 19 successful penalties Ogbonna’s effort crashed off the underside of the crossbar to send Championship Rovers through to round four following a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.
Blackburn led through an early goal from Jack Vale before Pablo Fornals hauled West Ham level and Michail Antonio put the hosts in front. But substitute Ben Brereton Diaz, Rovers’ top scorer, sent the match to a shootout and Italian defender Ogbonna was the fall guy.
Irish U21 captain Conor Coventry started for West Ham, and was replaced by Said Benrahma after 65 minutes.
Carabao Cup Third Round results
- Arsenal 1-3 Brighton
- Newcastle 0-0 Crystal Palace (Newcastle win 3-2 on penalties)
- Nottingham Forest 2-0 Spurs
- Southampton 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Southampton win 6-5 on penalties)
- West Ham 2-2 Blackburn (Blackburn win 10-9 on penalties)
- Wolves 1-0 Leeds
- Liverpool 0-0 Derby (Liverpool win 3-2 on penalties)
- Man City 2-0 Chelsea
With reporting by PA
