Carabao Cup round 4 wrap: Man City and Liverpool advance as quarter-final draw looms
Haaland and Foden guide City past Brighton 2-1; Gakpo and Szoboszlai sink Chelsea 2-0 as Fleetwood Town await last-eight fate.
Giants hold firm after Tuesday shockwaves
Following Fleetwood Town’s earth-shattering penalty shootout victory over Arsenal on Tuesday, the Premier League’s heavyweights restored order on Wednesday night, 28 October, to complete the Carabao Cup quarter-final field. At the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City fended off a spirited Brighton & Hove Albion in a 2-1 triumph. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 34th minute, drilling Kevin De Bruyne’s through-ball into the bottom corner. Phil Foden curled a stunning strike from 20 yards to double the lead, before Kaoru Mitoma set up a nervous finale with a 79th-minute goal. City withstood intense late pressure to preserve the win.
Meanwhile at Anfield, Liverpool displayed clinical precision to dismiss Chelsea 2-0 before a raucous crowd of nearly 60,000 spectators. Cody Gakpo pounced on a loose ball following Darwin Nunez’s saved header to break the deadlock right on the stroke of halftime. Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai capped a commanding individual performance in the 71st minute, unleashing a 104 km/h thunderbolt into the roof of Robert Sanchez’s net. Arne Slot’s team held Chelsea without a single shot on target in the second half, reaffirming their domestic cup credentials.
Quarter-final draw and Fleetwood Town romance
With Wednesday’s results in the books, the eight clubs contesting the quarter-finals are set: Manchester City, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Southampton, and fourth-tier Fleetwood Town. The EFL will conduct the quarter-final draw on Thursday, 29 October, with Fleetwood the lowest-ranked team left in the tournament.
The romantic appeal of the cup now centers on whether Fleetwood Town will draw one of the titans at Highbury Stadium or earn a trip to Anfield or the Etihad. For Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot, the tournament provides a vital avenue for mid-season momentum, while Chelsea depart with lingering frustrations over finishing and midfield control in big moments.
Sources
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