It was another exciting night in the Capital One Cup last night with an unbelievable eighty goals scored in just twenty three matches as one Premier League side crashed out at the first hurdle.
That side were newly promoted Watford who lost 1-0 to Simon Grayson’s Preston North End, who themselves were also promoted last season, thanks to a Marnick Vermijl first-half goal.
Sunderland made hard work of their League Two opponents, Exeter City, surrendering a two-goal lead early on. The Premier League side’s class eventually showed though as they ran out 6-3 winners, with Jermain Defoe grabbing a hat-trick.
Another Premier League side who struggled against a League Two side was Aston Villa. It was only in extra-time that Tim Sherwood’s men first took the lead against Notts County, with the game ending 2-2 after ninety minutes.
Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion could both only see their opposition off, Luton Town and Port Vale, on penalties.
Oxford United’s reward for battering Brentford in the last round was a trip to Sheffield Wednesday but there were no such shock this time as Wednesday won 1-0.
Peterborough United’s poor start to the season continued as Championship side Charlton Athletic continued their unexpectedly good start with a 4-1 demolition.
Carlisle United made the very long trip to the capital to take on QPR and, unlike their long trip to Plymouth, they were rewarded with an excellent 2-1 win.
The last cup upset was at the Banks’s Stadium as Walsall saw off a second Championship side in the competition as this one ended 2-1.
Here’s a round-up of the results in last night’s Capital One Cup fixtures.
Aston Villa 5-3 Notts County
Birmingham City 2-0 Gillingham
Burton Albion 1-2 Middlesbrough
Bury 1-4 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 4-1 Shrewsbury Town
Doncaster Rovers 1-4 Ipswich Town
Fulham 3-0 Sheffield United
Hartlepool United 0-4 AFC Bournemouth
Hull City 1-0 Rochdale
Luton Town 1-1 Stoke City (7-8 on pens)
MK Dons 2-1 Cardiff City
Newcastle United 4-1 Northampton Town
Peterborough United 1-4 Charlton Athletic
Portsmouth 1-2 Reading
Preston North End 1-0 Watford
QPR 1-2 Carlisle United
Rotherham United 1-2 Norwich City
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Oxford United
Sunderland 6-3 Exeter City
Swansea City 3-0 York City
Walsall 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
West Brom 0-0 Port Vale (5-3 on pens)
Wolves 2-1 Barnet
The third round draw was also made last night as soon as the final ball was kicked and it threw up some great fixtures.
In addition to Spurs hosting rivals Arsenal, there’s a mouth-watering clash in Birmingham as Aston Villa and Birmingham City go head to head.
Carlisle’s reward for beating QPR is a shorter trip, this time to Anfield to take on Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool.
The Premier League champions and Capital One Cup holders, Chelsea, will travel to the West Midlands to take on Walsall who have so far knocked out two sides from the league above.
Van Gaal will welcome Mick McCarthy to Old Trafford as Manchester United were drawn at home to Ipswich Town.
There’s four all-Premier League clashes as Spurs take on Arsenal, as already mentioned, Sunderland welcome Manchester City, Norwich play West Brom and West Ham travel to Leicester City.
Meanwhile, the winner of tonight’s match between Barnsley and Everton will visit Reading.
Here is the Capital One Cup third round draw in full.
Middlesbrough vs Wolves
Norwich City vs West Brom
Hull City vs Swansea City
Leicester City vs West Ham United
Aston Villa vs Birmingham City
Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal
Manchester United vs Ipswich Town
Liverpool vs Carlisle United
Crystal Palace vs Charlton Athletic
Fulham vs Stoke City
Sunderland vs Manchester City
Newcastle United vs Sheffield Wednesday
Reading vs Barnsley/Everton
Preston North End vs AFC Bournemouth
Walsall vs Chelsea
MK Dons vs Southampton
The matches will be played on the week commencing September 21st.
