LEAGUE CUP - FOXES FEEL THE BLUES
Fabregas
Brace Hands Chelsea Comeback Win In Extra Time
With no
European competitions clogging up their schedules, Chelsea and Liverpool are
placing more importance on the English League Cup than usual this season. They
both advanced to the last 16 on Tuesday , but took different routes.
Chelsea
came from two goals behind at Premier League champion Leicester, taking an
end-to-end game to extra time at 2-2 thanks to goals from defenders Gary Cahill
and Cesar Azpilicueta before Cesc Fabregas' double clinched a 4-2 win.
Liverpool had it much easier, dispatching second-tier Derby in a 3-0 victory
with Ragnar Klavan, Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi scoring the goals.
Chelsea and Liverpool both rested key players but still fielded strong lineups
in a bid to stay alive in one of three competitions they'll enter this season.
Liverpool is a record eight-time League Cup winner, while Chelsea is
joint-second in the all-time list of trophy winners with five titles.
Leicester
has much bigger priorities this season. Aside from attempting to retain its
Premier League title, Claudio Ranieri's team are in the Champions League for
the first time and likely will not be too concerned about exiting a competition
of the least importance.
Japan
forward Shinji Okazaki took advantage of defensive errors to score twice for
Leicester at King Power Stadium, but the hosts were undermanned in extra time
after Marcin Wasilewski collected his second yellow card in the 89th for
elbowing Diego Costa in the face. Fabregas' two goals send a message to Chelsea
manager Antonio Conte, who has marginalized the Spain midfielder at the start
of the season.
Everton
failed to transfer its strong Premier League form to the League Cup by losing
to second-tier Norwich, which played almost a complete reserve team.
Steven
Naismith, a former Everton player, and Norwich double their lead in spectacular
style as one of the Murphy twins, Josh, spins with his back to goal maybe 18
yards out, unleashes a left-footed strike that whizzes in off the underside of
the bar!Josh Murphy were the scorers.
Lucas
Perez, a recent signing from Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna, scored twice in
the second half for his first goals for Arsenal. Granit Xhaka scored from long
range, as he did against Hull in the Premier League on Saturday , to put
Arsenal ahead and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain wrapped up the victory for a visiting
team featuring a mix of youthteam players and fringe squad members.
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