OneFootball
Joel Sanderson-Murray·30 August 2023
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Joel Sanderson-Murray·30 August 2023
The second round of the EFL Cup wrapped up on Wednesday night.
Here’s what went down.
Scorers: Madueke (PEN) 45+1′, Fernández 73′; Tilley (PEN) 19′.
Chelsea survived a real scare after coming from behind to beat League Two AFC Wimbledon at Stamford Bridge.
The visitors were in dreamland in the 19th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez had committed a foul in the box. James Tilley stepped up and smashed the spot-kick down the middle to send the travelling crowd into hysterics.
Mauricio Pochettino was not pleased with what he had seen from his players in the first half, heading down the tunnel before the whistle blew but at least he left with his side level with Noni Madueke scoring a penalty of his own after he had been fouled in the box.
Chelsea needed to turn to their €100m midfielder Enzo Fernández off the bench to save the day and he came through for his team with his goal for the club to complete the turnaround.
Wimbledon goalkeeper Alex Bass made a hash of a clearance guiding the ball directly to Fernández to roll into the empty net from 25 yards out to salvage the win for the Premier League giants.
Scorers: Ironside 45′; Beto 73′, Danjuma 88′.
Everton new boy Beto came off the bench to save his new team from an embarrassing exit to the Football League’s bottom club Doncaster Rovers.
The hosts should’ve been in front before they eventually broke the deadlock with Tommy Rowe firing over from a corner before a piledriver from Zain Westbrooke grazed the crossbar.
Everton didn’t manage their first attempt at goal until the 40th minute but it should’ve broken the deadlock with Arnaut Danjuma somehow flashing his shot well wide from six yards out after playing a one-two with Abdoulaye Doucouré.
The Toffees were made to pay for that just before half-time when the hosts earned a deserved lead with Joe Ironside beating Jordan Pickford to Rowe’s cross to glance a header home after a well-worked cross.
Sean Dyche’s improved in the second half and found their way back into the game late into the second half with debutant Beto coming off the bench to round the goalkeeper before slotting home to equalise.
The former Udinese striker then hit the post as Everton pushed for the winner and the late drama did come as Danjuma wriggled past three Doncaster defenders before slotting into the bottom corner with a right-footed effort from the edge of the box.
It looked hairy for the team at the foot of the Premier League table for a while but their quality shone through in the end to survive a huge cupset.
Premier League Sheffield United have been knocked out by League One Lincoln City on penalties at Bramall Lane.
The Blades had the best of a non-eventful game with debutant Cameron Archer almost making the perfect start when he burst through on goal but hit his shot straight at Lincoln goalkeeper Lukas Jensen.
A shootout was required to decide who would progress to the third round with both sides missing their second spot-kick before Benie Traore had his effort saved by Jensen.
United captain John Egan needed to convert to keep his team in the cup but fluffed his lines to see Lincoln become the first lower league opposition to knock out a top tier side in this year’s competition.
Scorers: Amdouni 90′.
Zeki Amdouni scored a 90th-minute winner to seal Burnley’s progress into the third round after beating league rivals Nottingham Forest.
Both teams had golden opportunities to break the deadlock in the second half with Jacob Bruun Larsen firing just wide for Burnley after breaking into the box.
Ryan Yates thought he had won it for the hosts seven minutes from some good work Anthony Elanga laid the ball on a plate for the midfielder but he headed jut wide.
Just as the game seemed to be heading into penalties, substitute Amdouni came off the bench to send the Clarets home happy, chesting the ball down from Josh Brownhill’s cross before driving the ball home to seal the win for Vincent Kompany’s men with his first goal for the club.
You can catch up on all of last night’s action here.