Thanks for reading this Clockwatch! Nighty night.
Now, then, that’s quite a draw. The holders Manchester United welcome Crystal Palace, one of five all-Premier-League ties. The pick of the bunch is probably Newcastle-City, but then all the others look pretty tasty as well. Salford’s reward for defeating Leeds is the visit of a Premier League team in Burnley, while Lincoln’s defeat of Sheffield United earns them another shy at a top-flight team in West Ham. People talk this competition down sometimes, but the second round has been wonderfully entertaining, and the third round has thrown up quite a few potential crackers. Good old League Cup!
Third-round draw in full
Ipswich Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Exeter City v Luton Town
Aston Villa v Everton
Manchester United v Crystal Palace
Port Vale v Sutton United
Bradford City v Middlesbrough
Bournemouth v Stoke City
Lincoln City v West Ham United
Brentford v Arsenal
Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
Salford City v Burnley
Fulham v Norwich City
Blackburn Rovers v Cardiff City
Liverpool v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Manchester City
Mansfield Town v Peterborough United
Blackburn Rovers v Cardiff City
Liverpool v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Manchester City
Mansfield Town v Peterborough United
Brentford v Arsenal
Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
Salford City v Burnley
Fulham v Norwich City
Port Vale v Sutton United
Bradford City v Middlesbrough
Bournemouth v Stoke City
Lincoln City v West Ham United
Ipswich Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Exeter City v Luton Town
Aston Villa v Everton
Manchester United v Crystal Palace
The draw begins … 32 teams, 16 ties. Here we go!
The draw for the third round coming up. This is the stage when the teams playing in Europe enter the competition. Strap in for administration-infused excitement!
Aaron Bower was in Donny to see a new Everton hero emerge. Step forward Adrian Heath Beto!
A reminder that the draw for the third round of the Carabao Cup will be coming up in a few minutes. As for this week’s European draws …
Jacob Steinberg was at Stamford Bridge tonight. Here’s his report.
Full-time scores
Carabao Cup second round
Chelsea 2-1 AFC Wimbledon
Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Everton
Harrogate Town 0-8 Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Burnley
Sheffield United 0-0 Lincoln City (Lincoln win 3-2 on pens)
Champions League qualifiers
AEK Athens 1-2 Royal Antwerp (agg 1-3)
Copenhagen 1-1 Rakow Czestochowa (agg 2-1)
PSV Eindhoven 5-1 Rangers (agg 7-3)
FULL TIME: Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Everton. What a debut for Beto, the Adrian Heath de nos jours. What a spirited effort by the Football League’s bottom club, though.
FULL TIME: PSV Eindhoven 5-1 Rangers (agg 7-3). It’s the Europa League for the Light Blues. Sweet revenge for PSV, who were knocked out of the Champions League at this stage by Rangers last year.
FULL TIME: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Burnley. Burnley snatched a late winner, sending the four-time winners crashing out at the first hurdle. On Sky, Forest fan and cub reporter Stuart Broad smiles wryly. He’s going to turn his phone off tonight, he says.
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GOAL! Doncaster 1-2 Everton (Danjuma 88). Beto’s scored his first goal for Everton tonight; now it’s Arnaut Danjuma’s turn! He cuts in from the left, drops a shoulder to make space, and whips a low shot into the bottom left. Everton have turned it around, and in some style it has to be said. As superb in the second half as they were dreadful in the first.
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FULL TIME: Sheffield United 0-0 Lincoln City (Lincoln win 3-2 on penalties). John Egan blazes a dreadful penalty over the bar, and Sheffield United become the first Premier League team to be knocked out by lower-league opposition.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 2-1 AFC Wimbledon. The Dons made Chelsea work for their win. Mauricio Pochettino’s dream of a first trophy in English football goes on!
Hats off to Beto, who didn’t let that awful shanked effort bother him. Having scored the equaliser with a cute flick of the boot, he’s now hit the woodwork with a header. He looks a player of extreme highs and lows. Another agent of chaos on Merseyside? What an entertainer.
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GOAL! PSV Eindhoven 5-1 Rangers (Goldson og 81); agg 7-3. This is completely farcical. Jack Butland rolls a pass out to Connor Goldson, who doesn’t look around him and rolls a pass into the bottom left. Michael Beale’s coat isn’t on that shoogly peg quite yet, but defeat against Celtic this weekend would put him on the hotseat.
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GOAL! PSV Eindhoven 4-1 Rangers (Veerman 78); agg 6-3. Joey Veerman swivels and steers a shot into the bottom left. If this wasn’t over already, it is now.
FULL TIME: Sheffield United 0-0 Lincoln.
FULL TIME: Harrogate 0-8 Blackburn.
One game is going to penalties. One, er, isn’t. That’s Blackburn’s biggest away win in their 148-year history!
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Burnley (Amdouni 90). Burnley have found a winner against the run of play! Forest push hard. Sander Berge launch a counter. Some pinball in the box. Zeki Amdouni takes it down on the edge of the six-yard box before slamming home. Pity poor Stuart Broad in the Sky studio, who bravely takes the news on the chin.
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Rangers haven’t given up the ghost yet. Rabbi Matondo drops a shoulder to make some space 25 yards out and sends a curler towards the top right … but off the post and away. It’s still 3-1 to PSV and 5-3 on aggregate.
GOAL! Doncaster 1-1 Everton (Beto 73). “Time for Adrian Heath,” writes Gary Naylor, with reference to Oxford United, Kevin Brock, Howard Kendall, all that. And here he comes, in the shape of Beto! Seconds after shanking disastrously, comically, ineptly wide from the edge of the box, Everton’s new signing comes again, charging down the inside-left channel before sticking out his right leg and deftly flicking past the keeper and into the net. Such a cool, classy, brilliant finish! From the ridiculous to the sublime in short order.
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GOAL! PSV 3-1 Rangers (De Jong 64); agg 5-3. Er, scrub that. Game over. A free kick out on the left for PSV. It’s swung in fiercely. Luuk De Jong rises highest and eyebrows it into the top right. Lovely delivery, even better header, and there goes that dream.
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GOAL! PSV 2-1 Rangers (Tavernier 64); agg 4-3. The dream isn’t over quite yet! Todd Cantwell wedges down the left. Sam Lammers whistles a cross through the six-yard box. James Tavernier slides home at the far post. Game on!
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GOAL! Harrogate 0-8 Blackburn (Edmondson 75). James Edmondson races through the middle to score, and Rovers can start thinking about their all-time record win, which is an 11-0 rout of Rossendale United at Ewood Park in the FA Cup in 1884.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 AFC Wimbledon (Fernandez 72). Enzo Fernandez scores his first goal for Chelsea, curling into the right-hand side of the net. Some bad luck for Alex Bass during the build-up, as his clearance slammed straight into Ian Maatsen and into the path of the Argentinian World Cup winner.
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GOAL! Harrogate 0-7 Blackburn (Bloxham 72). Harrogate ship possession on the edge of their own box. Thomas Bloxham dribbles down the inside-left channel and threads a shot into the bottom right. As things stand, this is the biggest away win in Blackburn’s history, besting the 8-2 win at West Ham in 1963.
GOAL! PSV 2-0 Rangers (Saibari 53); agg 4-2. A right-to-left diagonal towards Luuk De Jong, six yards out. De Jong hooks across the face of goal. Ismael Saibari trundles it in. It looks like the Europa League for Rangers.
GOAL! Harrogate 0-6 Blackburn (Gilsenan 67). The 2002 winners showing Harrogate no mercy whatsoever. Zak Gilsenan curls a free kick from the right-hand side of the D into the top-right corner.
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… but the first chance of the second half falls to Doncaster. Everton once again fail to deal with a short corner, and the ball’s worked back to George Broadbent, who should do better from the edge of the box. He sends in a dribbler that’s easy meat for Jordan Pickford. But that’s not any better from Everton, who came back out for the second half very late, having presumably been given a good long talking-to by Sean Dyche.
Doncaster and Everton are back. The Blues have sent on Beto for his debut. Idrissa Gueye and Ashley Young as well, the latter doing a lot of performative clapping. Come on lads, that sort of thing. Everton do indeed need to come on. Youssef Chermiti, Nathan Patterson and Lewis Dobbin are the players making way.
Wimbledon are still holding their own at Chelsea. Conor Gallagher reduced to shooting from distance in the speculative fashion. “J Buckley has scored for a rampant Blackburn against Harrogate? Rovers fans must be singing Hallelujah!” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the bottled water.
GOAL! Harrogate 0-5 Blackburn (Buckley 52 pen). A proper tangle of arms and legs in the Harrogate box. Comic-book nonsense. The decision goes the way of Rovers. John Buckley takes the resulting penalty, and with a Bruno Fernandes style skip, rolls into the bottom right.
“Plucky Premier League Everton are just about holding their own against the superior technique, organisation and pace of League Two Doncaster Rovers.” Gary Naylor with the gallows humour already. Meanwhile fellow Evertonian Brad Wilson adds: “Ironside was almost certainly offside, but given the way Everton has played, even I can’t complain too much. The team Dyche put out is a grab bag, and it shows - the players don’t know each other, and the result is misplayed passes, unanticipated runs, not knowing how to use each other. It shows. Onana has been pretty good - he is matching Doncaster’s physicality - but no one else can feel too well about their performance. Maybe my Toffees will score by Christmas. Danjuma’s chance, oy.”
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HALF TIME: PSV Eindhoven 1-0 Rangers (agg 3-2). A big job on for Michael Beale as well. As things stand, Rangers will be playing Europa League football this season.
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HALF TIME: Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Everton. The whistle blows in Doncaster, and it could have been even worse for Everton. With almost the last kick of the half, Tommy Rowe sent a rising shot towards the top left, forcing Jordan Pickford into urgent action. The keeper walks off with a face on. Sean Dyche has quite the half-time talk to give. Expect it to be delivered in the passionate style; Everton haven’t been at the races at all, and this scoreline doesn’t flatter Donny one bit.
GOAL! Doncaster 1-0 Everton (Ironside 44). A corner worked back down the right wing. An inswinger. Joe Ironside stoops to eyebrow over Jordan Pickford, almost sat on the turf in no-man’s land. The ball nestles in the left-hand side of the net, and the bottom team in the Football League lead Everton!
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A huge chance for Everton at Doncaster. Arnaut Danjuma one-twos with Abdoulaye Doucoure down the inside-left channel. He’s clear in the box, but facing a tight angle, and drags his shot across the face of goal. Everton still haven’t got an effort on target tonight; they still haven’t scored a goal this season. Plenty for Sean Dyche to sort during the break.
Carabao Cup half-times
Chelsea 1-1 AFC Wimbledon
Doncaster Rovers 0-0 Everton (L)
Harrogate Town 0-4 Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Burnley
Sheffield United 0-0 Lincoln City
GOAL! PSV 1-0 Rangers (Saibari 35); agg 3-2. Noa Lang slips a pass down the left flank for Joey Veerman, who from the byline cuts back a cross into the mixer. Ismael Saibari is perfectly positioned to nod home from close range. It had been coming.
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GOAL! Harrogate 0-4 Blackburn (Markanday 45+1). Dilan Markanday picks up a loose ball on the right-hand edge of the Harrogate D. He swivels and sends a precise low shot into the bottom left. Four shots, four on target, four goals.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 AFC Wimbledon (Madueke 45+1 pen). Noni Madueke tears into the Dons box from the right. He beats two men before being unceremoniously bundled over. He gets up and takes the spot kick himself. A pause, then a calm stroke into the bottom left. Chelsea level!
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Everton are still to get going at Doncaster. The hosts pull back a corner for Tommy Rowe, who sends a rising shot inches over the bar. Jordan Pickford probably had it covered, but Donny are getting closer and closer. On the touchline, Sean Dyche takes a swig from a water bottle in the pensive style. It remains 0-0 between the bottom clubs in the Premier and Football Leagues.
Sheffield United are proving themselves the better team at home to Lincoln. Oli McBurnie and Yasser Larouci have both had efforts blocked. Still goalless, though.
A huge chance for PSV against Rangers. Johan Bakayoko crosses from the right. Luuk De Jong rises highest at the far stick. He should head home from six yards, but the PSV captain sends his effort wide left. Still goalless.
GOAL! Harrogate 0-3 Blackburn (Buckley 34). John Buckley arrives late to slam home a cutback from the byline, and this game is already over.
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Stuart Broad on Nottingham Forest 0-0 Burnley. “In cricket, when you’re about to bowl your first over when you’ve not played for a bit of time, your mindset is very much about just landing the ball and hitting a good area, rather than taking wickets and putting the opposition under threat. This game has that feel to it. Ten changes to Burnley, seven to Forest. A lot of safe passes. Nothing too fancy.”
Rangers ship possession in the middle of the PSV Stadion pitch, allowing Joey Veerman to line up a shot from 25 yards. Veerman arrows an effort towards the bottom right; Jack Butland parries it clear with a strong arm. The hosts beginning to get into it.
Burnley are dominating at the City Ground but haven’t had a shot on target yet. Meanwhile at Stamford Bridge, Ian Maatsen cuts in from the left and sends a piledriver goalwards; a big deflection takes it away from danger. Wimbledon still lead 1-0.
“Massive props to Everton who, within 60 seconds of kicking off, have already twice fallen to pieces defensively,” reports Stephen Carr. And that is indeed the case. Michael Keane and Jordan Pickford get into an awful mess while overplaying out from the back. From the resulting corner, Doncaster defender Joseph Olowu is found clear six yards out, but somehow manages to head straight up into the air.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 AFC Wimbledon (Tilley pen 19). Robert Sanchez comes off his line, flattens a Don, and the referee points to the spot. James Tilley lashes the spot kick down the middle, and Wimbledon lead against the early run of play!
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The big PSV-Rangers and Doncaster-Everton matches are underway. Rangers are on the front foot early doors, with Jose Cifuentes making good down the right before whistling a low cross in the direction of nobody in particular.
GOAL! Harrogate 0-2 Blackburn (Gallagher 13). Sam Gallagher, from pretty much exactly the same spot in the Harrogate box, opens his body and calmly slots into the bottom-right corner. Harrogate up against it already.
GOAL! Harrogate 0-1 Blackburn (Garrett 10). A bit of space for Jake Garrett down the inside-left channel, just inside the box. He swivels and fires a low drive across the keeper and into the bottom right.
Anyway, the big news so far this evening is that Stuart Broad is covering the Forest game for Sky Sports in their Soccer Special studio. He’s well-informed, witty, erudite and charming, pretty much as you’d expect. Get him signed up. All of which is a long-winded way of saying there’s nothing much going on in the early kick-offs yet.
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As for the Champions League … PSV-Rangers can go to extra time if the aggregate score is still level after the end of tonight’s second leg. Penalties afterwards if required. Big week coming up for Michael Beale, who could be in a world of pain should tonight’s match and this weekend’s Old Firm derby go the wrong way for his new-look team.
A reminder that tonight’s games in the Carabao Cup will go straight to penalties if there’s no winner after the regulation 90 minutes. No extra time. The draw for the third round will take place at 10.15pm, unless the Doncaster-Everton game runs over, in which case we’ll have to hang around a bit.
The 7.45pms kick off … and it’s not long before the matches in Doncaster and Eindhoven get going as well. Goals to follow!
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While we wait for the action to begin, let’s have a rummage around the Joy of Six archive for some League Cup nostalgia. Here, this’ll do! It was written 11 years ago, but there haven’t been any shocks in the final since then, so the main thrust still stands. (Cardiff, Sunderland and Southampton tried their hardest, to be fair.)
Carabao Cup teams
Chelsea: Sanchez, Disasi, Colwill, Humphreys, Maatsen, Ugochukwu, Gallagher, Cucurella, Madueke, Moreira, Burstow.
Subs: Petrovic, Thiago Silva, Fernandez, Jackson, Chilwell, Caicedo, Gusto, Bergstrom, Samuels-Smith.
AFC Wimbledon: Bass, Ogundere, Johnson, Lewis, Pearce, Tilley, Williams, Pell, Ball, Neufville, Davison.
Subs: Tzanev, Brown, Al-Hamadi, Bugiel, Lock, Sutcliffe, Sasu, Jennings.
Doncaster Rovers: Lawlor, Senior, Westbrooke, Olowu, Maxwell, Broadbent, Rowe, Bailey, Molyneux, Ironside, Faal.
Subs: Wood, Jones, Long, Sotona, Roberts, Faulkner, Goodman, Straughan Brown, Kuleya.
Everton: Pickford, Patterson, Keane, Godfrey, Mykolenko, Garner, Doucoure, Onana, Dobbin, Chermiti, Danjuma.
Subs: Beto, Tarkowski, Virginia, Maupay, Young, Gueye, Lonergan, Branthwaite, Onyango.
Harrogate Town: Oxley, Ramsay, Burrell, Smith, Gibson, Horbury, Sutton, Thomson, Matty Daly, Odoh, Muldoon.
Subs: James Daly, Folarin, Thomas, O’Connor, McDonald, Foulds, Armstrong, O’Boyle.
Blackburn Rovers: Wahlstedt, Gamble, Scott Wharton, Hyam, Pickering, Garrett, Tronstad, Markanday, Moran, Buckley, Gallagher.
Subs: Brittain, Szmodics, Carter, Gilsenan, Hilton, Edmondson, Bloxham, Doherty, Atcheson.
Nottingham Forest: Turner, Boly, Niakhate, Kouyate, Aurier, Yates, Santos, Montiel, Williams, Elanga, Wood.
Subs: Awoniyi, Gibbs-White, Toffolo, Felipe, Johnson, Horvath, Hwang, Aina, Aguilera.
Burnley: Muric, Vitinho, Ekdal, O’Shea, Taylor, Bruun Larsen, Brownhill, Ramsey, Redmond, Gudmundsson, Rodriguez.
Subs: Trafford, Cork, Benson, Berge, Foster, Cullen, Amdouni, Al Dakhil, Odobert.
Sheffield United: Adam Davies, Basham, Egan, Trusty, Bogle, Coulibaly, Norwood, Brooks, Larouci, Archer, McBurnie.
Subs: Traore, Ahmedhodzic, Foderingham, Ben Slimane, Osula, Marsh, Seriki, Buyabu.
Lincoln City: Jensen, Eyoma, Mitchell, Roughan, Burroughs, Smith, Erhahon, Brown, Hackett-Fairchild, House, Mandroiu.
Subs: Sorensen, Jackson, Bishop, Hamilton, Wright, Duffy, Gallagher, Makama.
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Champions League teams
PSV: Benitez, Dest, Teze, Boscagli, Saibari, Veerman, Sangare, Schouten, Lang, de Jong, Bakayoko.
Subs: Sambo, Ramalho, Tillman, Pepi, Drommel, Til, El Ghazi, Waterman, Babadi, van Aanholt, Vertessen.
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic, Lundstram, Cifuentes, Raskin, Cantwell, Matondo, Dessers.
Subs: Jack, Lammers, Sima, Sterling, Scott Wright, Davies, Balogun, McCrorie, Kieran Wright, King, Devine, Danilo.
Preamble
Supporters of Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur will understandably demur, but last night’s second-round action in the Carabao Cup was a whole lot of fun. Goals, goals, goals. More please! Admittedly it’s a more select card tonight …
Chelsea v AFC Wimbledon
Doncaster Rovers v Everton
Harrogate Town v Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest v Burnley
Sheffield United v Lincoln City
… but a good one nonetheless. Also there’s the bonus of Champions League qualifying action in the shape of …
PSV Eindhoven v Rangers (agg 2-2)
… so there’s plenty of CUP SOCCER to whet the appetite. Kick off is at 7.45pm BST, except in Doncaster and Eindhoven where it’ll be 8pm. It’s on!
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