Carabao Cup: West Ham survive scare, as Cardiff, Huddersfield, Villa knocked out
West Ham survived a huge scare against League One side AFC Wimbledon, needing late goals to win 3-1 at Kingsmeadow, but fellow Premier League sides Cardiff, Huddersfield and Brighton were knocked out.
While Leicester City, Bournemouth, Fulham, Southampton, Wolves and Crystal Palace all earned victories in the competition’s second round, other PL sides had difficulty in their respective fixtures.
On a night of fright, where the overriding emotion was relief rather than triumph, West Ham found themselves stymied by 10 combative League One players, clad in the blue of AFC Wimbledon, for 83 of the most uncomfortable minutes.
West Ham had lost their first three Premier League games to sit bottom of the table and things took a turn for the worse for the East London club when Joe Pigott put Wimbledon ahead with a powerful header after two minutes and the sending off of the hosts’ Rod McDonald after 18 minutes did not immediately improve the visitors’ fortunes.
While West Ham pressed for an equaliser they had to wait until the 63rd minute for centre back Issa Diop to drive in a leveller before Angelo Ogbonna tapped in to deflate home hopes and Javier Hernandez rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.
READ MORE: Saido Berahino scores first goal in 913 days
There was no fightback for Cardiff who rested players at home to Norwich and paid a heavy price.
Dennis Srbeny scored twice to put the visitors 2-0 ahead and Maximillian Aarons added to their lead before Bruno Manga scored a late consolation goal for Cardiff.
Stoke City’s Saido Berahino scored his first club goal in 913 days as the second-tier side beat Premier League Huddersfield Town 2-0, while top flight Crystal Palace won 1-0 at Swansea City with a close-range finish by Alexander Sorloth.
Charlie Austin grabbed the winner for Southampton after 88 minutes at Brighton, while Leicester City thumped third-tier Fleetwood Town 4-0 with Christian Fuchs and Rachid Ghezzal scoring stunning goals for the hosts.
The big winners on the day largely came from non-PL sides though, including Frank Lampard‘s Derby County — who continue to enjoy early success under the former Chelsea legend.
The Rams went on to win their match 4-0 over Hull City, with on-loan Blues midfielder Mason Mount tallying the final goal for the visitors.
With upsets a commonality in major competitions, there was no shortage of them on the day.
Championship leaders Leeds United fell 2-0 to 10-man Preston North End, while Aston Villa also suffered defeat against League One side Burton Albion.
All of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup results
Swansea City 0-1 Crystal Palace
Bournemouth 3-0 MK Dons
Wimbledon 1-3 West Ham United
Blackburn Rovers 4-1 Lincoln City
Brentford 1-0 Cheltenham Town
Brighton & Hove 0-1 Southampton
Burton Albion 1-0 Aston Villa
Cardiff City 0-3 Norwich City
Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Blackpool
Fulham 2-0 Exeter City
Hull City 0-4 Derby County
Leeds United 0-2 Preston North End
Leicester City 4-0 Fleetwood Town
Middlesbrough 2-1 Rochdale
Newport County 0-3 Oxford
QPR 3-1 Bristol Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Wolves
Walsall 3-3 Macclesfield Town
Wycombe 2-2 Forest Green Rovers
Stoke City 1-0 Huddersfield Town
West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Mansfield Town
