City cruise through, Chelsea leave it late

City cruise through, Chelsea leave it late
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Manchester City turned on the style again as Roberto Mancini's side followed their demolition of Manchester United with a 5-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the League Cup fourth round.

Mancini made 11 changes from the side that routed United 6-1 on Sunday, but the Italian's understudies were still far too strong for struggling Wolves as Edin Dzeko's double, strikes from Adam Johnson, Samir Nasri and a Dorus De Vries own goal booked City's place in the quarter-finals.

Wolves took the lead thanks to a Nenad Milijas strike from Adlene Guedioura's pass in the 18th minute. But City were full of confidence after surging five points clear at the top of the Premier League and English winger Johnson swept in a 37th-minute equaliser from Dzeko's pass.

Nasri put City in front in the 39th minute, sliding home a Johnson pass, while Bosnian striker Dzeko added the third a minute later with a tap-in after Luca Scapuzzi's shot was saved.

City's fourth goal arrived in the 50th minute when Scapuzzi, a 20-year-old Italian forward making his first start, fired in a shot that hit the post and cannoned into the net off the back of Wolves goalkeeper De Vries.

Dzeko made it five, turning in Stefan Savic's cross in the 64th minute, and Jamie O'Hara got one back for Wolves, who will hope for a better result when they face City again this weekend.

Mancini wants more from Johnson despite a fine display from the winger and he said: "Adam Johnson played well, but I think he can give more. He has everything to be one of the best wingers."

Chelsea clinch extra-time win
Chelsea put a traumatic few days behind them to beat Everton 2-1 after extra time at Goodison Park. Andre Villas-Boas's side have had to deal with the fall-out from a 1-0 loss at Queens Park Rangers that saw the FA launch an investigation into England captain John Terry.

However, they showed impressive spirit to see off Everton in dramatic fashion. Nicolas Anelka missed a first-half penalty after Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran was tripped by Johnny Heitinga.

Chelsea still went ahead, though, in the 38th minute when Jan Mucha made a complete hash of saving a weak lob from Ivorian forward Salomon Kalou and allowed the ball to trickle through his grasp into the net.

Everton wasted a chance to get back in the match after half-time when Chelsea goalkeeper Ross Turnbull was sent off after conceding a penalty for a foul on Louis Saha. Petr Cech came on to replace Turnbull and saved Leighton Baines' proceeding penalty.

Saha headed an 83rd-minute equaliser from Seamus Coleman's cross, but Everton midfielder Royston Drenthe was sent off in extra-time for two bookable offences and Daniel Sturridge netted the winner in the 116th minute.

Suarez brace sends Liverpool through
Luis Suarez fired Liverpool into the quarter-finals for the first time in four seasons as the Uruguayan's double clinched a 2-1 win at Stoke City.

Tony Pulis's side opened the scoring when Kenwyne Jones dived to head past Jose Reina, but Liverpool were level nine minutes after half-time as Suarez stole possession from Ryan Shotton and curled a sublime strike past Thomas Sorensen. Suarez then bagged the winner five minutes from full-time, heading in Jordan Henderson's cross.

"I don't think he's ever going to score with a tap-in. We know the quality he has got," Reds boss Kenny Dalglish said of Suarez. "I think the attitude and desire of the players pleased me. If you don't match that here you are going to struggle."

Blackburn Rovers eased the pressure on beleaguered boss Steve Kean with a 4-3 win over Newcastle United after extra time at Ewood Park.

Rovers, who lie bottom of the Premier League, were ahead after just five minutes when Ruben Rochina converted Martin Olsson's cross. Ayegbeni Yakubu increased Blackburn's lead with a 64th minute penalty after a foul on Rochina, but Danny Guthrie's injury-time strike gave Newcastle hope and Yohan Cabaye completed an astonishing revival as he equalised with a stoppage time free-kick.

Morten Gamst Pedersen restored Blackburn's lead in extra-time, only for Peter Lovenkrands to equalise for Newcastle from the penalty spot. Rovers kept pressing and French defender Givet bagged the winner in the 120th minute.

On Tuesday, Manchester United won 3-0 at Aldershot and Arsenal beat Bolton 2-1, while Championship clubs Crystal Palace and Cardiff also advanced.

Manchester derby ends goalless

Manchester derby ends goalless


A Manchester derby that promised so much delivered precious little as City and United ground out a goalless stalemate at Eastlands.

At least for Roberto Mancini's men there was no injury-time heartache, having suffered three such defeats last term. For United, who controlled long periods, their unbeaten run in all competitions now stretches to 25 games. In truth, the result only suited leaders Chelsea, whose 1-0 over Fulham tonight pushes them four points clear of second-placed United.

"Some of our football was very good, we were very confident, had good composure on the ball," said Ferguson. "But we needed to make chances, we needed to win the match. And in that sense we had only two chances from open play so that's a bit of a disappointment for us.

"It's a decent result but we don't count draws as a target. Our target was to win the game and we had enough possession to do that," added the United manager,

As the virus that has swept through the United camp had eased sufficiently for all bar Ryan Giggs to report for duty, Ferguson must have been quite pleased with his selection. Despite Giggs' absence, United had plenty of experience on the pitch, which they used to its maximum during a disappointing opening period which they largely controlled without being able to carve out the opportunity they craved.
It's a decent result but we don't count draws as a target. Our target was to win the game and we had enough possession to do that.
Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager

One decent chance did come United's way, when one of a number of neat passing moves ended with Park Ji-sung feeding a ball into the City box for Patrice Evra to chase. Had Evra been able to step round Kolo Toure and shoot with his left foot, the hosts would have been in trouble. As it was, the Frenchman had to let fly with his right and Joe Hart made a comfortable save. For their part, City were equally bereft, which was frustrating for supporters, who clearly expected more of Yaya Toure in particular given the frustration they expressed every time their big-money summer signing from Barcelona wasted possession, as he seemed to do quite frequently.

There was almost half an hour on the clock before they built up any momentum, with the industrious James Milner chief instigator. It was United old-boy Carlos Tevez who came closest to breaking the deadlock though, after Paul Scholes had bundled Milner over on the edge of the area. Tevez quickly made it clear the free-kick would be his responsibility and only its relative lack of pace allowed Edwin van der Sar to claw the ball out as it headed for the far corner.

Aside from a Nani free-kick that lacked pace and a mis-timed Dimitar Berbatov volley, both of which bounced harmlessly through to Hart, there was little more in the way of first-half goalmouth action. Indeed, the only other notable moment was the foul by Scholes on Milner just before the break which resulted in a fifth yellow card of the season, ruling him out of Saturday's trip to Aston Villa.

The pattern continued after the restart, with Berbatov getting his clearest sight of goal, albeit with his back to it as he hooked Wes Brown's cross goalwards without being able to test Hart. Tevez threatened twice at the other end, the first time with a shot that Van der Sar gathered easily, the second a burst that ended with poor control on the ball, sending it bobbling out for a goal kick.

Adam Johnson seemed like an obvious man for Mancini to turn to and his introduction for Milner 20 minutes from time instantly brought the width his side had been so devoid of. As Javier Hernandez was given his first taste of derby day shortly afterwards, a rousing finish to an otherwise lackluster encounter was promised. However, even the eager substitutes could not break the deadlock.