A Chelsea summer signing truly announced his arrival in a bonkers Blues win over Wolves as Max Dowman made history for Arsenal on their way to victory, with Manchester City, Crystal Palace and holders Newcastle joining them in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
After Brentford, Fulham and League One Cardiff City ensured their names were in the hat on Tuesday, Crystal Palace provided the only ‘shock’ result on Wednesday, and that became a run-of-the-mill victory before kick-off as Arne Slot decided to make the kids part of the Liverpool misery while Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and their fellow first-team flops watched on in cosy coats from the stands.
READ MORE: Arne Slot makes Liverpool kids part of the misery in sacking footnote
Chelsea made hard work of victory over Wolves. Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estevao put them three up at half-time before Vitor Pereira’s side pulled a couple back through Tolu Arokodare and David Møller Wolfe to make for a nervy last 20 minutes. Only for Jamie Gittens to smash in an extraordinary goal to put the game (almost) to bed, save for another couple of minutes of unnecessary stress after Moller Wolfe scored again in stoppage time.
Gittens has looked like an excellent candidate to be another flipped and sold forward since arriving at Chelsea, seeming if anything like a downgrade on Noni Madueke. But after impressing in the 5-0 win over Ajax, this goal – which saw him almost slice a bouncing ball, with stunning power, in off the post from 25 yards – was the first indication that the Blues may have a really special footballer on their hands. It was glorious.
Less glorious was another Chelsea red card – their sixth of the season including Enzo Maresca’s dismissal against Liverpool – as Liam Delap returned from injury with what should have been a 30-minute cameo off the bench but was cut short after he was shown two yellow cards.
Arsenal’s win over Brighton was more routine – what else should we expect these days? – as Ethan Nwaneri scored the opener after sublime Mikel Merino back heel in the build up, before Bukayo Saka came off the bench to seal the win.
He replaced Dowman, who became the youngest player ever to start a game for the Gunners, and was joined in the starting lineup by 17-year-old striker Andre Harriman-Annous. Mikel Arteta trusting in youth again?
READ MORE: Is Arteta harming Arsenal bid to beat Chelsea to Lennart Karl with return to late-2023 mindset?
Goncalo Franco’s beautiful arched curler into the top corner gave Swansea hope of an upset against eight-time winners City, but Jeremy Doku’s deflected effort brought Pep Guardiola’s team level before the break, before Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki struck late on to secure their safe passage into the quarter-finals.
And a couple of headers from Fabian Schar and Nick Woltemade saw holders Newcastle through at the expense of Tottenham, with the Toon fans giddily chanting about the prospect of their return to Wembley at the end of March to defend their crown.
Carabao Cup quarter-final draw
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Cardiff City v Chelsea
Newcastle United v Fulham
Man City v Brentford
The fixtures are set to take place during the week commencing Monday 15 December, with most matches kicking off on the evening of Tuesday 16 December or Wednesday 17 December.
