AP
Manchester, Sept 21: With no European competitions clogging up their schedules, Chelsea and Liverpool are placing more importance on the English League Cup (ELC) than usual this season.
They both advanced to the last 16 Tuesday but took different routes. Chelsea came from two goals behind at Premier League champion Leicester, taking an end-to-end game to extra time at 2-2 thanks to goals from defenders Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta before Cesc Fabregas’ double strike clinched a 4-2 win.
Liverpool had it much easier, dispatching second-tier Derby in a 3-0 victory with Ragnar Klavan, Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi scoring the goals.
Chelsea and Liverpool both rested key players but still fielded strong line-ups in a bid to stay alive in one of three competitions they are playing this season.
Liverpool is a record eight-time League Cup winner, while Chelsea is joint second in the all-time list of trophy winners with five titles.
Leicester though have much bigger priorities this season. Aside from attempting to retain their Premier League title, Claudio Ranieri’s team are in the Champions League for the first time and likely will not be too concerned about exiting a competition of the least importance.
Japan forward Shinji Okazaki took advantage of defensive errors to score twice for Leicester at the King Power Stadium, but the hosts were undermanned in extra time after Marcin Wasilewski collected his second yellow card in the 89th for elbowing Diego Costa in the face.
Fabregas’ two goals send a message to Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, who has marginalised the Spain midfielder at the start of the season.
Everton failed to transfer their strong Premier League form to the League Cup by losing to second-tier Norwich 0-2, who played almost a complete reserve team.
Everton have been the surprise of the Premier League so far, currently sitting in second place after an unbeaten start that includes four wins from five games. The team’s last piece of major silverware came in 1995.
Lucas Perez, a recent signing from Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna, scored twice in the second half for his first goals for Arsenal against Nottingham forest.
Granit Xhaka had earlier scored from long range, as he did Saturday against Hull in the Premier League, to put Arsenal ahead and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain wrapped up the victory over a visiting team featuring a mix of youth-team players and fringe squad members.
“We played well in patches, even though the victory margin was emphatic,” Gunners’ coach Arsene Wenger told reporters after the game. “But we still have to do a lot of hard work to build up from our zone.”
Cesc eager to prove Conte ideas wrong
Midfielder Cesc Fabregas insisted Tuesday that he can play a key role for Chelsea after scoring an extra-time brace to help the Blues knock Premier League champions Leicester City out of the League Cup, Tuesday.
Fabregas has been on the fringes of new manager Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side since the start of the season, having made just three league appearances from the bench. But Tuesday’s performance may change all that.
“I’m focusing on playing well and when I have the chance I’ll show what I can do, because I know what I can do and it’s a lot for this team,” Fabregas told the British media. “You can always have those days when you are not at your best. But I never give up. I am always training very hard.”
Conte, who last week said Fabregas needed to improve defensively to earn a first team place, praised the midfielder’s tactical awareness after the game.
“Cesc is an intelligent player, a clever player and he sees the game, he feels the situation. I’m pleased for him, because in the games when he didn’t start in the line-up he always had a great attitude,” Conte pointed out.