EFL Cup: Jesus Saves Arsenal; Newcastle down Brentford; Liverpool win

On December 19, 2024By Littum

The League Cup quarter-finals are underway this week, as a trio of games are played across England on Wednesday evening.

Here’s what went down.

Southampton v Liverpool

Goalscorer: Archer 59′; Núñez 24′, Elliot 33′

Liverpool held on in the face of a late attack to scrape past Southampton and book passage to the semi-finals.

The torrential rain on the south coast seemed to force the tempo of the first 10 minutes to stutter, but perhaps Liverpool’s makeshift starting line-up didn’t help the lack of rhythm either.

Fittingly, the opening goal came by way of a deflection when a through ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold was flicked into the path of Darwin Núñez by a Saints defender and the Uruguayan showed uncharacteristic composure to take the ball down and finish off a -against. -one with the goalkeeper.

Things went from good to great for the Reds after the half hour when Harvey Elliott doubled the lead from close range to cap off a superb team move.

While it looked like Liverpool would cruise through the second half, Cameron Archer revived the game with a goal to halve Liverpool’s lead.

Saints increased the pressure in the dying moments as Liverpool held on to stave off an equaliser, but the final pass always seemed to be missing from the home side.

A late shout for a Southampton penalty was waved away by the referee after Jarell Quansah appeared to take down a Saints forward from the back of the box.

But the late push bore no fruit as the visitors held on to book their place in the next round.

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Goalscorer: Jesus 53′, 74′, 81′ ; Mateta 4′, Nketiah 88′

A hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus rescued Arsenal after falling behind early on and saw them past Crystal Palace and into the League Cup semi-finals.

It was a blistering start from the visitors as a route-one pass from Dean Henderson played in Jean-Philippe Mateta and the striker produced a cool finish to open the scoring.

The Gunners dominated possession after the early strike but struggled to find an opening to create a quality score – a pattern for Mikel Arteta’s side recently.

After the break the hosts finally created a flurry of chances and Gabriel Jesus was the winner when he took an audacious chip after getting in behind the Palace rearguard.

The Brazilian has been much maligned of late for his lack of goals, but the former Manchester City man silenced the critics for now with another goal tonight to help complete the turnaround for the home side.

He completed his hat-trick not too long later as Crystal Palace were more exposed in the dying moments, seemingly confirming the Gunners’ passage to the semi-finals.

A late header from Eddie Nketiah against his former side forced the Emirates faithful to sweat through the break, though it was only a consolation.

Newcastle vs Brentford

Goalscorer: Tonali 9′, 43′, Schár 69′; Wissa 90+1′

Newcastle United got back to winning ways with a solid display against Brentford to progress to the next round.

A heavily rotated Brentford side came as a surprise as they are comfortable in the Premier League table as it stands, but Eddie Howe went strong with his XI.

It paid off in the first 10 minutes when Sandro Tonali fired a fizzer from the edge of the box to open the scoring.

Brentford did little to pull back in the tie and they were punished when Tonali scored his second of the night from a corner, volleying home on fire.

The tie was put to bed after the break when Bruno Guimarães fed Fabian Schär from point blank range to fire home Newcastle’s third of the evening.

Yoane Wissa pulled one back for the Bees in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late from the visitors as time ran out on their League Cup campaign just minutes later.

Alex Pantling – 2024 Getty Images