The field is set for the EFL Cup’s fourth round after the eight remaining third round matches went in the books.
[ MORE: Tuesday’s EFL Cup roundup ]
Manchester United received a slight scare from Northampton Town before their subs helped spur a 3-1 road win, while Man City had a lot less trouble than expected from Swansea City, and Spurs cruised past the Gills.
The fourth round draw begins shortly. Stay tuned.
Swansea City 1-2 Manchester City
Day Glo orange lifted Gael Clichy to a rare goal as the holders opened up a lead at the Liberty Stadium, and Villarreal import Aleix “Nacho” García made it 2-0 in the 67th minute. Gylfi Sigurdsson nabbed a cosmetic goal in the stoppage time to give us the final score line.
GOOOOAAAALLL!@ManCity seal game through Nacho Garcia. 0-2. #beINEFLCup https://t.co/ups1SkuNy8
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 21, 2016
Northampton Town 1-3 Manchester United -- RECAP
Michael Carrick’s 17th minute goal was no illusion of dominance, as the Red Devils had nearly 80 percent of the ball, but 33-year-old Alex Revell converted a penalty to level things heading into halftime.
Jose Mourinho had seen enough and, after 55 minutes, Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic entered the fray, and the former supplied an assist to Ander Herrera as United moved back ahead in the 68th minute.
Herrera nabbed an assist off an awful blunder from Northampton keeper Adam Smith, as Rashford just danced onto a ball in the box and dribble to the doorstep before slamming it home.
Here’s the moment that had the home faithful believing, at least for a short time...
Well, well. @ntfc pour on the misery for Mourinho as they tie @ManUtd at half. #beINEFLCup https://t.co/g0FfEPiVsE
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 21, 2016
Southampton 2-0 Crystal Palace
Charlie Austin’s 33rd minute penalty made sure Saints went into the break with a deserved lead, and diminutive midfielder Jake Hesketh extended the advantage in the 63rd.
West Ham United 1-0 Accrington Stanley
Halftime sub Dimitri Payet spared West Ham both energy and blushing by scoring in the sixth minute of second half stoppage to give the Irons passage into the quarterfinals.
Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 Gillingham
Christian Eriksen scored in the 31st and 48th minutes, and Vincent Janssen converted a 51st minute penalty to ensure that ex-Spurs player Justin Edinburgh didn’t have too enjoyable time managing against his old side. Josh Onomah and Erik Lamela rounded out the scoring at White Hart Lane.
Stoke City 1-2 Hull City
Marko Arnautovic and new Tigers man Ryan Mason traded goals as the teams sailed into halftime at 1-1. The sides looked set for extra time, but AZ loanee Markus Henriksen victimized the Stoke back line to pour more misery on Mark Hughes’ leaky defense.
Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Sunderland
Sandro’s second half goal broke QPR through, but Paddy McNair had an answer for David Moyes’ Black Cats. Well, two. The ex-Manchester United back scored twice in 10 minutes to move Sunderland past the R’s.
Fulham 1-2 Bristol City
Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon opened the scoring for Fulham, but Bristol tied it up through veteran Aaron Wilbraham and found their spirits buoyed when Austrian keeper Ivan Lucic stopped a penalty attempt from Cauley Woodrow.
Another Chelsea loanee, Tammy Abraham, continued his red-hot performance for Bristol and provided the winner.