… and so Chelsea, Manchester City, Leicester City and Aston Villa go into the velvet bag for the fourth round. Already in there, having won their ties last week: Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur. Three ties remain, with two of them – Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers and Liverpool v West Ham United - to be played tomorrow night, after which the draw for the fourth round will be made. Hope you’ll join us for all of that. Thanks for reading this Clockwatch! Nighty night.
FULL TIME: Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Aston Villa. Villa were the party poopers on Wycombe’s 137th birthday. Here’s Ben Fisher’s report.
FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-1 Watford. Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad to witness City record a 16th consecutive win against the Hornets.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 5-0 Barrow. Christopher Nkunku scored a hat-trick to swat aside the League Two leaders. Taha Hashim reports from Stamford Bridge.
FULL TIME: Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Aston Villa
Villa complete a full set of predictable outcomes. They didn’t play well, but they’re into the hat for the fourth round. It’s not been a banner night for cup drama.
GOAL! Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Aston Villa (Kone 90+5)
Lamare Bogarde fails to clear a ball bouncing down the inside-right channel. Richard Kone nips in and lashes home. Surely just a consolation.
GOAL! Wycombe Wanderers 0-2 Aston Villa (Duran 85 pen)
There’s been another penalty scored by a team from the midlands … and it’s Jhon Duran, who wins a penalty then slots it himself.
RESULT: Walsall 0-0 Leicester City (Leicester win 3-0 on pens)
Leicester didn’t play well until the penalty shoot-out. Walsall didn’t play badly until the penalty shoot-out. It’s a harsh game sometimes.
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PENALTIES: Walsall 0-3 Leicester City. Liam Gordon goes bottom left … and it’s pitifully weak. Danny Ward could throw his cap on it, but carefully palms it away instead. Leicester are through!
Updated
PENALTIES: Walsall 0-3 Leicester City. Oliver Skipp sends a third Leicester penalty into the bottom right. Simkin guessed correctly but couldn’t get over there.
PENALTIES: Walsall 0-2 Leicester City. David Okagbue has to score for the hosts … but he can’t do it. He whips towards the left-hand side of the net, but Danny Ward guesses correctly and turns it away. Another fine save.
PENALTIES: Walsall 0-2 Leicester City. Conor Coady up next. He sends Simkin the wrong way, and rolls calmly into the bottom right.
PENALTIES: Walsall 0-1 Leicester City. Taylor Allen goes bottom left … but Danny Ward stops it! Not the greatest penalty, but that’s a fine save nonetheless.
PENALTIES: Walsall 0-1 Leicester City. Leicester to go first. Ricardo Pereira confidently lashes into the bottom-right corner. Tommy Simkin goes the right way but can’t reach it.
FULL TIME: Walsall 0-0 Leicester City
It’s going to penalties at the Bescot.
FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-1 Watford
That’s now 16 straight wins for City against Watford. But they were made to work for this latest one. Watford will no doubt point to Kwadwo Baah’s disallowed first-half goal, ruled out contentiously for a shove on young Kaden Braithwaite. The small margins.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 5-0 Barrow
It was never close. But the League Two leaders kept Chelsea honest, and could even have had a goal themselves after that aforementioned penalty-box melee.
Manchester City 2-1 Watford. A free kick for Watford and a chance to load the City box. Giorgi Chakvetadze sends it in from the right, but Jack Grealish slides in to hook it clear. That’s wonderful defending.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Watford (Ince 86)
From the right-hand edge of the City D, Tom Ince – who earlier cleared one off the line - takes a touch inside before curling a delightful shot into the top-left corner! This is back on for the underdogs!
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Chelsea 5-0 Barrow. Chris Stokes grabs a big handful of Marc Guiu’s shirt. If this was goalless, the whistle might blow for a penalty. But it’s not, and there are less than ten minutes to play, so the referee shows some clemency.
GOAL! Chelsea 5-0 Barrow (Nkunku 75)
Instead of 4-1, it’s 5-0. Paul Farman snoozes with the ball at his feet. Christopher Nkunku brushes him off it, and rolls into the empty net. Easy as that, and it’s a hat-trick for Nkunku. A horror-show for the Barrow captain.
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Chelsea 4-0 Barrow. So nearly a consolation goal for Barrow. A corner comes in from the left. A proper penalty-box stramash. Theo Vassell swings and misses. The ball pings up to Junior Tiensia, who flicks goalwards, but it’s an easy gather for Filip Jörgensen. On another day, that might have pinballed into the net.
GOAL! Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Aston Villa (Buendia 55)
The deadlock finally broken at Adams Park. Ian Maatsen shimmies down the left. His cross from the byline is deflected and loops up into the air. It drops to Emiliano Buendía who loops it up again, guiding a clever header across the keeper and into the top right!
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Manchester City 2-0 Watford. Another big chance for Watford. With City pressing forward, Giorgi Chakvetadze robs Phil Foden and steams upfield on the break. He slips the ball left to Kwadwo Baah, who drops a shoulder to get past John Stones before lashing a low drive wide left. He should have worked Stefan Ortega at the very least.
Manchester City 2-0 Watford. Savinho sends a power curler towards the top left. Tom Ince clears off the line with the bravest of headers. Great play all round. “That Nathan Lowe (8.56pm) sounds like a bit of a speed merchant,” writes Merrie Melodies aficionado Simon McMahon, identifying and utilising the second-best MEEP sound in comedy history. The greatest? I won’t insult your intelligence by belabouring the point.
Manchester City 2-0 Watford. The hosts continue to dominate, without threatening to sweep Watford away. There’s still time. Meanwhile, on the Hornets being level at 2-2 in a nearby parallel universe (8.35pm), here’s Julian Borrill: “Since we don’t have a metric for the distance between universes, ‘nearby’ is ill-defined. On the other hand, if our universe is infinite then they are already level in some other Hubble volume. In either case we should let Lev Landau have the last word: ‘Cosmologists are often in error but never in doubt.’”
Chelsea 4-0 Barrow. The cheer that met Pedro Neto’s goal wasn’t the loudest at Stamford Bridge since the break. That roar was generated by the half-time arrival of Ben Chilwell, who is looking to rebuild his Chelsea career after being told to do one by Enzo Maresca. The home faithful making their feelings on the matter known.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester City. Nathan Lowe scampers down the left, reaches the byline and tugs back for Albert Adomah, who opens his body but from six yards sends a sidefoot wide right. A huge chance to sprinkle a little shock-infused sparkle goes by.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Barrow (Neto 48)
It’s not taken Chelsea long to extend their lead further. Chris Stokes misjudges a simple bouncing ball, allowing it to balloon over his head. Christopher Nkunku and Mykhailo Mudryk tear off with it down the inside-left, exchanging passes before rolling right to Pedro Neto, who slots into the bottom right.
Updated
The 7.45pm matches are underway again. In lieu of any looming upsets, here’s this.
HALF TIME: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Aston Villa
Unai Emery, whose team have yet to get a shot on target, walks off looking distinctly unimpressed. Some half-time rockets about to be launched, I’ll be bound.
Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Aston Villa. Beryly Lubala bustles under a long ball down the Wycombe inside-left channel and cuts back for Matt Butcher, who leans back and skies an effort from the edge of the box. Butcher had more space and time than he thought.
Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Aston Villa. There’s not a lot going on at Adams Park. Villa pass it around the back, every which way but forward. The crowd pretty flat as well. It’s not exactly a cup-tie cauldron.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 3-0 Barrow
This one’s not going to penalties, it’s fair to say.
HALF TIME: Walsall 0-0 Leicester City
A reminder that we go straight to penalty kicks if the scores remain level after 90 minutes.
HALF TIME: Manchester City 2-0 Watford
… but in this universe, the one in which we all operate, City’s reserve XI are a couple of goals to the good at the break. Despite the two Watford chances, they’ve been as dominant as ever.
Manchester City 2-0 Watford. Festy Ebosele crosses from the left and finds Vakoun Bayo unmarked, six yards out. Bayo flashes a header wide left. He should have scored. Factor in the disallowed goal, the whistle going rather sympathetically for Kwadwo Baah’s shoulder barge on 16-year-old Kaden Braithwaite, and Watford will consider themselves a little unfortunate to be where they are. In a nearby parallel universe, it’s level at the Etihad.
Updated
Chelsea 3-0 Barrow. Another big save by the Barrow keeper Paul Farman, who has been in the thick of it tonight all right. João Félix breaks clear down the middle and creams a shot towards the bottom right, but the keeper gets down well to stick out a strong hand. Then the whistle goes; turns out Félix handled as he broke clear, but hats off to the overworked keeper nonetheless.
Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Aston Villa. … meanwhile Villa, who have five League Cups in the bag, are also being held by their lower-league opponents. Jhon Duran has another good opportunity to open the scoring, but lifts his effort over the bar.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester City. Leicester are dominating possession but home keeper Tommy Simkin hasn’t had too much to do. The three-time winners being held comfortably enough by their fourth-tier hosts. “But surely Charles Antaki (8.07pm) is right?” begins Richard Hirst. “By not playing, Haaland is failing to score every minute, so the trombone should be on permanent loop.” A fair point well made. Oh Scotty!
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Watford (Nunes 38)
Rico Lewis one-twos with James McAtee to advance towards the Watford box down the middle. Lewis lays off to Matheus Nunes to his left. Nunes threads a shot into the bottom left, Jonathan Bond given no chance despite extending fully.
Updated
Manchester City 1-0 Watford. More uncertainty from Watford goalkeeper Jonathan Bond. Or perhaps too much certainty? He comes out to clear a Phil Foden cross but also succeeds in cleaning out his team-mate Ryan Porteous. Ooyah, oof. A collision that will certainly have hurt the Scotland defender, though happily he’s back up on his feet again soon enough.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Barrow (Farman og 28)
A free kick for Chelsea in a central position, just outside the Barrow D. Pedro Neto makes a royal nuisance of himself, taking up a spot in the Barrow wall. It looks as though he’s trying to make a space through which Joao Felix can shoot … and he achieves that, but it’s all a cod, because Felix curls the free kick around the right-hand side of the wall, off the post, and in off the back of the unfortunate Paul Farman. That’s a wonderful free kick, and so unlucky for the keeper.
Manchester City 1-0 Watford. Kwadwo Baah, barrelling down the right, brushes the 16-year-old debutant Kaden Braithwaite out of the way with absurd ease, before lashing past Stefan Ortega and into the net. But the whistle goes for the over-zealous nature of the shoulder-barge. Or was it an over-zealous use of the referee’s whistle? You’ve seen them given. You’ve seen play waved on, too. Watford will consider themselves unlucky, especially when they need all the help they can get against the best squad in the land.
Manchester City 1-0 Watford. “Is it sound-effects night?” asks Charles Antaki. “Excellent! I truly hope that at some point you’ll be able to use this one, preferably on the 15th occasion that Erling Haaland fails to score tonight. Yes I know it’s unlikely. But hey.” It’s unlikely all right, given that Haaland has been given the night off. Oh Charles!
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Barrow (Nkunku 15)
A low Malo Gusto cross from the right glanced into the bottom left, and it’s a second goal for Christopher Nkunku. What a delicious finish, too, a gentle backflick that foxes the keeper. It’s going to be a long evening for Barrow, for sure.
Updated
Wycombe 0-0 Aston Villa. Completing our tetraptych of kick-off whistles. Jhon Duran immediately misses a one-on-one sitter.
Chelsea 1-0 Barrow. Could Paul Farman have done better for that opening goal? Perhaps that’s being harsh. Either way, though, the Barrow captain has more than made up for it by spreading himself to deny João Félix, who was clean through on goal. It looks like it’s going to be a busy night for the visiting keeper.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Barrow (Nkunku 8)
So much for that confident start by Barrow. João Félix wedges cutely over the visitors’ back line, and Christopher Nkunku slots under keeper-captain Paul Farman, who might have done better, but what an assist.
Updated
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Watford (Doku 5)
Keeper Jonathan Bond dithers when he should launch a ball passed back to him. Jack Grealish steps in and tees up Jeremy Doku, who sorts his feet on the edge of the D and slots into the bottom left. Memories of this already.
Updated
Chelsea 0-0 Barrow. A lively start for the fourth-division visitors, who are on the front foot early doors. A long throw-in from the left is allowed to bounce all the way through a crowded Chelsea box.
Updated
Whistles sound all across the land. Well, OK, in west London, east Manchester and Walsall. But they’re sounding! Wycombe to join the party in 15 minutes.
More on that crowdfunder to help AFC Wimbledon. “Just wanted to thank the Guardian for this article,” writes Owen Linderholm. “I wouldn’t have known otherwise (despite being a Wimbledon fan for over 40 years).” Anyone else interested in the fundraiser can find out about it here. At the time of posting this entry, it’s raised nearly £80,000.
AFC Wimbledon P-P Newcastle United. There was meant to be a fifth League Cup match tonight, but flooding at the Cherry Red Records Stadium did for that. The game will now be played at St James’ Park this time next week. But here’s some welcome good news for the club at an otherwise tricky time.
Team news: Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa
Whatever happens at Adams Park tonight, it’s party time for Wycombe, who are 137 years old today! It’s also midfielder Josh Scowen’s 500th career appearance. Hip, hip, etc., everyone.
Aston Villa make ten changes after the 3-1 comeback win over Wolves. Jhon Duran, who has four goals in five substitute appearances, gets a shot from the start this time.
Wycombe Wanderers: Ravizzoli, Skura, Low, Hartridge, Pattenden, Scowen, Butcher, Bakinson, Wheeler, Lubala, Sadlier.
Subs: George, Grimmer, Harvie, Leahy, McCleary, Humphreys, Kone, McCarthy, Onyedinma.
Aston Villa: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Bogarde, Swinkels, Maatsen, Barkley, Onana, Bailey, Buendia, Young, Duran.
Subs: Zych, Diego Carlos, Ramsey, Moore, Rowe, Jimoh, Borland, Broggio, Patterson.
Referee: Sam Allison (Somerset).
🔵 Your Chairboys side to take on Aston Villa! pic.twitter.com/n2qWjLojnw
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) September 24, 2024
Our starting XI for tonight's game 👇#WYCAVL || #UpTheVilla pic.twitter.com/CMCtxJUn8j
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 24, 2024
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Team news: Walsall v Leicester City
Fourth-tier Walsall have already proved themselves to be cup specialists this season. They rescued themselves in round one of this tournament with a stoppage-time equaliser against Exeter City, then came from two down to beat Huddersfield Town. They’ve also beaten Birmingham City and Fulham U21 in the Football League Trophy.
Leicester make ten changes to their team in the wake of the weekend draw with Everton. Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Winks and Saturday’s goalscoring hero Stephy Mavididi are given the night off.
Walsall: Simkin, Okagbue, Williams, Weir, Liam Gordon, Adomah, Stirk, Lakin, Connor Barrett, Lowe, Maher.
Subs: Hornby, Daniels, Matt, Comley, Hall, Allen, Jellis, Johnson, Browne.
Leicester City: Ward, Ricardo Pereira, Coady, Okoli, Thomas, Soumare, Choudhury, Fatawu, Buonanotte, De Cordova-Reid, Edouard.
Subs: Iversen, Justin, Faes, Skipp, Golding, El Khannous, McAteer, Alves, Ayew.
Referee: Tom Nield (West Yorkshire).
📃𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 📃
— Walsall FC Official (@WFCOfficial) September 24, 2024
Your #Saddlers XI!🙌 pic.twitter.com/njWo0U7lAh
Tonight's Carabao Cup XI 👀#WSLLEI pic.twitter.com/Tdb2yY3qdl
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 24, 2024
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Team news: Manchester City v Watford
A mere two days after that brouhaha with Arsenal, Pep Guardiola makes nine changes to his starting XI. The most notable new face: centre-back Kaden Braithwaite, who at 16 years and 229 days becomes the third-youngest full debutant in Manchester City’s history. (For the record, he’s behind Glyn Pardoe and Paul Simpson.) Erling Haaland gets the night off.
Watford also hand out a debut to a centre-back, albeit one at the other end of his career. Angelo Ogbonna, 36 years young, pulls on a Watford shirt for the first time after his summer move from West Ham.
Manchester City: Ortega, Walker, Stones, Braithwaite, Lewis, McAtee, O’Reilly, Matheus Luiz, Grealish, Foden, Doku.
Subs: Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Gvardiol, Akanji, Savio, Wright.
Watford: Bond, Ogbonna, Porteous, Morris, Larouci, Ince, Louza, Sema, Baah, Ebosele, Bayo.
Subs: Marriott, Pollock, Chakvetadze, Vata, Dwomoh, Tikvic, Doumbia, Dele-Bashiru, Adu-Poku.
Referee: David Webb (County Durham).
Tonight’s City team! 🩵
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 24, 2024
XI | Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Stones, Braithwaite, Lewis, O’Reilly, Nunes, McAtee, Doku, Grealish, Foden
SUBS | Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Akanji, Savinho, Wright#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/eHQcoJHLJr
A first outing in yellow for Ogbonna. #WatfordFC | @Carabao_Cup pic.twitter.com/FLiZcOLDPE
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) September 24, 2024
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Team news: Chelsea v Barrow
Chelsea go League Cup to the max, changing their entire starting XI. Ben Chilwell, who had been expected to leave the club during the summer, is in the squad for the first time this season.
Barrow are top of League Two with five wins from their first seven matches. They’ve made it to Stamford Bridge after beating Port Vale and Derby County in the first two rounds.
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile, Veiga, Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Mudryk, Nkunku.
Subs: Bettinelli, Colwill, Chilwell, Acheampong, Chukwuemeka, Fernandez, George, Washington, Guiu.
Barrow: Farman, Feely, Vassell, Stokes, Jackson, Campbell, Foley, Newby, Spence, Acquah, Garner.
Subs: Stanway, Canavan, Tiensia, Eccleston, Worrall, Kouyate, Dallas, Weston, Telford.
Referee: Oliver Langford (W Midlands).
Tonight's XI. 🫡#CFC | #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/xaNOwyHT4H
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 24, 2024
𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 🗞️
— Barrow AFC (@BarrowAFC) September 24, 2024
👨✈️ Paul Farman captains The Bluebirds at The Bridge
🔄 Emile Acquah starts for the first time this month#WeAreBarrow pic.twitter.com/tCbyXTQvUK
Updated
Preamble
Another four third-round League Cup ties tonight, then. It should have been five, but …
… and so what we’re left with is this.
Chelsea v Barrow
Manchester City v Watford
Walsall v Leicester City
Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa
They all kick off at 7.45pm BST, except the Wycombe-Villa match, which gets going at 8pm. All the goals as they go in, coming your way.
