Two days after a fierce Arsenal encounter, Man City wins the League Cup; Nkunku gets a hat-trick for Chelsea.
In the English League Cup, Manchester City had a widely rotated lineup and still had too much for second-tier Watford, despite playing just two days after a fierce Premier League encounter against Arsenal.
Tuesday’s third-round action saw City defeat Aston Villa 2-1, with goals in the first half coming from Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes at Etihad Stadium. Premier League teams Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Leicester all advanced.
Christopher Nkunku scored a hat trick and celebrated by blowing up a blue balloon and putting it between his lips as Chelsea crushed fourth-division Barrow 5-0. After a 0-0 draw at fourth-tier Walsall, Leicester prevailed 3-0 in a penalty shootout, while Villa won 2-1 at Wycombe, the third-tier team.
The competition’s last 32 will be divided over two midweeks to make room for the enlarged Champions League and Europa League. Liverpool and Arsenal meet on Wednesday. Last week, teams who advanced were Manchester United and Tottenham.
City boss Pep Guardiola won the League Cup four straight years with City from 2018, but claimed he isn’t going to take it seriously this season and would use the matches to provide rhythm to some periphery players.
Doku and Kyle Walker were the only two Man City players to start the thrilling 2-2 draw against Watford in Sunday’s matchup with Arsenal. In the fifth minute, the Belgium winger gave his team the lead by scoring from just inside the box after City had capitalized on a misdirected back ball.
With a low, left-footed effort, Nunes added the second goal in the 38th, marking the Portugal midfielder’s first goal since signing from Wolverhampton in the 2023 offseason.
Watford’s Tom Ince, son of former England player Paul Ince, scored in the 86th minute.
In addition, Chelsea changed up their starting lineup, making eleven changes from the squad that began Saturday’s 3-0 victory over West Ham.
By the fifteenth minute, Nkunku had already scored twice, and in the seventieth, he completed the score. Between was an own goal and Pedro Neto’s tap-in to score Chelsea’s first goal.
In addition to Emi Buendia’s first goal in the 55th minute, Colombian attacker Jhon Durán added the team’s second goal in the 85th minute, scoring from the penalty spot. Durán has had an incredible start to the Villa season.
