Liverpool and Manchester City reach the League Cup quarter-finals on penalties

Penalties at Anfield

Liverpool reached the League Cup quarter-finals, beating Chelsea on penalties after a 1:1 draw in regular time, AFP reports. It was a meeting of two coaches who had been friends since childhood — Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso — and the home side's manager came out on top. Morgan Rogers opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 40th minute after Ryan Gravenberch's foul on Moises Caicedo, but three minutes later Cody Gakpo equalised, also from the spot, after Wesley Fofana's handball.

A dramatic shootout

In the penalty shootout, Valentin Barco hit the post, Kostas Tsimikas shot over, and Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders saved Gravenberch's effort, but Giorgi Mamardashvili rescued Liverpool by parrying Emmanuel Emegha's shot. After Joe Gomez's successful kick, Fofana missed, and the hosts went through. For Alonso, it was a third defeat in three visits to Anfield as a coach — previously he lost there with Bayer in 2024 and with Real in 2025. 'Every time it comes down to penalties, someone will feel the elimination was unfair. We showed a good level. The Premier League is the main priority,' Alonso said. Iraola, who will face his former club Bournemouth in the quarter-finals, noted: 'We are very pleased. Three home wins in a row are very important.'

City survive at the Etihad

Defending trophy holders Manchester City came close to elimination on their own ground: the match with Brighton ended 2:2, and only a penalty shootout carried the team into the next round. According to AFP, Enzo Maresca made nine changes after Saturday's defeat to Aston Villa, which ended the league leader's 100% start; Haaland, Diaz, Anderson and Donnarumma were rested. Brighton twice went ahead — Malik Yalcouye and Georginio Rutter scored — while City's goals came from Mateo Kovacic with a long-range strike and Vitor Reis, who finished off Ryan Cherki's cross. In the shootout, Jason Steele saved Kovacic's kick, but Gerónimo Rulli stopped efforts from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk. In the quarter-finals, City will play third-division side Bradford, and the teams will meet again in the league on Saturday.

Other results

Bournemouth extended their winning run, thrashing Aston Villa 3:0 — earlier in the week the club had beaten Milan (3:0) in the Europa League and Manchester United (3:0) in the league. Crystal Palace eased some of the pressure on under-fire coach Pierre Sage, winning 1:0 against Fulham, while Sunderland ended their league slump with a 3:2 victory over Brentford. In the quarter-finals, Palace will host Sunderland. Recall that on Tuesday, fourth-division side Fleetwood sensationally knocked out reigning English champions Arsenal on penalties; the Cod Army's opponent will be decided in the Everton — Newcastle match.