Chelsea and Everton progressed to the next round of the League Cup after narrowly avoiding humiliating exits against AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday evening.
Chelsea fell behind to AFC Wimbledon at Stamford Bridge, but they came back to win 2-1 thanks to Enzo Fernandez’s first goal for the club.
trying hard Everton beat Doncaster 2-1 after coming back from being down late in the game.
Sheffield United did not have as much luck as their Premier League rivals. The Blades lost on penalties to a team from the third tier, Lincoln.
On Friday, when Chelsea beat Luton 3-0 for Mauricio Pochettino’s first win as manager, he made seven changes to the team.
Ian Maatsen, Lesley Ugochukwu, and Mason Burstow all played for the first time, and Diego Moreira played for the first time.
In the 19th minute, Wimbledon scored against Chelsea’s young team.
Robert Sanchez, the custodian for Chelsea, ran out of his area to try to catch a cross but ran into Harry Pell instead. Sanchez gave up a penalty, which James Tilley calmly put away.
At the end of the first half, Noni Madueke scored from the penalty spot for Chelsea after Alex Pearce fouled the winger.
After coming off the bench, Fernandez gave Chelsea’s midfield more calm, and the Argentine World Cup champion put his team ahead in the 72nd minute.
Fernandez finally scored after joining Wimbledon for £106 million from Benfica in January. He took advantage of a mistake in the Wimbledon defence to score.
“It was tough but we really enjoyed it,” said Pochettino, whose side will host Brighton in the third round.
“It is always difficult to play against a team like this. That is the beauty of the cups. I’m happy with the performance overall.”
After losing three league games in a row to start the season, Doncaster, which was at the bottom of League Two, put Everton on the edge of more bad luck.
To avoid a giant-killing at the Eco-Power Stadium, Everton manager Sean Dyche only made four changes.
But Everton fell behind in the 44th minute when Joe Ironside scored by heading Tommy Rowe’s cross past Jordan Pickford. This was because Everton’s defence wasn’t good enough.
Beto, a Portuguese striker who was bought for £30 million from Udinese this week, made his debut when Dyche put him on at the start of the second half.
Beto scored 21 goals in two seasons in Serie A with Udinese, and the 25-year-old quickly showed his predatory side when he joined Everton.
Beto scored Everton’s first goal of the season when, in the 73rd minute, he ran onto Abdoulaye Doucoure’s hopeful pass forward, got behind the Doncaster defence, and put a clean shot into the far corner.
In the 88th minute, Arnaut Danjuma scored calmly from the edge of the box to set up a third-round match at Aston Villa.
“Beto is raw and can be effective. We changed a few things at half-time and reminded them they are Premier League players,” Dyche said.
“We have a lot of young players learning. You lot (the media) are waiting for us to lose and I reminded them of that.”
With a 3-2 loss to Lincoln in a penalty shootout at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United’s terrible start to the season hit a new low.
After a boring first half ended with no goals, Lincoln custodian Lukas Jensen saved penalty kicks from Louis Marsh and Benie Traore to give the Blades their fourth straight loss.
Zeki Amdouni’s close-range volley in stoppage time of the second half gave Burnley a 1-0 win at fellow Premier League team Nottingham Forest.
The Clarets, which are led by Vincent Kompany, will play at Salford in the third round. This is because Salford beat Leeds on Tuesday.
Blackburn beat Harrogate 8-0 in their biggest away win in their 148-year history. Harrogate plays in the fourth tier.
The best matchup in the third round is between Manchester City and Newcastle, who finished second last season.
Who Owns Manchester United will be hosting Crystal Palace, Liverpool will be playing Leicester at Anfield, and Arsenal will be going to Brentford.
