European Football: Chelsea stun Newcastle to reach League Cup semis; Griezmann ties Aragones goals record

Chelsea came back from the brink to reach the League Cup semi-finals with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Newcastle after Mykhailo Mudryk’s last-gasp equaliser on Tuesday. Mauricio Pochettino’s side were joined in the semi-finals by Fulham, who beat Everton on penalties, and second-tier Middlesbrough, 3-0 winners against Port Vale. Beaten three times in their previous five games, a wretched run that started with their 4-1 loss at Newcastle, Chelsea showed some much needed fighting spirit to win the quarter-final 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Languishing in 10th place in the Premier League, Chelsea were two minutes from being knocked out before Ukraine winger Mudryk came to the rescue with the leveller that set the stage for the Blues’ shoot-out success. Callum Wilson had scored Newcastle’s goal in the 16th minute. Pochettino’s only silverware as a manager is a French league title and domestic cup with Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea’s progress keeps the Argentine in contention for his first trophy in England after he lost the 2015 League Cup final during his time at Tottenham. The defeat was a painful blow for Newcastle, who failed in their attempt to avenge last season’s League Cup final loss to Manchester United at Wembley. After crashing out of the Champions League group stage, Newcastle’s exit was another setback for the Saudi-backed club in their bid to land a first major trophy since 1969. In the shootout, Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, Christopher Nkunku and Mudryk scored for Chelsea but only Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes converted penalties for Newcastle. Kieran Trippier fired the second penalty wide and Matt Ritchie’s kick was saved by Djordje Petrovic. Fulham down Everton Cottagers boss Marco Silva enjoyed a measure of revenge on the club that sacked him in 2019 by leading Fulham into their first domestic semi-final since the 2002 FA Cup. Tosin Adarabioyo scored the decisive spot-kick after Everton’s Idrissa Gueye hit the post. Amadou Onana had missed a chance to win the tie for Everton earlier in the shoot-out when his kick was saved by Bernd Leno. Fulham went ahead in the 41st minute through Michael Keane’s own goal before Everton substitute Beto equalised with eight minutes left. Middlesbrough cruised past third tier Port Vale to reach the semi-finals for the first time since they lifted the trophy in 2004. Michael Carrick’s Championship side ruined Vale’s first quarter-final appearance with goals from Jonathan Howson, Morgan Rogers and Matt Crooks. Liverpool host West Ham in the last quarter-final on Wednesday. Griezmann ties Aragones goals record in Atletico draw Antoine Griezmann became Atletico Madrid’s joint all-time leading scorer alongside Luis Aragones with 173 goals on Tuesday as he struck twice only for Getafe to snatch a stoppage-time equaliser in a 3-3 draw. Atletico had to play much of the game with 10 men after Stefan Savic was sent off for two first-half bookings, but Griezmann gave the hosts the lead just before the break when he turned in Rodrigo Riquelme’s cross. Borja Mayoral equalised early in the second half before Alvaro Morata headed Atletico back in front. Griezmann scored a penalty to make it 3-1 and move level with Aragones, who also won La Liga as Atletico coach in 1976-77 and guided Spain to victory at Euro 2008. But Getafe pulled a goal back through Oscar Rodriguez and Mayoral tucked away a spot-kick in the third minute of added time to deny Atletico, whose 17-match home winning run in the league came to an end. Former Real Madrid forward Mayoral is on 12 goals for the season, just one behind leading scorer Jude Bellingham. The point for Atletico was still enough to bump Diego Simeone’s side up to third above Barcelona, who take on winless Almeria on Wednesday.

🔴⚪️ Antoine Griezmann makes history as he’s the joint-first all time top scorer of Atlético Madrid!

He has scored 173 goals — same as Luís Aragones. Club legend. ❤️🤙🏼 pic.twitter.com/NgFz7yabdJ

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 19, 2023

Sevilla won the first time in 11 outings with Adria Pedrosa, Lucas Ocampos and Sergio Ramos on target in a 3-0 victory away to Granada as new boss Quique Sanchez Flores made a strong start after taking over Monday. Valencia won 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano courtesy of Sergi Canos’ goal in the second half. Surprise leaders Girona go to Real Betis on Thursday while Real Madrid, two points behind in second, round out the year with a trip to Alaves. Napoli’s struggles continue with Frosinone cup humiliation Four second-half Frosinone goals sent Serie A champions Napoli spiralling out of the Italian Cup in a 4-0 home defeat on Tuesday. For the third consecutive season Napoli have fallen at the round of 16 stage in the domestic cup, after defeats to Fiorentina after extra time in 2022 and on penalties to Cremonese last year. This time out, goals in normal time from Enzo Barrenechea, Giuseppe Caso, Walid Cheddira and Abdou Harroui eliminated Walter Mazzarri’s side in embarrassing circumstances. The decisive moments in the match came one minute after stars Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were sent on to try and find a breakthrough for the hosts. But instead, it was Serie A’s 13th-placed side Frosinone who broke the deadlock in the 65th minute when Barrenechea looped a near-post header from a corner over a helpless Pierluigi Gollini. Five minutes later, the visitors all but booked their place in the last eight when a counter saw Caso race away from the defence following a misplaced Napoli backpass and slip his right-footed finish past the ‘keeper. A bad night turned into a chastening one for Napoli, who were playing their first cup match after entering at the last 16 stage, when Cheddira converted a penalty one minute into injury time. This was followed up four minutes later by a fourth for the delirious visitors after Harroui was given plenty of time and space to receive a pass and stroke the ball into the back of the net. On Wednesday, holders Inter Milan will begin their quest for three Italian Cup titles in a row when they host Bologna in the last 16. Dortmund held by Mainz in Germany Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 home draw with lowly Mainz in the Bundesliga on Tuesday, continuing their struggles and deepening coach Edin Terzic’s woes. Dortmund impressed early and grabbed the lead thanks to a brilliant free-kick from Julian Brandt but Mainz hit back late in the first half, Sepp van den Berg heading in from close range. USA forward Gio Reyna had the ball in the net in the final minute for Dortmund but the goal was struck off for offside. Terzic told reporters “of course I believe I will be” when asked if he would be Dortmund’s coach in 2024. “It’s a disappointing evening, a disappointing result and we’ll take this disappointment into the break.” Despite qualifying first in a Champions League group including Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle, Dortmund have now won just one of their past eight league matches. “It sucks to go into the break with a draw or defeat,” goalscorer Brandt told TV network Sat 1. “The current situation… it’s not easy.” “It’s not always the coach’s fault,” Dortmund captain Emre Can told Sky. “We’ve made progress in the Champions League.” “If the ball hits the crossbar instead of going into the net it’s got nothing to do with him.” Dortmund hosted Mainz for the first time since May, when the home side could only manage a 2-2 draw, which allowed Bayern Munich to move past them and claim the Bundesliga title.

🌟 "Shine on my star, Borussia!" 🌟 pic.twitter.com/nLxUZZ09u3

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) December 19, 2023

More from Football

Manchester United all set to sign new goalkeeper as negotiations near completion Amorim's woes continue as Manchester United held 1-1 by Fulham; Grealish inspires Everton's win

Terzic said Monday the collapse “played no role at all” in the side’s preparation for the match and his team started well, overrunning a Mainz side who have won just once all season. Mainz somehow held on early, but Dortmund eventually broke through after half an hour, Brandt sending a dipping free-kick past Mainz goalkeeper Daniel Batz. The one-way traffic continued until just before the break, Mainz equalising through Liverpool loanee Van den Berg, who headed in a rebound from a corner. Dortmund ‘keeper Gregor Kobel got a paw to the header but replays showed the ball was inches over the line, with Mainz scoring their first goal since November. The home side dominated possession in an increasingly tense second half but could not find a winner, while Mainz carved out a handful of half-chances on the counter. Dortmund finished the match with 10 men as Sebastien Haller picked up an injury to his ankle after Terzic had made all of his five changes. Elsewhere, promoted Darmstadt came from behind three times at to draw 3-3 at Hoffenheim. Ihlas Bebou scored two goals and won a penalty which was converted by Andrej Kramaric and looked to have Hoffenheim on course for victory, but Darmstadt’s Tim Skarke got his second with five minutes remaining to rescue a point. Leipzig held A stunning second-half strike from Justin Njinmah secured Werder Bremen a valuable point in a 1-1 draw at home to RB Leipzig. With Leipzig dominating the game and leading after a Lois Openda goal, Njinmah shed two defenders and blasted a long-range effort into the net from outside the box with 15 minutes remaining. “Every point is beautiful, especially against such a strong team,” said Bremen forward Leonardo Bittencourt. “And call me crazy, but we should have won.” Bremen, promoted in 2022 after a year in the second division, have now opened up a six-point gap on the bottom four in what is likely to be a season-long relegation scrap. Leipzig bid farewell to long-time servant Emil Forsberg, who played his last match for the club before moving to New York Red Bulls after nine years in Saxony. “I’m a bit ticked off,” Forsberg told Sky. “I would have loved to win.” Bremen’s draw was the first time the 2004 Bundesliga winners have taken a point off any of the top seven teams this season. Leipzig missed a chance to draw level on points with champions Bayern, who have two games in hand. Bayern face former coach Niko Kovac’s Wolfsburg on Wednesday, while leaders Bayer Leverkusen are at home to Bochum. With AFP inputs