European football roundup: Manchester City crash out in League Cup, Girona move top of LaLiga

Manchester City crashed out of the League Cup with a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle on Wednesday as Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool booked their places in the last 16. Alexander Isak scored the only goal at St. James’ Park in a clash between two much-changed sides. City won the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup last season, but any dream of surpassing that feat with an unprecedented quadruple was swiftly brought to an end. Erling Haaland was left on the bench by City coach Pep Guardiola for the full 90 minutes and his presence was missed in a toothless display. Eddie Howe also rang the changes from an 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield United at the weekend. But it was not until the Newcastle boss introduced Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes at half-time that the hosts took control. Isak had the simple task of slotting home at the far post after a burst from Joelinton opened up the City defence. “A win like this can elevate us,” said Howe. “First-half we tried to rotate the squad and keep our players fresh. Second-half we were better for sure, but when you bring on players like Anthony Gordon and Bruno, they’re high level players.” Newcastle’s reward is a fourth-round trip to Manchester United in a repeat of last season’s final. - Chelsea bounce back - Chelsea prevented the crisis at Stamford Bridge deepening as Nicolas Jackson’s goal beat Brighton 1-0. The Senegalese’s wastefulness in front of goal has been partly to blame for the Blues’ return of one win in their opening six Premier League games under Mauricio Pochettino. But Jackson coolly slotted home from the impressive Cole Palmer’s pass on 50 minutes. Chelsea will face Blackburn in the last 16. Arsenal were also 1-0 winners at Brentford as Aaron Ramsdale responded to being controversially dropped by Mikel Arteta. Reiss Nelson’s eighth-minute goal separated the sides despite a Brentford onslaught after the break. Arteta has preferred David Raya to Ramsdale in goal for the past three games. But the England international was needed for the Gunners to progress as he produced a brilliant stop to deny Yoane Wissa an equaliser. Arsenal will travel to West Ham in the next round after the Hammers were 1-0 winners at third-tier Lincoln. Liverpool trailed to Championship leaders Leicester after just three minutes before fighting back to win 3-1. Kasey McAteer rounded off a rapid counter-attack to give the Foxes a flying start. Jurgen Klopp’s men laid seige to the visitors’ goal but were made to wait until after the break to draw level. The equaliser was made in the Netherlands as Ryan Gravenberch set up Cody Gakpo to find the far corner. Klopp then turned to his bench to find a winner and found it through a stunning strike from Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian captain took aim from outside the box and smashed the ball into the top corner 20 minutes from time. “Dom was a surprise with how fast he has fitted in, it was pretty much from the first minute,” said Klopp on Szoboszlai’s fast start to his Liverpool career. “Top-class player with a lot of quality. He never stops.” Diogo Jota’s backheel in off the far post then made the tie safe. Klopp’s men will travel to Bournemouth in round four. Everton built on their first Premier League win of the season at Brentford on Saturday with an impressive 2-1 victory at Aston Villa. The Toffees were thrashed 4-0 on their visit to Villa Park in the league last month, but goals from James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin helped Sean Dyche’s men gain revenge. LaLiga: Real Madrid beat Las Palmas but Girona move top [caption id=“attachment_13179782” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Real Madrid’s Joselu celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Las Palmas, at Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. AP[/caption] Real Madrid eased to a 2-0 win over Las Palmas on Wednesday to overtake Barcelona and move second, but Catalan minnows Girona are the surprise La Liga leaders after after a 2-1 win at Villarreal. Barcelona started the week top of the league but a 2-2 draw at Real Mallorca on Tuesday left the door open for their rivals to overtake them. Madrid produced a comfortable victory with goals from Brahim Diaz and Joselu, while Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior also made his return from injury as a second half substitute, following a month out. “(Vinicius) came on with a lot of desire and hope, he wanted to score, and help the team,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “He’s totally recovered but now he has to prepare well and be ready for the next game on Saturday, when he will start.” Ancelotti rested Jude Bellingham, who has been Madrid’s best player so far, starting Diaz in attacking midfield in the England international’s stead. The Italian also swapped out both full-backs after the painful derby defeat by Atletico Madrid on Sunday, with Ferland Mendy and Nacho starting in place of Fran Garcia and Lucas Vazquez. Real Madrid were on the front foot from the start against their promoted visitors from the Canary Islands, but lacked the killer finishing touch that Karim Benzema brought in recent years, and Bellingham has in recent weeks. Striker Joselu, on loan from Espanyol, had various chances to break the deadlock but was repeatedly denied by excellent Las Palmas goalkeeper Alvaro Valles, who also thwarted Diaz. Vazquez replaced the injured David Alaba, with Nacho moving inside to centre-back and the substitute played a part in the opening goal just before the break. Diaz broke the deadlock, taking a touch to control Vazquez’s cross and then firing into the top corner with the aid of a slight deflection. “For the goal I had the calm that I didn’t have before on other chances, I had that patience, and I’m very happy,” said Diaz, who was on loan at AC Milan last season. “It’s incredible to score at the Bernabeu, it’s something that’s unique.” - Making amends - Joselu made amends for his first half profligacy to pounce early in the second with a well-placed header from Rodrygo’s cross that this time left Valles no chance. Vinicius made his return with over half an hour remaining as Ancelotti reverted to a 4-3-3 system, having begun with the midfield diamond he has favoured this season. Madrid saw out the game without incident to move one point ahead of Barcelona. “I think that with the team we have we could have played more competitively than we did today,” said Las Palmas coach Garcia Pimienta, previously in charge of Barcelona’s reserve team. Michel’s Girona came from behind to beat Villarreal, with on-loan Barcelona defender Eric Garcia netting the winner – they are a point ahead of Madrid. Dani Parejo sent Pacheta’s struggling Villarreal ahead from the penalty spot, before Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk levelled for Girona and Garcia headed home after an hour. “It’s beautiful to see the league table, to see us up there is something this club and these fans should be proud of,” said Michel. “People will go to sleep happy and I am very proud. We had the best second half possible against a big team, and created a lot of chances.” Real Madrid visit Montilivi on Saturday in a mouthwatering clash between the top two, while Barcelona host Sevilla Friday. Los Blancos’ lack of defensive depth is a worry at centre-back, with Alaba going off hurt and Antonio Rudiger in some discomfort at the end. Eder Militao is a long-term absentee after suffering a cruciate ligament injury. Athletic Bilbao, fourth, were left frustrated after a 2-2 draw with Getafe. Carlos Fernandez’s goal earned Real Sociedad a 1-0 win at Valencia, allowing the Basque team to rise to fifth, while Rayo Vallecano are sixth after a 0-0 draw at Cadiz. Serie A: Inter crash to first defeat as Osimhen boosts Napoli Inter Milan crashed to their first defeat of the Serie A season on Wednesday, going down 2-1 at home to Sassuolo as controversial striker Victor Osimhen starred for Napoli despite an apparent rift with the champions. Inter went into the game with a perfect record of five wins in five and looked in control at 1-0 ahead thanks to a Denzel Dumfries goal on the stroke of half-time at the San Siro. Sassuolo levelled in the 54th minute when Nedim Bajrami scored with a long-range effort which caught out goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Domenico Berardi hit the winner 10 minutes later as Sassuolo claimed all three points to follow up last week’s win over Juventus. Inter remain top of the table on goal difference ahead of AC Milan who earlier defeated Cagliari 3-1. “After a good first period where we should have scored more than one goal, but we lost our focus especially after the equaliser,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi. “Losing in front of our home crowd hurts us, we have to understand what happened, even if the schedule, with our next match on Saturday, doesn’t really give us time to take a step back.” After a defeat and two draws, champions Napoli returned to winning ways with Osimhen playing a starring role in a 4-1 win over Udinese. The Nigerian striker scored his fourth goal of the season after 39 minutes with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ending a long goal drought by finding the net in the second half. Osimhen, top scorer in Serie A last season, had cut a controversial figure at the weekend when he showed his displeasure at being taken off by coach Rudy Garcia in the 0-0 draw with Bologna. On Tuesday, his agent threatened Napoli with legal action for having published a video on the club’s TikTok account, since deleted, mocking the striker for missing a penalty in that game. Osimhen removed photos of himself in Napoli colours from his own social media, fuelling speculation that he will demand a move in the next transfer window. “I have a very good relationship with Victor,” insisted Garcia. “I am happy for him because he scored tonight. After the match in Bologna, we were all frustrated, angry, Victor in particular, because he missed the penalty. “On the sporting aspect and on other levels, especially on TikTok, there have been a lot of things to manage in recent days,” smiled Garcia. “But I can assure you that Victor loves this jersey and that he is invested in 100% in our project.” Napoli are now fifth in the table with 11 points, four points behind the two Milan clubs. - Pioli’s 200th win - AC Milan fought back from a goal down to defeat Cagliari. Milan were without injured goalkeeper Mike Maignan as well as strikers Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao. Cagliari, searching for a first win of the campaign, grabbed a shock 29th-minute lead through Angolan winger Zito Luvumbo who capitalised on a mix-up in the Milan defence to shoot past Marco Sportiello. Milan, however, hit back with Noah Okafor levelling in the 40th minute when he beat goalkeeper Boris Radunovic from a cross by Christian Pulisic. In first-half injury-time, Fikayo Tomori added Milan’s second thanks to the work of Yacine Adli who was starting a game for only the second time since his arrival at the club in July 2022. Stefano Pioli’s side made sure of the three points on the hour mark when Ruben Loftus-Cheek hit the target. The win was a fifth in six matches for AC Milan who are level on 15 points with Inter. “We deserved our victory in a match which was not a formality,” said Pioli who celebrated his 200th win as a coach in Serie A. However, he admitted there had been “naivety” over the goal Milan conceded. “We know that it is the matches against our direct rivals for the title which will impact our place in the table, but these matches which, on paper, seem simple will be very important at the end of the season,” he added. Empoli, who sacked coach Paolo Zanetti last week after a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Roma, celebrated their first win of the season. Tommaso Baldanzi scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Salernitana.