EFL Cup third round: Liverpool 5 West Ham 1 (Jota 25 & 49, Salah 74, Gakpo 90 & 90+3; Quansah 21)
Diogo Jota responded to his omission at the weekend with two goals in a comfortable 5-1 victory as Liverpool got their Carabao Cup defence off to a winning start as 10-man West Ham’s difficult start to the season continued.
The Portugal international lost his place to Darwin Nunez for the 3-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on Saturday, but the two were paired together in a team showing nine changes at Anfield.
But even though Jota was deployed in the slightly deeper role, he showed his often erratic partner just how ruthless you have to be to be a Liverpool striker with two effortlessly clinical goals.
Nunez, by contrast, struggled to find an opening but that was probably as much a result of Arne Slot’s team selection lacking a passer of genuine quality.
Federico Chiesa, on his first start since a summer move from Juventus, showed glimpses of promise in the hour he was afforded, with his mis-hit shot ballooning up off the turf for Jota to pop up in the right place to nod a close-range header past the challenge of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski midway through the first half.
That cancelled out Jarell Quansah’s own goal from a poorly-defended West Ham corner, but his next strike proved the decisive one.
Four minutes after the interval Curtis Jones carried the ball out of defence, exchanged passes with Cody Gakpo and slid in a pass for Jota to dispatch with a first-time finish.
Jones improved as the game went on after he and Endo struggled to get a grip of midfield during the early stages and he almost grabbed a third when planted his toe-poke slightly too close to Fabianski.
Having got ahead Slot, whose only concession to youth in his squad was 21-year-old Tyler Morton, turned to the bench and brought on the upgrades of Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister for Chiesa and Jota.
It did not immediately improve things as the visitors, for whom former Reds striker Danny Ings had an 18th-minute goal ruled out for offside, had arguably their best spell with goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher denying Michael Antonio, Max Kilman and Aaron Cresswell.
They also had penalty claims waved away Vladimir Coufal’s cross hit Kostas Tsimikas in the stomach and then his arm.
But Liverpool’s two substitutes combined to score the third which gave them important breathing room as Mac Allister’s shot was blocked by Fabianski into the path of Salah who fired home first time.
The Egypt international was then hacked down as he threatened to race clear and Edson Alvarez was sent off for a second bookable offence before Cody Gakpo beat Fabianski at his near post from the edge of the area and then had a shot deflect in off Jean-Clair Toddibo in added time for a quick-fire brace.
West Ham, registering seven changes from the weekend, have now lost three of their last four matches to increase the pressure on new head coach Julen Lopetegui.
Arsenal 5 Bolton 1 (Rice 16, Nwaneri 37 & 49, Sterling 64, Havertz 77; Collins 53)
Meanwhile at Emirates Stadium, on a night that saw Arsenal’s fourth-choice goalkeeper Jack Porter become the youngest player to start a game for the Gunners at the age of just 16 years and 72 days in the absence of the injured David Raya, it was Ethan Nwaneri who caught the eye as the 17-year-old scored twice on his full debut.
After the fallout from their tempestuous draw against Manchester City, Arsenal never really looked like being turned over against opponents who used to revel in giving Arsène Wenger’s sides a bloody nose back in the days of Sam Allardyce as soon as Declan Rice had put them in front.
Aaron Collins ensured that Bolton did briefly manage to make a contest of it after Nwaneri’s double strike either side of half-time. But having only lifted this trophy twice and not since George Graham was manager back in 1993, Raheem Sterling ensured it was a mixture of youth and experience that smoothed Arsenal’s progress into the fourth round with a goal on his full debut before substitute Kai Havertz added a fifth.
Backed by a sizeable travelling contingent, Bolton enjoyed the more impressive start. Calafiori gave the ball away on the edge of his own area and was almost made to pay when John McAtee picked out Scott Arfield with a clever back-heel but he could only fire over Porter’s bar from close range.
Bolton’s fans were incensed when they felt Gabriel Jesus had brought down Josh Sheehan inside the area after another promising attack. They were made to pay soon after when Arfield missed the ball as he attempted to clear a cross from Josh Nichols and Rice curled home emphatically from the edge of the area. Nwaneri – who set the record as Arsenal’s youngest player in 2022 when he also broke the Premier League mark aged 15 years and 181 days – excelled in the No 10 role as Arsenal assumed control of proceedings, with Sterling and Bukayo Saka both coming close to setting up Jesus on more than one occasion.
Nwaneri’s big moment arrived not long before the break when Myles Lewis-Skelly’s pass allowed Sterling to pick out the 17-year-old with a perfect low cross for a simple finish to make it 2-0. It could have been even worse for Bolton had Luke Southwood not been able to push Sterling’s curling effort away to safety or Jesus not fired wide.
In north London for the first time since an EFL Cup defeat here back in 2011 in the same season they were relegated from the Premier League, Bolton were the architects of their own downfall for Nwaneri’s second. Barely four minutes of the second half had elapsed when they were caught trying to play out from the back and Rice pounced, with Nwaneri coolly applying the finish.
But they refused to throw in the towel and Collins pulled one back almost straight away when he capitalised on McAtee’s through ball to round Porter. Their resistance was ended when Sterling poked home after Saka’s shot was saved. He could easily have extended his tally but it was left to Havertz to round off an almost perfect night. – PA & Guardian
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