Capital One Cup round-up: Arsenal and Chelsea crash out on night of upsets

Sheffield Wednesday players celebrate after their second goal as they shocked Arsenal 3-0

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s ploy of fielding a second-string side for their Capital One Cup 4th round tie against Championship side Sheffield Wednesday backfired badly as they succumbed to a 3-0 away defeat.

All the other three matchups had to be decided from the penalty spot as they could not be separated at the of extra time.

Chelsea’s horror start to the season showed no signs of letting up as they went down away to Stoke City 5-4 on penalties as Eden Hazard failed to convert from the spot. The defeat puts huge pressure on manager Jose Mourinho as speculations regarding his future at the club are only going to increase.

Meanwhile, Everton held their nerves to beat Norwich City 4-3 on penalties at Goodison Park. Hull City came from behind during extra time to upset Premier League high-fliers Leicester City with a 5-4 win in the shootout to progress to the next round.

Stoke City vs Chelsea

Under-fire Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho fielded a strong starting XI for their cup tie against Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium. Chelsea’s nightmare season so far got worse as striker Diego Costa walked off injured in the 32nd minute.But it was the Potters who took the lead as Jonathan Walters scored past Asmir Begovic on 52 minutes after a goalless first half.

It increasingly looked like Chelsea were heading out of the cup as they struggled to break down a resolute Stoke defence. when substitute Loic Remy grabbed a late equaliser in stoppage time to send the match into extra time. Stoke defender Phil Bardsley was sent off for a second yellow card offence just before the final whistle.

Chelsea failed to take advantage of the extra man and paid the ultimate price as they bowed out of the cup with Stoke beating them 5-4 in the resulting shootout. Eden Hazard failed to convert from the spot for Chelsea.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Arsenal

Tragedy struck Arsenal as early as the 4th minute as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain went off the pitch with an injury. Things went from bad to worse for the Gunners as his replacement Theo Walcott limped off the field on 20 minutes. The inexperience of the young Arsenal side was on display as they shipped in two first half goals with Wallace and Joao finding the net for the hosts.

Buoyed by their first-half performance, Sheffield Wednesday players raced off the blocks in the second half and on 52 minutes they tripled their lead from a set piece. Hutchinson claimed the goal, but it looked to have taken a touch of Arsenal right-back Matthieu Debuchy. The minnows held on against a lacklustre Arsenal side with little trouble to complete a famous win.

Everton vs Norwich City

Goodison Park saw Everton host fellow Premier League side Norwich City. The match was largely uneventful in the first half and it only sprung into life when the Canaries took the lead early in the second-half through Sebastien Bassong. However, the home side restored parity in the 68th minute through Leon Osman.

The game then went into extra time to find a winner. However, the scores remained unchanged inviting the dreaded shootout. Wes Hoolahan and Nathan Redmond were guilty of having failed to convert from the spot as Everton progressed to the next round with a 4-3 win on penalties.

Hull City vs Leicester City

Hull City took on high-fliers Leicester City at the KC stadium. The game remained scoreless after 90 minutes as neither side could produce a breakthrough. But the game roared into life in extra time as Leicester took the lead through Riyad Mahrez in the 10th minute of the first-half extra time. But Hull City amazingly found an equalizer through striker Abel Hernandez in the final minute of first-half extra time.

The match went into a penalty shootout and Leicester’s first half scorer Mahrez had his penalty saved as Hull City progressed to the next round after winning the shootout 5-4.