Capital One Cup: 5 times the big clubs were upstaged by smaller ones

The League Cup - also known as the Capital One Cup for sponsorship reasons – enters its third round, where the Premier League clubs playing in European Competition come into the fray. Since managers of most top clubs use this tournament to give their second string sides a chance to assert themselves on the big stage, the League Cup provides an opportunity for most of the fringe clubs to cause an upset against their more superior opponents, thus giving their fans nights to cherish for a long, long time.This round sees defending champions Chelsea travel to League One Walsall, and Manchester United hosting Championship side Ipswich. A famous North-London derby also awaits us, with Arsenal facing off against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Liverpool are at home to Carlisle United, while Manchester City travel to Premier League strugglers Sunderland.With most of the top clubs willing to rest a majority of first-team players for this round, Walsall, Ipswich and Carlisle will be hoping to sneak in through the back door and cause a surprise or two for their Premier League opponents.Here, we look at 5 such results in the Cup that stunned English football and sent the players, staff and fans of the ‘underdogs’ into delirium on those famous nights:

#1 Liverpool 2-2 Northampton Town (2-4 on penalties) - 3rd Round, 2010-11

When the draw for the 3rd round of the 2010 League Cup was made, not even the Northampton Town fans themselves would have been optimistic of getting anything out of the game when they were drawn against Premier League giants Liverpool at Anfield.

The side sitting 17th in League Two, however, capitalised against a wasteful Liverpool side missing most of their first-team players on the back of a draining defeat to Manchester United on the weekend. After going behind to Milan Jovanovic’s strike early in the first half, Northampton equalised in the 56th minute thanks to Billy McKay reacting quickest to a Kevin Thornton flick-on to score from close range. Northampton’s defence kept firm against immense Liverpool pressure to take the game into extra-time.

Anfield was stunned into silence in the 98th minute when Michael Jacobs smashed home a rebound from a blocked Kevin Thornton shot to give the Fourth Division side a lead. David Ngog, however restored parity to Roy Hodgson’s side with a 116th minute header from a Jonjo Shelvey corner.

Come penalty kicks, and both sides felt the tension of the shootout amidst massive rain when Northampton's Steve Guinan and Liverpool's Ngog missed their respective spot-kicks.

However, when Liverpool’s teenager Nathan Eccleston smashed his penalty against the crossbar, the responsibility fell to 23-year-old Abdul Osman to convert his spot-kick to cap a famous victory for the side from Northampton. He made no mistake, slotting his penalty home and sparking wild celebrations amongst his teammates and fans.

#2 Birmingham 2-1 Arsenal 2010-11 League Cup Final

It had been nearly 6 years since Arsenal last won a major trophy (FA Cup 2005), and most pundits understandably tipped the Gunners to finally lift a piece of silverware when they learned it was Premier League relegation candidates Birmingham standing in their way in the 2011 League Cup final.

But no one, it seems, mentioned this to Birmingham manager Alex McLeish. His game-plan to deploy 6’ 8’’ striker Nikola Zigic against Arsenal’s back 2 consisting of Laurent Koscielny and Yohan Djourou worked wonders, as he rose highest to head in a corner to give Birmingham a shock lead at Wembley. Robin van Persie equalised soon after, and although it was Arsenal who created the better chances, Birmingham stood firm in defence throughout the game, Ben Foster making a series of saves to keep his side in the game.

Come the 89th minute. Ben Foster’s long-range pass was met by Nikola Zigic, whose header harmlessly rolled towards Arsenal’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Or so it seemed. Little did he realise that Laurent Koscielny was looking to clear the same ball, resulting in both of them coming in each other’s way. Szczesny, who by now expected Koscielny to deal with the ball, saw the ball slip out of his grasp and fall very kindly for Birmingham substitute Obafemi Martins, who made no mistake in side-footing the winner into an empty net, sending the Birmingham fans into a frenzy.

They managed to hold out till the final whistle had blown, sparking jubilant scenes across the Birmingham faithful and equally devastating expressions across Arsenal’s players and fans, whose long wait for a trophy lasted only 3 seasons later (2014 FA Cup).

#3 Bradford City 1-1 Arsenal (3-2 on penalties) 2012-13 Quarter Final

Arsenal were once again on the receiving end of a major League Cup upset, this time at the hands of Phil Parkinson’s League Two side Bradford City.

Bradford, who had already sent Premier League club Wigan out of the competition in the previous round, started brightly against a strong Arsenal line-up, taking the lead by storm through Garry Thompson’s volley.

However, after going behind, it was the Champions League outfit that showed their superiority over their opponents 65 places below them in the Football League pyramid, creating chance after chance, without being able to find the back of the net. Gervinho’s open-goal miss from 3 yards out summed up Arsenal’s wasteful night in front of goal. All seemed lost for them until the 87th minute, when skipper Thomas Vermaelen powered in a header from the far-post to save the blemishes for Arsene Wenger’s side.

Bradford held on till the end of extra-time, with goalkeeper Matt Duke making a succession of brilliant saves to keep Bradford in the contest. What followed was a maniacal penalty-shootout, with Santi Cazorla and Marouane Chamakh missing their spot-kicks to give Bradford a 2-0 lead.

However, Wojciech Szczesny saved 2 out of Bradford’s next 3 penalties to drag Arsenal back into the game, and the onus was once again on Thomas Vermaelen to convert his spot-kick to take the shootout into sudden death. He smashed his spot-kick onto the woodwork, sending the roof off Valley Parade and capping off one of Bradford’s most famous victories in their history.

#4 Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace- 2011-12 Quarter Final

One of the most embarrassing moments of Manchester United’s 2011-12 season was a loss to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in the 2011-12 Quarter Finals. Though Sir Alex made 10 changes to the side that played against Newcastle in the weekend, the starting line-up still consisted of 8 fully capped internationals and Manchester United could have had no excuses for slumping to defeat against a side who hadn’t scored in their last 5 matches in the Championship.

After a lacklustre first half - where Palace looked the better team with their energetic play led by a certain 19-year old by the name of Wilfred Zaha - Sir Alex took the rash step of taking off a woeful Dimitar Berbatov and replacing him with youth product Ravel Morrison.

Though Man United created chances aplenty in the second half, they were guilty of not finding the finishing touch; and were subsequently punished when Darren Ambrose unleashed an unstoppable 35-yard strike past a helpless Ben Amos to give the Eagles the lead against the run of play.

Man United responded almost instantly Federico Macheda won and converted a penalty to level matters. The Palace defence stood strong and dragged the tie into extra time. Then in the 98th minute Ambrose was at it again, delivering an accurate free-kick for Glenn Murray to lose his marker Jonny Evans and nod home the winner past Amos.

That sparked a Man United onslaught, and though Macheda and Antonio Valencia went close, it was the struggling Championship outfit who had the last laugh and celebrated defeating the defending Premier League champions to reach the League Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years.

#5 Milton Keynes Dons 4-0 Manchester United 2014-15 2nd Round

With Louis van Gaal searching for his first competitive victory as Man United manager, he took his side to League One side MK Dons with a number of reserve team players, not foreseeing what was in store for him. His error-strewn side were absolutely punished by an energetic MK Dons side, who had a certain 18-year old midfield menace by the name of Delle Alli. His performances grabbed the attention of most top clubs in the Premier League, and he showed that night why he was in the ‘most-wanted’ list of such clubs.

Jonny Evans’ liability in defence proved costly when his error allowed Will Grigg to score MK Dons’ opener. He scored an audacious chested goal in the 63rd minute to double the Dons’ lead against a miserable United side, who only managed to register a shot on target for the first time in the 72nd minute. United’s experienced forward trio of Shinji Kagawa, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck failed to unlock a spirited MK Dons back four. Kagawa and Welbeck were soon offloaded to Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal respectively.

Benik Afobe made an instant impact after coming off the bench, scoring with his first touch and then completed Man United’s terrible night with a slaloming run past a number of weak Man United challenges before calmly slotting home his side’s fourth, sparking ecstatic scenes amongst fans of a club formed just 10 years prior to this famous night in 2004.