Southern clubs Southampton and Brentford narrowly reach League Cup quarter-finals

Another Premier League team, Brentford, breathed a sigh of relief after narrowly escaping a scare from second-tier rivals Sheffield Wednesday, ultimately prevailing in a tense penalty shootout.

At St Mary’s, Southampton were sailing into the next round after Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ header and Adam Armstrong’s spot kick inside 35 minutes.

But goals from Ashley Phillips and Tom Cannon threatened to force a penalty shoot-out until defender Bree rifled home from 25 yards with two minutes left on the clock.

The Saints were fortunate to reach that stage still level as only a goal-line clearance from Yukinari Sugawara stopped Stoke substitute Million Manhoef completing the turnaround minutes earlier.

Southampton boss Russell Martin, who was serving a touchline ban after collecting a third booking of the campaign, made six changes to the starting line-up which began the 1-0 loss at Manchester City over the weekend, which left the team bottom of the table with a solitary point from nine outings.

“They (Stoke) defended with big numbers and caught us in a moment on a counter-attack and nearly did again later on in the game,” Martin told BBC Radio.

“So the boys came through the moment in adversity and we won the game with some quality from (James) Bree.”

Victory was a much-needed boost for the side who have had little success so far this season, and their manager also encouraged his players to celebrate the win, at least for a day.

“We spoke before the game about winning it and making sure we get through. We got through, we made it tougher than it should have been for sure, but we also showed a bit of character,” Martin added.

“We need to celebrate every victory as a group, whether it’s against a Championship team in the Cup or a Premier League game. The guys didn’t look very happy, so I reminded them they’re allowed to smile that we won and we’re in the quarter-final.”

In the night’s other encounter, Brentford were bossing the show against Sheffield Wednesday after taking the lead through Kevin Schade in the first half.

But their opponents levelled shortly before the hour with their first effort on target through Djeidi Gassama’s spectacular strike.

Brentford could not find a winner in normal time with Mark Flekken their hero, the goalkeeper saving Liam Palmer’s penalty to send the hosts through 5-4 after a 1-1 draw.

“I went to the wrong side twice at the start (of the shoot-out),” commented Flekken. “That doesn’t help your confidence in a shoot-out but luckily I saved the last one”.

Holders Liverpool were away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Oct 30 with beaten finalists Chelsea at Newcastle United.

Also in action are Tottenham Hotspur, who host Manchester City, and Manchester United, with Ruud van Nistelrooy acting as interim coach after Erik ten Hag’s sacking on Oct 28.

The matches kicked off after press time. AFP