Chelsea suffered but was able to qualify for the quarter-finals of the English League Cup, after beating Southampton in the penalty shoot-out (4-3 after a 1-1 draw).
At Stamford Bridge, the European champions and Premier League leaders had taken the lead in the 44th minute through German Kai Havertz, but Southampton, just 16th in the English league, equalized shortly after the break (47) thanks to Che Adams.
The Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was the protagonist of Chelsea, with a series of saves that allowed his team to maintain the tie and finish reaching that penalty shootout, where the Londoners won 4-3.
Chelsea fulfilled the mission but was much less forceful than in their two previous games, in which they had beaten Swedish Malmö 4-0 in the Champions League and Norwich in the Premier League last week.
Easier was the quarterfinal qualification for Arsenal, who beat another top team, Leeds, 2-0, with goals from Nicolas Pepé (55) and Eddie Nketiah (69) at the Emirates Stadium.
“We understood the game and what we should do. We finished in the right way, “said Arteta.
“They gave us some problems, they always do, but we had many shots and chances without being very successful. We adjusted some things at halftime and we were better and stronger, “he said.
– The ‘third’ Sunderland advances –
Arteta made rotations in this game, with nine starting changes from the team that started in a 3-1 win against Aston Villa last Friday in the English league. The bet paid off.
The Argentine coach of Leeds, Marcelo Bielsa, made four modifications to his team compared to the one he used in the 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton. Kalvin Phillips was returning from injury.
In the other game on Tuesday, Sunderland (3rd category) qualified on penalties (3-1 after a 0-0 draw) against Queens Park Rangers (2nd).
For Wednesday there are the remaining five games of the round, among which the fight between West Ham and Manchester City stands out.
West Ham eliminated Manchester United in the previous round.
Manchester City is a specialist in this tournament in recent years, having been proclaimed champion of it in the last four years.
Liverpool, for their part, have to move to the Preston North End, second division field.
The ‘Reds’ will come to that game in full euphoria after beating Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford, last Sunday in the Premier League. AFP (HN)