The EFL Cup returned on Wednesday night with three of the four quarter-finals taking place.
Kicking off first, Arsenal just about made it past London rivals Crystal Palace in a 3-2 win at the Emirates, while next up was a more comfortable 3-1 victory for Newcastle United at home to Brentford. The latest game of the night saw record 10-time winners and holders Liverpool beat the Premier League‘s bottom side Southampton, although the hosts gave a good account of themselves, only going down 2-1.
Tottenham and Manchester United will battle it out in the final quarter-final on Thursday but for now, here are five things you might have missed from Wednesday’s action.
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1. Sandro Tonali trebles his Newcastle tally
Sandro Tonali has been steadily improving since his return from a long-term ban but one thing missing from his game was a goal. In fact, prior to Wednesday night, the Italy international hadn’t scored since his Newcastle debut in a 5-1 win over Aston Villa in the first game of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
However, Tonali was on a mission at St. James’ Park. The 24-year-old doubled his Newcastle tally with an excellent strike from distance after just nine minutes as the Magpies comfortably dispatched Brentford. But he wasn’t done there, trebling his tally for the club just before half-time, finding the net from inside the box on a corner on this occasion.
Sandro Tonali hadn't scored for Newcastle since his debut vs Aston Villa in August 2023.
Tonight he's got two. 🤪 pic.twitter.com/TWxiDfuOD9
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) December 18, 2024
Not a bad night’s work for Tonali, who is actually now just four goals adrift of his return from his entire 130-game stay with AC Milan prior to joining Newcastle.
2. Gabriel Jesus is Arsenal’s EFL Cup king
Arsenal’s need for a centre-forward is no secret and that is in no small part down to the fact that Gabriel Jesus has failed to score in 18 combined Premier League and Champions League appearances this season.
However, in the EFL Cup, he’s been unstoppable.
The Brazilian helped himself to a second-half hat-trick as Arsenal came from 1-0 down to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at the Emirates — holding on as former Gunner Eddie Nketiah netted a late consolation goal for the Eagles — having also opened the scoring against Preston in the previous round.
Gabriel Jesus has scored more goals for Arsenal today (3) than he has in every other game in 2024 combined (2).
Back to his best. 💥 pic.twitter.com/T4TgSaotN5
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 18, 2024
In a show of pure No.9 mastery, all three of Jesus’ goals were inside the box and Mikel Arteta will now be hoping this can inspire a run of form from the man who was supposed to be his star striker.
His three goals on Wednesday night took him one past his entire total for Arsenal in 2024 prior.
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3. Dean Henderson’s creative brilliance can’t save Palace
According to the Squawka Score, Dean Henderson is the top-performing goalkeeper in the Premier League right now on 71%, 2% clear of Leicester’s Mads Hermansen and 6% ahead of Andre Onana. What’s more, only Hermansen (0.42) averages a higher rate of goals prevented per 90 minutes than Henderson (0.31).
On Wednesday, Henderson made six saves to try and keep Arsenal at bay at the Emirates but was ultimately unable to stop the Gunners on their own patch, thanks to that rampant performance from Jesus.
But Henderson even did his level best at the other end, with his long ball in the fourth minute playing Jean-Philippe Mateta behind the Arsenal defence to give the Eagles an early lead.
That’s the first assist from a goalkeeper in the EFL Cup since at least 2022/23.
Dean Henderson is the first goalkeeper to register an assist in the League Cup since at least 2022/23.
Doing it all. 🧤 pic.twitter.com/ER49c3wb2k
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) December 18, 2024
Shame it didn’t count for anything in the end.
4. Nunez and Elliot back among the goals as Liverpool lumber past Southampton
Absolutely nobody will be surprised that the Premier League leaders dominated 69% possession against bottom-of-the-league Southampton. However, what will come as a shock is that possession only translated to 14 shots, just four of which were on target.
But that’s all that Liverpool needed as first-half goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott secured a cup semi-final in Arne Slot’s debut campaign in charge.
FT: Southampton 1-2 Liverpool
Liverpool advance to the semi-finals of the League Cup. 🔴#SOULIV pic.twitter.com/5bAIpZw4rr
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) December 18, 2024
For Nunez, his 24th-minute goal ends a six-game drought and represents just his fourth goal in 22 appearances across all competitions this season. And for Elliott, that’s his first goal of the season and his first in any capacity since he netted in a 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on May 5th in one of Jurgen Klopp’s final games in charge — all part of a Man of the Match performance for the England youth international.
Mohamed Salah has been in ridiculous form under Slot, but he’s going to need back-up from the likes of Nunez and Elliott if Liverpool are to sustain their battle for trophies on four fronts.
5. Eddie Howe’s EFL Cup love affair continues
For the second time in three years under Eddie Howe, Newcastle United are in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup. That’s more than the club had managed in their entire history prior to him taking the reins (1).
In fact, Howe can barely miss in this competition. The former Bournemouth boss has now overseen 15 EFL Cup ties in charge of the Magpies, losing just two of them. His only normal-time defeat came in the 2022/23 final against Manchester United, with the other a penalty shootout loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.
FT: Newcastle 3-1 Brentford
Newcastle are through to the semi-finals of the League Cup for the second time in three years. ⚫️#NEWBRE pic.twitter.com/PtLsWBsgoo
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) December 18, 2024
Can Newcastle finally win the competition and lift their first major trophy since the 1955 FA Cup? It’s going to be tough, with Liverpool and Arsenal still going strong and either Man Utd or Tottenham to complete the semi-final line-up on Thursday.
However, they’ve already knocked out three Premier League sides this season in Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and, now, Brentford. They’ll probably be the hungriest to win of the four remaining sides.