LONDON (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City 2-1 with goals from Timo Werner and Pape Matar Sarr, while interim Manchester United boss Ruud van Nistlerooy saw his side thump Leicester City 5-2 on Wednesday, putting both sides into the League Cup quarter-finals.
Former Red Devils striker Van Nistelrooy’s victory in his first game in charge brought some much-needed cheer to Old Trafford after the sacking of Erik ten Hag and a miserable run in the Premier League.
Equally important for Spurs fans, their boss Ange Postecoglou remains in with a chance of fulfilling his promise to win a trophy in his second season as coach of the North London club after a superb attacking display.
City made seven changes form the side that beat Southampton 1-0 at the weekend and they were opened up early as Spurs quickly played through their press. Dejan Kulusevski picked out Werner in the box, and the German striker lashed the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.
Sarr got the second in the 25th minute after the ball found its way to him outside the penalty area following a well-worked corner, and the Senegalese midfielder curled it brilliantly inside the right-hand post.
City pulled one back in first-half stoppage time as Matheus Nunes connected with a cross from Savinho to score with their first effort on target.
ANOTHER CITY INJURY
Having already lost key players this season, City coach Pep Guardiola said he wanted his side to perform well with no injuries, but unfortunately Savinho picked up a knock that saw him stretchered off in the 62nd minute.
That robbed City of some of their momentum, but Nico O’Reilly still almost grabbed a late equaliser, only for substitute Yves Bissouma to clear the ball off the line as Spurs hung on for a 2-1 victory.
At Old Trafford, Van Nistelrooy’s interim stint got off to an electrifying start as his side scored four times and conceded twice in the first half en route to a convincing 5-2 win, with midfielder Casemiro netting twice
Elsewhere, Cody Gakpo struck twice for Liverpool as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 and Arsenal had a comfortable 3-0 win over Preston North End to book their spot in the last eight by knocking out the last non-Premier League club left in the competition.
In Birmingham, Crystal Palace grabbed a 2-1 win away to Aston Villa, while an Alexander Isak strike and an own goal from Axel Disasi helped Newcastle United ease to a 2-0 win at home to Chelsea to make it safely through to the quarter-final draw, which takes place later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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