Watford shocked in League Cup

LONDON: Watford suffered an embarrassing League Cup exit as Championship side Bristol City beat the English Premier League club 3-2 in the second round on Tuesday.

Marco Silva’s side were the only top-flight outfit to perish on a night when clubs showed their disdain for the competition by making 274 team changes across the 19 ties.

Bristol City assistant boss Dean Holden said: “We’ve got competition for places and we challenged the players coming into the squad to take that chance. They did that.”

Frank de Boer got his first win as Crystal Palace manager as James McArthur’s double sealed a 2-1 win over second-tier Ipswich Town at Selhurst Park.

West Bromwich Albion eased to a 3-1 win at fourth-tier Accrington Stanley while Bournemouth came from behind to win 2-1 at second-tier Birmingham City, ruining Blues boss Harry Redknapp’s hopes of upsetting the club where he spent nine years at the start of his coaching career.

Holders Manchester United, along with Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, will enter the competition in the third round, with the draw to be held in Beijing today. AFP

Slovenian champions Maribor overcame Israel’s Hapoel BeerSheva on away goals after a 1-0 win in the second leg and Olympiakos beat Rijeka 1-0 away to qualify 3-1 on aggregate, denying the Croatian champions a first-ever group stage appearance. Reuters