Gunners progress to fourth round of Carabao Cup

An own goal by Christian Fuchs and Eddie Nketiah's late strike were enough to see Arsenal through to the Carabao Cup fourth round with a 2-0 win over Leicester City.

Mikel Arteta and Brendan Rodgers both made sweeping changes to their teams for the tie, but an illustrious Gunners side prevailed against their lacklustre hosts.

Arsenal dominated play for much of the first half but Leicester went closest as James Maddison hit the bar from range.

However, that set the tone for the Foxes, who too often resorted to shots from well outside the area.

And the Gunners' perseverance paid off as Nicolas Pepe's incisive run and cross from the right forced Fuchs to direct the ball into his own net.

Nketiah wrapped up the win with a 90th minute strike from close range, with substitute Hector Bellerin playing a key role in creating the chance.

Nketiah impressed on the night, as did fellow youngsters Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal will travel to the winner of Thursday night's clash between Lincoln City and Liverpool in the fourth round.

Premier League games to start earlier to help pubgoing fans

The Premier League has pushed forward the starting times of its midweek games to ensure pub-going fans in England don't miss the final minutes of matches amid ramped-up coronavirus restrictions in the country.

The British government has announced that pubs must close at the earlier time of 10 p.m. in England in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

That would mean soccer fans watching Premier League games in pubs would miss the closing stages of the 8:15 p.m. kickoffs, especially those with extended periods of stoppage time.

The league reacted Wednesday by saying that midweek games scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. will now kick off 15 minutes earlier, beginning with Liverpool vs. Arsenal on Monday.

Fans could still be caught out, though, if there are lengthy delays in matches because of VAR decisions or serious injuries, for example.

When Liverpool played Arsenal at Anfield in 2011, the match featured 12 1/2 minutes of stoppage time in the second half alone because of a lengthy injury delay. Dirk Kuyt converted a penalty for Liverpool in the 12th minute of added time to secure a 1-1 draw.