WE SHOWED NO FEAR – McQUEEN
MIDDLESBROUGH are looking forward to a trip to Old Trafford as one of only three Football League clubs to make it through to the Capital One Cup fourth round.
Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday join them, but it was League Two Carlisle United who took the most plaudits from the third round after taking Liverpool all the way to a penalty shoot-out at Anfield on Wednesday night. Liverpool opened the scoring, with Danny Ings on target, but Carlisle
battled back, prompting a chorus of boos from the home crowd. Derek Asamoah scored the equaliser after 34 minutes, sending the Cumbrians into delirium, and they held on throughout the second half and extra-time.
Agonisingly, Carlisle missed three penalties in the shoot-out – with Adam Bogdan’s save from Bastien Hery ultimately decisive – but defender Alexander McQueen, who slotted his confidently, earned himself a place in the team of the round for his impressive performance keeping the Reds at bay.
The 20-year-old said: “I believe it was a golden opportunity to show others what we’re about, and to demonstrate to ourselves we can defend against some of the very best players in the land.
“We need to draw lots of positives from our result at Anfield and apply it to our league campaign. We need to harness what we did against Liverpool, and QPR in the last round, and start at that tempo every week.
“I believe, with this aptitude and attitude, we will be there or thereabouts come May. It was good that we weren’t afraid to take the game to Liverpool, and restrict them to mainly halfchances and shooting from distance.
“We certainly have the ability throughout the squad.
“We just need to acquaint ourselves with consistency and make sure we continue to have the same belief and show the same resilience we did against Liverpool.”
There was plenty of action in the other ties as Boro comfortably saw off Wolves 3-0 at home in an all-Championship clash while Hull, who host Leicester in the next round, knocked out Premier League Swansea, with David Meyler scoring the only goal of the game.
Sheffield Wednesday secured an eye-catching tie at home to Arsenal, with Lewis McGugan scoring the goal in a 1-0 victory at troubled Newcastle, while Ipswich were unable to contain Manchester United, losing 3-0.
Chelsea were 4-1 winners at Walsall, with James O’Connor on target for the Saddlers, while Bournemouth needed penalties to see off Preston after Daniel Johnson’s late leveller.
Fulham were narrowly beaten at home to Stoke, while a Nick Blackman opener was not enough to see off Everton as Reading were beaten 2-1.
Aston Villa beat local rivals Birmingham thanks to a Rudy Gestede header and MK Dons were comprehensively beaten by Southampton 6-0.
Charlton also suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.