Seven things you might have missed from Tuesday night’s third-round League Cup matches

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The League Cup produced plenty of thrilling games on Tuesday night.

Most notably, Manchester United fell to a shock defeat to Derby County on penalties while Manchester City eventually eased to victory at Oxford United.

But with so many games happening at the same time, you might have missed a few key moments and intriguing statistics.

With that in mind, here are seven things that may have escaped your attention.

1. Premier League clubs ring the changes

Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic made 10 changes to his side at Millwall

Top-flight clubs always tend to make plenty of chances in the early rounds of the League Cup but they are taking it to the max this year, perhaps because of lingering fitness issues after the World Cup.

In total, the eight Premier League sides made 69 changes between them for their Tuesday night games, an average of 8.6 per team. Manchester City and Fulham made 10 each, but Tony Pulis – in his bid to return to the Premier League – outdid everybody by swapping out all 11 of his Middlesbrough players.

A number of players made the most of rare appearances including Bournemouth’s Junior Stanislas, who marked his first start since March with a goal against Blackburn Rovers.

2. Jesus makes case for away day starts

Gabriel Jesus was another player given the opportunity to start because of rotation, with Sergio Aguero left out for Manchester City at Oxford. Jesus opened the scoring with his third goal in three away starts following strikes against West Ham United and Tottenham towards the end of last season.

The Brazilian is a dream squad player, a top quality striker Pep Guardiola can rely on not just to make up the numbers, but to add another element to City’s irresistible attack.

It will be interesting to see if he is handed a start when City travel to Hoffenheim for their next away outing. Jesus certainly seems to prosper on the road.

3. Holders stick to third tier status quo

What is the significance of Grimsby Town’s 3-1 victory over Leicester City in this competition in October 1997? It was the last time a third tier side beat the League Cup holders. Clearly, Manchester City had no intention of replicating Leicester when they travelled to Oxford of League One.

That said, it wasn’t as comfortable as Guardiola would have liked at the Kassam Stadium. It took until the 78th minute for City to make the result safe with their second goal. The visitors had 27 attempts but weren’t clinical enough to be comfortable until Riyad Mahrez made it 2-0.

Phil Foden grabbed a third in stoppage time with his first senior goal.

4. Rhodes haunts Wycombe again

Jordan Rhodes has scored eight goals in his last two appearances against Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park. Yes, you read that correctly.

The last time he played at Adams Park in January 2012, Rhodes scored five goals in a 6-0 win for Huddersfield Town in League One, a performance that saw his suitors’ interest intensify – he eventually moved to Blackburn for the beginning of the following season.

Now on loan at Norwich City from Sheffield Wednesday, Rhodes haunted Wycombe again on Tuesday night with a hat-trick. The striker has found the net in all six of his League Cup starts in the League Cup, bagging a total of 11 goals. Not bad.

5. Mata ends drought and Derby strike again

Juan Mata will be a relieved man after scoring his first Manchester United goal for 276 days, his last coming in the form of a brace against Leicester City in December last year. His early opener was also his first strike at Old Trafford for a year, and he will have been hoping United could have held on to make it a meaningful goal.

However, Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson’s incredible free-kick set Derby on their way to an entertaining 2-2 draw. The Championship side eventually won on penalties, and Wilson’s goal was the first direct free-kick the Red Devils have conceded in the League Cup since a Giles Barnes strike, also for Derby, in January 2009.

Liverpool fans will be just as happy as the Derby supporters with Wilson, I’m sure.

6. Nuno and Wolves keep up clean sheet record

Wolverhampton Wanderers are yet to concede a goal in a League Cup tie under Nuno Espirito Santo, keeping a clean sheet in all five of their games in the competition since the Portuguese coach took over at the beginning of last season.

They went out in the fourth round last season, losing 4-1 on penalties to Manchester City at the Etihad in fourth round, and there was more spot-kick heartbreak for the Midlands club against Leicester. Nuno will know all of those clean sheets don’t mean much when his side doesn’t produce at the other end.

7. Both full-backs on the scoresheet for Fulham

Joe Bryan and Cyrus Christie completed an unlikely double in Fulham’s win at Millwall. It’s rare to see two full-backs find the net in the same game, and it’s even rarer to see a full-back score a goal as good as Christie’s, a stunning strike with his weaker left foot.

Jokanovic played three central defenders, which gave Bryan and Christie permission to roam – and roam they did.

The post Seven things you might have missed from Tuesday night’s third-round League Cup matches appeared first on Squawka News.



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