Southampton 2 Lincoln City 1
Che Adams scored twice as Southampton marked Nathan Jones’ first home match as manager by scraping into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with an unconvincing 2-1 win over Lincoln.
Top scorer Adams struck either side of half-time to spare Saints blushes after the Imps threatened an upset following Gavin Bazunu’s early own goal.
Adams’ winner – his eighth goal of the season – arrived 16 minutes from time, preventing the jeopardy of a penalty shootout, which Saints had required to sneak past third-tier Sheffield Wednesday in the previous round.
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Lincoln, who sit 14th in Sky Bet League One and beat Championship Bristol City in round three, acquitted themselves well and will probably leave the south coast feeling aggrieved as replays suggested Adams’ 25th-minute equaliser was offside.
Jones’ maiden match as Saints manager – a 3-1 Premier League loss at Liverpool on November 12th which left the club second-bottom of the top-flight table – came two days after he replaced the sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl.
The former Luton boss was forced to wait a further 38 days for his home debut due to the World Cup and, having named a strong team, he endured a nightmare start.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles woefully sliced a Max Sanders corner high into the air inside two minutes and, as the ball dropped dangerously underneath the crossbar, Bazunu inadvertently bundled home under pressure from Imps defender Paudie O’Connor.
Adams, who moments earlier was denied by a fine stop from City goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, headed home a Mohamed Elyounoussi cross but replays suggested it should have been disallowed for offside.
With VAR not being used in the competition until the semi-final stage, the goal was allowed to stand, much to the frustration of Imps boss Mark Kennedy and the healthy travelling support.
The visitors were far from disheartened by the controversial leveller and almost regained the lead when Bazunu produced a smart stop to deny the lively Charles Vernam just before the break.
Murmurings of discontent greeted the half-time whistle and Southampton continued to toil following the restart, despite dominating possession.
City keeper Rushworth went largely untested, while Lincoln enjoyed further moments of attacking enterprise as they went in search of a shock.
With the threat of spot-kicks beginning to loom, Southampton finally went ahead.
Imps defender Joe Walsh blocked Elyounoussi’s acrobatic effort on the line following Theo Walcott’s cross but Adams was on hand to turn home the rebound.
Sanders came close to levelling with an effort from distance late on before Edozie and Adams each contrived to waste glorious chances in added time.
MK Dons 0 Leicester City 3
This went exactly how Brendan Rodgers would have hoped. Thirty-eight days after their last competitive fixture, Leicester made light work of an MK Dons side with bigger battles to fight as they eased into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup courtesy of goals from Youri Tielemens, Ayoze Pérez and Jamie Vardy.
An emphatic victory over a League One team struggling against relegation may not be the most significant of his managerial career but after their terrible start to the season, Rodgers will understand its importance. A sizeable contingent of away fans who had made the short journey down the M1 and packed out their end here certainly went home feeling happy, with some even predicting Leicester could be on their way to Wembley again after their historic FA Cup triumph last summer.
With four victories from their last five matches before the break, Rodgers was clearly hoping that his players could pick up where they left off by selecting a strong side that featured five who represented their countries at the World Cup in his starting line-up, although there was no sign of England’s James Maddison.
Tielemens was on hand to slot home after Jamie Cumming’s save to deny a clever flick from Vardy following a cross from Harvey Barnes fell straight to the Belgium international. A momentary lapse in concentration from his compatriot Wout Faes almost gifted the hosts an equaliser when the defender miscued his clearance and then seemed to bring down Will Grigg, only for referee Andre Marriner to wave away the appeals.
Less than 60 seconds later and the ball was in the net at the other end after a sumptuous piece of control to bring down a cross from Luke Thomas followed by a brilliant curling finish from Pérez. Tennai Watson then wasted a golden opportunity to pull one back on the stroke of half-time when he ballooned his shot over the bar.
Yet any faint hopes of a comeback were immediately extinguished after the break when Vardy finished off a brilliant cross from Timothy Castagne with a deft header. Having so far only managed one in the Premier League this campaign, it was a welcome return to form for the 35-year-old who signed a contract extension for another season in August.
Whether that may take in another European tour will depend on Rodgers’s side maintaining this kind of form. But, as all Leicester fans will tell you, stranger things have happened.
Newcastle United 1 Bournemouth 0
Adam Smith’s own goal handed Newcastle a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals as Eddie Howe’s men edged past his former club Bournemouth.
The Cherries skipper’s 67th-minute misfortune was enough to secure a 1-0 victory for the Magpies at St James’ Park and increase hope that they can finally end a domestic trophy drought dating back to 1955.
If the win was deserved – the Magpies dominated much of the 90 minutes in front of an expectant crowd of 51,579 – it proved hard-fought with keeper Nick Pope having to save from substitute Jack Stacey and Dominic Solanke to preserve his clean sheet and ensure a seventh successive win.
Howe made a significant statement when he named all five of his returning World Cup stars – Pope, Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Bruno Guimaraes and Callum Wilson – in his starting line-up.
Pope had to be alert to collect Kieffer Moore’s knock-down ahead of Ryan Christie as the visitors responded, but opposite number Mark Travers was relieved to see Schar’s 20th-minute piledriver fly just wide of his right post with no chance of getting to it.
Miguel Almiron should have opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, but he miskicked as he met Dan Burn’s cross beyond the far post, and the home side were grateful that a slick stoppage-time link-up between Jaidon Anthony, Jordan Zemura and Solanke ultimately came to nothing.
The Magpies lacked the required precision in the early stages of the second half with Schar failing to connect with an inviting Trippier free-kick in front of goal, and they were handed a 57th-minute warning when Moore sent a diving header wide from Smith’s cross.
With Anthony and Zemura increasingly influential as Bournemouth put together a series of counter-attacks, the game opened up, but the visitors contributed to their own downfall as the deadlock was finally broken.
Smith battled manfully in the air in an attempt to prevent Wilson from reaching Trippier’s cross, but succeeded only in heading the ball into his own net despite the best efforts of team-mate Marcos Senesi on the line.
Stacey tested Pope with a firmly-hit shot 16 minutes from time and Travers had to claw away Guimaraes’ deflected shot, but Solanke was denied by the England keeper at the death.
Wolves 2 Gillingham 0
Late goals from substitutes Raul Jimenez and Rayan Ait-Nouri handed Julen Lopetegui a winning start as Wolves manager in a hard-fought Carabao Cup tie against League Two strugglers Gillingham.
Jimenez, making his first club appearance since August, broke the deadlock in a tight contest at Molineux with a 77th-minute penalty before Ait-Nouri secured a 2-0 victory and a quarter-final place in injury time.
Wolves dominated the encounter but lacked bite against the Gills, who defied their position at the bottom of the English Football League to show great resolve.
It was a intriguing opener for Lopetegui, who begins his challenge to lift Wolves away from the foot of the Premier League against Everton on St Stephen’s Day.
His first side contained two of Wolves’ five World Cup players in Jose Sa and Ruben Neves.
The other three players involved in Qatar, Jimenez, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Nunes, all played roles off the bench.
The first 30 minutes were tame, with Wolves dominating possession but the visitors sitting deep to soak up pressure.
Wolves stepped up the tempo in the latter stages of the first half and went close when Neves curled a free-kick narrowly wide before Daniel Podence and Hodge were denied in a goalmouth scramble.
Podence began to trouble the Gills more often and tested Turner from long range. He then wanted a penalty after going down in the area but play went on and Hodge headed wide after being picked out brilliantly at the back post by Goncalo Guedes.
Wolves went even closer when Neves slammed a shot against the post with the last kick of the first half after a clever run and dummy by Podence at a corner.
The second period followed a similar pattern to the first, with Wolves continually frustrated in the final third.
The pressure mounted but it still took a moment of fortune for Wolves to break through as Cheye Alexander was penalised for fouling Hwang in a crowded penalty area. Jimenez calmly stepped up to slot home the resulting spot-kick.
Ait-Nouri wrapped up victory when he prodded home a second in time added on
