Soccer

Bristol City bag Man United in long drawn out Carabao Cup draw

As with previous rounds the draw did not run entirely smoothly

Bristol City’s Callum O’Dowda scores his side’s fourth goal during the Carabao Cup fourth-round match against Crystal Palace at Ashton Gate. Photograph: Mark Kerton/PA Wire

Thu Oct 26 2017 - 18:52

Bristol City were handed a home tie against holders Manchester United and West Ham were dealt another London derby as the draw for the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup was finally made.

The Robins – the only Championship side left in the competition – clinched their place in the last eight with a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, with Republic of Ireland winger Callum O’Dowda scoring the final goal, his first for the club.

The Hammers, who came from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 3-2 on Wednesday night, will travel to Arsenal in the last eight.

Chelsea host Bournemouth and Manchester City travel to Leicester in a draw which was delayed by almost two hours.

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In keeping with the English Football League's innovative draws in this season's competition, this one was due to be broadcast live on Twitter and conducted by former England rugby player Matt Dawson and ex-England cricketer Phil Tufnell.

However, as with the previous draws, it did not run entirely smoothly.

Due to start at 4pm, viewers were left staring at a holding screen for 25 minutes before the sponsors tweeted that the draw had been put back until 5pm due to a “minor technical glitch at Twitter HQ”.

Eventually, a pre-recorded draw arrived on the Carabao Cup’s feed at 5.50pm.

Twitter users were predictably quick to ridicule the latest mishap. Bristol City vice-chairman Jon Lansdown, among those awaiting the draw, tweeted: "Have the clocks gone back already?"

Earlier draws had seen Charlton pulled out of the hat twice, confusion over which teams were at home and away, and criticism over the decision to hold the draw in Beijing at 4.15am UK time.

An EFL statement read: “The EFL would like to apologise for a number of third party technical issues that affected coverage of today’s previously advertised Carabao Cup round five live draw at Twitter HQ.

“The EFL has received an apology from Twitter UK for the delay which is believed to have occurred as a result of a faulty encoder. The EFL has requested a full explanation into the events that led to this afternoon’s unacceptable delay.”

Twitter also apologised to supporters via its UK Twitter account. A spokesman said: “We’re sorry for the issues that led to the delay of today’s draw.

“We would also like to apologise to the thousands of supporters who had been patiently awaiting news of who their team would be playing.”

The ties are due to take place in the week commencing December 18th.

CARABAO CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Chelsea v Bournemouth
Arsenal v West Ham
Leicester v Manchester City
Bristol City v Manchester United

Ties to be played week commencing December 18th

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