Barnsley debutant goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina is Carabao Cup shoot-out hero

Posted Wednesday, August 14, 2024 by PA

Debutant goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina was the hero as Barnsley reached the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out triumph away to Wigan.

After a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes, summer signing Slonina saved spot-kicks from Josh Stones and Thelo Aasgaard to see the visitors progress in an all-League One encounter.

Aasgaard had slotted home from 12 yards out just after the half-hour mark to open the scoring for hosts Wigan, before Barnsley defender Donovan Pines levelled from a corner early on in the second half.

The deadlock was broken after 34 minutes when Calvin Ramsay was brought down in the box by Vimal Yoganathan. Aasgaard duly converted the resulting penalty to net Wigan’s first goal of the 2024/25 campaign.

He then should have doubled his tally within a minute of the restart, seeing a shot saved one-on-one by Slonina, and Barnsley punished Shaun Maloney’s men just moments later as defender Pines powered home a header from a set-piece.

Neither side were able to find a winner, with Tykes forward Max Watters going closest with a last-minute effort which was cleared off the line.

But after the shootout heroics of Slonina, the visitors navigated their way through the opening round.