Luke Williams urged his Swansea side to use their convincing 3-1 victory over 10-man Gillingham in the first round of the Carabao Cup as the benchmark for their forthcoming league performances.Ronald’s solo effort gave the dominant Swans the advantage at half-time. Liam Cullen then struck a second after the Gills were reduced to 10 men in the 51st minute, Euan Williams given his marching o...Full Story »

Oxford boss Des Buckingham was delighted with his squad players after making eight changes yet still seeing plenty of quality in their 2-0 Carabao Cup win over League One Peterborough.First-half goals from Tyler Goodrham and debutant Matt Phillips gave Championship new boys Oxford a comfortable victory, as Posh rued missing good early chances.Buckingham said: “We spoke about the importance...Full Story »

Barrow boss Stephen Clemence praised his side’s performance in Tuesday night’s 3-2 Carabao Cup victory over League Two rivals Port Vale.Despite leading within a minute, the hosts found themselves 2-1 down after Tom Sang’s wonder strike but Clemence’s side won it through goals from substitute Emile Acquah and Ben Jackson.Bluebirds boss Clemence was particularly pleased wit...Full Story »

Barrow progressed to the second round of the Carabao Cup following an impressive 3-2 win over League Two rivals Port Vale at Holker Street.An outstanding curling finish from Ben Jackson in the 77th minute capped off a second-half turnaround to fire Stephen Clemence’s side into the next round where they could face a Premier League side.The Bluebirds started the game brightly and were ahead ...Full Story »

Manager Chris Davies praised Brandon Khela as his 10-man Birmingham side beat Charlton 1-0 at the Valley to reach the second round of the Carabao Cup.A wonder strike by the 19-year-old was a fine way to win a game that saw Dion Sanderson sent off after 78 minutes for a second bookable offence.Davies put the youngster in at left-back and felt the trust put in him paid off.He said: “It was a...Full Story »

Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins was quick to praise his squad players following Rovers’ 3-0 Carabao Cup first-round win over Accrington at Prenton Park.Harvey Saunders was put through by Omari Patrick to fire the home side ahead in the third minute before Josh Williams made it two just before the break courtesy of a wicked deflection.Brad Walker had a 67th-minute penalty well saved by Michae...Full Story »

Mark Robins paid tribute to nearly 2,500 travelling Coventry fans after his team progressed to the second round of the Carabao Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.Ellis Simms was the match-winner seconds after coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute.The striker latched onto a through ball from former Bristol midfielder Kasey Palmer and buried a low right-footed drive fro...Full Story »

Swansea booked their place into the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 triumph over 10-man Gillingham at the Swansea.com Stadium.Ronald opened the scoring midway through the second half and, after Euan Williams had been off for the visitors soon after half-time, Liam Cullen doubled the lead.Oliver Hawkins pulled a late goal back for Gills but Azeem Abdulai finished off their hopes of an ...Full Story »

Matt Macey was Colchester’s hero as they knocked League One side Reading out of the Carabao Cup on penalties.Macey saved from Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and Amadou Mbengue as the U’s won the shoot-out 4-3, after the first-round tie had finished 2-2 after 90 minutes.Colchester took a third-minute lead through Tom Hopper, who headed home from Jack Payne’s corner.Reading defender Abraha...Full Story »

A first-half wonder strike by Brandon Khela handed 10-man Birmingham a narrow 1-0 Carabao Cup win at League One rivals Charlton.Both teams making many changes – the hosts making five, while the visitors made eight – did not prevent a lively opening to the tie.Charlton should have taken the lead after just 12 minutes, when Tyreece Campbell was upended in the area by Tyler Roberts, how...Full Story »

Bromley’s first Carabao Cup tie ended in a 2-1 south London derby defeat to AFC Wimbledon as Joe Pigott grabbed the winner at Hayes Lane.The Dons came from behind against the EFL newcomers, who they face again at the same venue in Sky Bet League Two on Saturday.After Wimbledon started the brighter, Bromley struck first against the run of play after 19 minutes when Bes Topalloj’s exqu...Full Story »

Grimsby booked their spot in the Carabao Cup second round after beating fellow League Two side Bradford 9-8 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.Grimsby striker Donovan Wilson and Bradford substitute Andy Cook netted in each half during a 1-1 draw in normal time at Blundell Park.George McEachran then scored the decisive penalty after Neill Byrne missed for Bradford.It was a hectic start to the first-...Full Story »

First-half Goals from Tyler Goodrham and Matt Phillips on his debut gave Championship new boys Oxford a 2-0 Carabao Cup win over League One Peterborough.Posh were hoping to gain a measure of revenge for their play-off semi-final defeat by Oxford in May, but failed to convert good early chances.Instead it was Oxford who took the lead in the 20th minute when Goodrham capitalised on a shocking erro...Full Story »

Josh Gordon turned from villain to hero as he hit the winning spot-kick as League Two Walsall claimed a Carabao Cup comeback victory to upset Exeter 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.With the League One Grecians leading through Millenic Alli’s first-half strike, Gordon saw an 81st-minute penalty saved by Joe Whitworth after Vincent Harper had handled the ball.But Jamie Jellis spared Gordon...Full Story »

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 ...Full Story »

Romain Esse’s fine finish gave Millwall a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth and fired the Lions into the Carabao Cup second round for the first time in three years.Millwall were embarrassed 4-0 by Reading last season and Cambridge the year before but the 19-year-old ended their woes.Pompey started strongly and could have led when Ryley Towler bundled an awkward free-kick just over the bar.But Mi...Full Story »

Goals by Dan Agyei, Diallang Jaiyesimi, Brandon Cooper and Charlie Kelman earned Leyton Orient a 4-1 victory over Newport in their first-round Carabao Cup clash.Orient scored after just 43 seconds when Agyei collected a pass from Jayden Sweeney before steering the ball past County’s debutant keeper Jacob Carney and into the net off the inside of the far post.There were nine added minutes t...Full Story »

League Two Fleetwood celebrated a shock 2-1 Carabao Cup comeback victory at home to Championship West Brom on Tuesday night.The Baggies took an early lead through a cheeky Modou Faal finish, but the English third-tier side completed a fine turnaround in the first half thanks to impressive goals from both Ryan Graydon and Ronan Coughlan.The visitors had much more of the ball in the early stages a...Full Story »

League Two Harrogate produced an EFL Cup first-round upset as they won 2-1 at League One Lincoln.Second-half goals from Sam Folarin and James Daly were enough for ex-Imp Simon Weaver’s men, with substitute Jovon Makama grabbing a late penalty for Lincoln.An uninspired first half saw both teams cancel each other out, although Daly fired a shot narrowly over while he then created a great cha...Full Story »

Bryant Bilongo capped his first EFL appearance with a dramatic late winner to snatch Bristol Rovers a 1-0 victory over Northampton at the Memorial Stadium.The 22-year-old headed in the winner from close range from a Luke Thomas corner in the first minute of stoppage time to ensure his first game since moving from Middlesbrough ended on a high.Before the impressive left-back’s intervention,...Full Story »