LONDON: Tottenham Hots­pur beat Manchester City 2-1 with goals from Timo Werner and Pape Matar Sarr as interim Manchester United manager Ruud van Nistlerooy led his side to a thumping 5-2 win over Leicester City in the League Cup fourth round on Wednesday.

Arsenal and Liverpool were among the other sides to book their place in the quarter-finals, but Chelsea were beaten 2-0 at Newcastle United.

Tottenham will host United in the quarter-finals, Arsenal face Crystal Palace, Newcastle play Brentford and Liverpool travel to Southampton.

Spurs manager Ange Post­ecoglou remains in with a chance of fulfilling his promise to win a trophy in his second season as coach of the North London club after a superb attacking display.

City made seven changes form the side that beat South­ampton 1-0 at the weekend and they were opened up early as Spurs quickly played through their press. Dejan Kulusevski picked out Werner in the box, and the German striker lashed the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.

Sarr got the second in the 25th minute after the ball found its way to him outside the penalty area following a well-worked corner, and the Senegalese midfielder curled it brilliantly inside the right-hand post.

City pulled one back in first-half stoppage time as Matheus Nunes connected with a cross from Savinho to score with their first effort on target.

Having already lost key players this season, City coach Pep Guardiola said he wanted his side to perform well with no injuries, but Savinho picked up a knock that saw him carried off in the 62nd minute.

That robbed City of momentum, but Nico O’Reilly still almost grabbed a late equaliser, only for substitute Yves Bissouma to clear the ball off the line as Spurs hung on for victory.

“It’s a cup tie played against a formidable opponent, I thought we did well for the most part,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports. “We didn’t allow too many clearcut chances, we could have put the game away but City are always going to push you.”

A United legend as a player, Van Nistelrooy was thrust into the role of caretaker boss after the Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag on Monday following a dreadful start to the season.

Sporting Lisbon coach Rub­en Amorim is the man the English giants have targeted to take over but are still in negotiations with the Portu­guese champions to agree compensation for the 39-year-old.

According to reports in Portugal, Amorim will remain at Sporting for the next three matches before completing his move during the November international break.

“I came here as an assistant to help the club. I’m helping as long as I’m needed and in the future, in any capacity, I’m here to help the club build towards the future,” said Van Nistelrooy. “The reaction of the players was excellent. They deserve the credit for a good win and I’m happy the crowd goes home with a nice night of football.”

The Dutchman said before the game that United “can be unstoppable” when “players, staff and supporters pull together” and they cut loose by scoring four times in a thrilling first 45 minutes.

Casemiro’s stunning effort into the top corner opened the scoring before Alejandro Garnacho swept home Diogo Dalot’s cross to please a jubilant Van Nistelrooy on the touchline.

Bilal El Khannouss quickly pulled a goal back for the much-changed Foxes.

Bruno Fernandes’ deflected free-kick restored United’s two-goal cushion before Casemiro slammed home his third goal in two games.

Conor Coady grabbed another consolation for Leicester but United were not to be denied just a second win in nine games.

Fernandes rounded off the scoring when he pounced on a short back-pass to round Danny Ward and fire home.

GAKPO LEADS LIVERPOOL

Cody Gakpo was the match-winner for Liverpool in a 3-2 win at Brighton & Hove Albion to continue Arne Slot’s excellent start to life with the Reds.

Gakpo has not scored in the Premier League or Champions League this season but now has four goals in two League Cup games.

The Dutch international was ruthless with two powerful finishes cutting inside onto his right foot from the left wing.

Luis Diaz was also on target for Liverpool, while Simon Adingra and Tariq Lamptey struck late on for Brighton.

Teenager Ethan Nwaneri caught the eye with a sensational strike as Arsenal eased to a 3-0 win at Championship side Preston North End, the last non-Premier League club left in the competition.

Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz got the other goals for the Gunners.

Palace grabbed a 2-1 win at Aston Villa while Newcastle gained revenge for their Prem­ier League defeat at Chelsea at the weekend to ease the pressure on manager Eddie Howe.

The Saudi-backed Magpies are winless in five in the league, but are desperate to end a 55-year wait to win a major trophy.

Alexander Isak’s strike and an Axel Disasi own goal inside three first-half minutes proved decisive at St. James’ Park.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2024