As the first round of League Cup quarter-final matches got underway, it was Liverpool hosting Division 3 Leicester City in the opening match. Newly promoted Leicester had been the surprise team from he previous round, after they knocked out Watford, so Liverpool were very wary of their opponents.
Leicester got off to a fantastic start and went 1-0 up early, after being given a direct free kick. They could have made it 2-0 after Liverpool gave away another free kick, but the Liverpool keeper parried the ball away. It was the Liverpool keeper who came to his sides rescue once more as Leicester kept the pressure on.
After a slow start, Liverpool finally found their boots and began to fight back. It was not long until they equalised, much to their relief. With Leicester starting to run out of steam, Liverpool applied further pressure and managed to find the net twice more. Liverpool take a 3-1 lead into the second leg, where they will be feeling confident of going through to the semi-finals.
The second match was between Division 2 Aston Villa and current Cup holders West Ham United. West Ham got off to good start with an early goal after a howler from the Villa keeper. This was despite Villa attacking directly from the off. The match turned into a bit of a scrappy affair, with neither side performing well in front of goal. West Ham dug in to secure the win, but Villa got lucky with a late corner, which they managed to squeeze in through a crowded box. The score is all level as the teams head towards the 2nd leg at West Ham.
The match between Arsenal and Chelsea was a classic from two English heavyweight teams. Chelsea set off on a flier and took their opportunity to open the scoring (which is shown in the featured photograph). Chelsea’s defence looked awesome as Arsenal struggled, but the Gunners eventually found a way through. Chelsea came back on the counter and scored a superb goal from a long way out, to take the score to 2-1. Arsenal are never a team to under estimate and they equalised for 2-2 to leave everything even ahead of the second leg.
The final match of the quarter-finals was between Spurs and Manchester City. It was a close game with City starting the better. They managed to hit the post and had the ball saved off the line as Spurs rode their luck. But luck was eventually to run out as City took the lead. Spurs were kept in the game by their goalkeeper as City continued the attack. It was only near the final whistle that Spurs pushed forward and they were rewarded with a late corner. It was a good save from the City keeper, who allowed his side to take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg.