Fulham on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing EFL Cup exit as the English Premier League side were beaten 2-0 by Crawley Town in a second-round shock.
Fulham manager Marco Silva’s side are 83 places above EFL League Two Crawley and beat Brentford 3-2 in the Premier League on Saturday, but his decision to make 10 changes backfired badly at Broadfield Stadium as struggling Crawley upset the form book.
Former Fulham striker Kevin Betsy, who has taken only a single point from his first five matches as Crawley manager, masterminded a memorable victory thanks to goals from Tom Nichols and Liverpool loanee James Balagizi.
Photo: AFP
The Cottagers joined Norwich City and Leeds United on the list of top-flight clubs who have suffered cup embarrassments at Crawley in the past few years.
Silva handed debuts to Issa Diop, Marlon Fossey and 17-year-old academy graduate Luke Harris, while Shane Duffy and Kevin Mbabu made their first starts.
However, Fulham fell behind with 16 minutes on the clock when Nichols took Ashley Nadesan’s pass and drilled a low left-footed drive across Marek Rodak into the far corner.
Just 4 minutes into the second half, Fulham midfielder Tyrese Francois conceded possession deep inside his own half and Balagizi seized on Nichols’ reverse pass to slot home.
“From the first minute, they wanted it more than us. We lost a bit of control of the game and started to make some mistakes, then they scored and everything was more difficult for us,” Silva said. “These type of games you have to equalize with the same enthusiasm, the same intensity as our opponent.”
The Premier League clubs involved in this season’s European competitions have a bye into the third round, leaving the spotlight on Aston Villa, Everton and Leicester City in the other second-round ties.
Villa came from behind to spare manager Steven Gerrard’s blushes in a 4-1 win at Bolton Wanderers. After a frustrating start to the season and just three wins from 14 games stretching back to March, questions were being asked of Villa’s direction under Gerrard.
The Premier League side were stunned as Dion Charles gave third-tier Bolton a 24th-minute lead, but Douglas Luiz leveled directly from a corner.
Danny Ings put Aston Villa ahead with a 62nd-minute penalty, and further goals from Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey eased Villa into the third round.
“You are always looking for the right reaction and response,” Gerrard said.
Everton are also off to a slow start in the Premier League, and they only scraped into the third round with a 1-0 victory at EFL League One side Fleetwood Town.
A first-half goal from Demarai Gray, playing after Tom Davies was injured in the warm-up, ensured manager Frank Lampard’s side progressed.
Leicester needed a 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory to avoid a shock defeat at fourth-tier Stockport, who held Brendan Rodgers’ troubled side to a 0-0 draw.
Without a win in three Premier League games, and with Wesley Fofana and James Maddison linked with moves, Leicester needed debutant ’keeper Daniel Iversen to make three saves in the shoot-out before they advanced.
AFC Bournemouth edged past Norwich City as Todd Cantwell missed the decisive penalty in the Cherries’ 5-3 shoot-out victory after a 2-2 draw at Carrow Road.
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jimenez celebrated his opener by wearing an eye patch and pirate hook as his team beat Preston North End 2-1 at Molineux.
Southampton cruised to a 3-0 victory at Cambridge United and Nottingham Forest beat Grimsby Town by the same score. Crystal Palace won 2-0 at Oxford United and Brentford eased to a 2-0 victory at Colchester United.
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