Northampton send Liverpool tumbling in shoot-out

CARLING CUPNorthampton ensured Liverpool went the same way as their Merseyside neighbours Everton had the night before by winning a penalty shoot-out at Anfield.

Just as Brentford had defeated Everton in a spot-kick climax, so Northampton did for Liverpool after a thrilling tie had finished 2-2 after extra time.

Striker Billy McKay's second-half equaliser took the League Two into an added half-hour.

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The hosts had led through Milan Jovanovic's ninth-minute goal, his first for the club, but they paid the price for failing to capitalise on their possession.

Michael Jacobs put Northampton ahead in the 98th minute but David Ngog's goal four minutes from the end of extra time forced a shoot-out.

Northampton missed their first spot-kick but still held their nerve to triumph, Abdul Osman scoring the decisive penalty.

Newcastle's Shola Ameobi sent 10-man Chelsea crashing out with a 90th-minute winner in a seven-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge.

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Chelsea, who lost Salomon Kalou and Yossi Benayoun through injury, had taken a sixth-minute lead through young left-back Patrick Van Aanholt only for the visitors to storm back and lead at the interval thanks to goals from Nile Ranger and Ryan Taylor.

Shola Ameobi made it 3-1 to Newcastle four minutes after the re-start but two goals from Nicolas Anelka (69, 86) looked to have taken the tie into extra-time.

Sheikh Mansour's 1bn investment in Manchester City was unable to save the Blues from an embarrassing defeat to West Brom's second string at The Hawthorns.

Even with an estimated 100m of talent on the pitch at the final whistle as Roberto Mancini threw on James Milner and David Silva, City were unable to force an equaliser.

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Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox had scored within two minutes of each other after Jo had put City in front midway through the first half.

Holders Manchester United did not let down absent boss Sir Alex Ferguson as they came from behind to beat Scunthorpe 5-2 at Glanford Park.

Ferguson reportedly chose to watch Champions League opponents Valencia instead, leaving Mike Phelan in charge, and there was plenty for the assistant manager to think about as Scunthorpe were rewarded for their terrific start by Josh Wright's superb 19th-minute strike.

But it took only four minutes for Darron Gibson to level and they were ahead before half-time through Chris Smalling.

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Two goals from Michael Owen and one from Park Ji-sung in the second half put the result beyond doubt but Scunthorpe got the second goal they deserved in stoppage time from the impressive Martyn Woolford.

Gerard Houllier's first match as Aston Villa manager produced a victory as two-goal Ashley Young and substitute Emile Heskey inspired a comeback against Blackburn.

Wigan staged a dramatic late fightback to snatch a place in the fourth round at the expense of valiant Preston.

Jordi Gomez and Charles N'Zogbia struck in the closing three minutes as the Premier League side prevailed at the DW Stadium after Preston had led through Keith Treacy.