Holders Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle Through To Carabao Cup SF

New Delhi, Dec 19: Goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott earned Liverpool a place in the Carabao Cup semifinals with a 2-1 win at Southampton.

Arne Slot’s men opened up an advantage of two by the half-time interval, with a close-range Nunez finish followed by Elliott wrapping up a slick move via a slight deflection.

The Reds’ lead was reduced just shy of the hour mark at St Mary’s as Cameron Archer dispatched a curler, but they saw out the contest to secure their spot in the semi-finals of the competition.

Elsewhere, a Gabriel Jesus hat-trick helped Arsenal to a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals on Thursday (IST).

Palace looked capable of pulling off a shock when they took the lead with their first shot of the match - Jean-Philippe Mateta getting the better of Jakub Kiwior to score the opener.

But Arsenal's second-half substitutes Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka made an instant impact. Both players provided goalscoring opportunities for Jesus and the Brazilian forward made no mistake in front of goal.

The Brazilian completed his hat-trick when he again was found by Odegaard and drilled his shot past Henderson to win the game.

Eddie Nketiah planted a seed of doubt with an 85th minute header for Palace on his first visit back to Emirates Stadium, but Arsenal held firm to reach the last four.

Meanwhile, Sandro Tonali's double helped see Newcastle United through to Carabao Cup last four with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Brentford at St James' Park.

Tonali's sweet, the Italian's first goal since August 2023, fired the hosts ahead in the opening stages of the quarterfinal tie before the midfielder's equally impressive volley from Anthony Gordon's corner extended United's advantage before the half-time whistle.

Fabian Schar's close-range finish added further gloss to the scoreline in the second-half before Yoane Wissa's stoppage-time effort proved a mere consolation as Eddie Howe's side secured a last-four spot in the competition for a second time in their last three seasons.

(IANS)