Carabao Cup roundup: Bielsa accepts blame after Hull stun Leeds in shootout
Marcelo Bielsa took full responsibility for Leeds’s poor display after they crashed out of the Carabao Cup to Hull 9-8 on penalties.
Mallik Wilks’s deflected shot early in the first half appeared to have sunk his former club, but Ezgjan Alioski made it 1-1 deep in stoppage time by slamming home an equaliser Bielsa’s side did not deserve. The Tigers held their nerve in the penalty shootout. Alioski’s spot-kick hit a post and Hull’s skipper Lewie Coyle, another former Leeds player, saw his effort saved. Jamie Shackleton’s penalty was kept out with the score at 8-8 and the Hull defender Alfie Jones then converted to send Hull into the third round.
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“The players didn’t gel together very well,” said Bielsa, who made 11 changes following his side’s impressive display in Saturday’s opening Premier League defeat at Liverpool. “This is the responsibility of the coach and, as a result, I feel responsible. It was not a good game from our team.”
Bielsa handed full debuts to club-record signing Rodrigo, plus young defenders Oliver Casey and Charlie Cresswell, while the likes of Ian Poveda, Mateusz Bogusz and Leif Davis had made only a handful of appearances between them. “Without a doubt they put in enough effort,” Bielsa said. “But we didn’t defend well and we didn’t attack well. “There was an error in the co-ordination between all the three sectors in the team.”
Brentford knocked out Premier League Southampton with a surprise 2-0 success at St Mary’s despite a mini-coronavirus crisis.
The Championship club’s plans for the second-round tie had been considerably disrupted by an unnamed player testing positive for Covid-19
With some squad members forced to self-isolate, the Brentford manager, Thomas Frank, made six changes for the tie and was only able to name five of the seven permitted substitutes.
Those available responded in style as ChristianNørgaard headed home in the 40th minute and Josh Dasilva soon slotted in a second at the end of a well-worked move. In the third round they will travel to West Brom, who breezed past Football League newcomers Harrogate 3-0.
Rekeem Harper, Hal Robson-Kanu and Callum Robinson struck as the Baggies avoided an upset.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the only goal of the game to put Fulham through after a 1-0 victory over Ipswich at Portman Road.
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Named as stand-in captain on his 26th birthday, the Serbian found the net with a powerful first-half header past goalkeeper David Cornell.
Chris Martin netted his first Bristol City goal, Antoine Semenyo was also on target and Kasey Palmer scored twice in a 4-0 win over Northampton.
Fulham will host Sheffield Wednesday in round three while Bristol City entertain Aston Villa.