Joy for Lambert as Villa shock City

THERE were two shocks in the Capital One Cup last night as Aston Villa won 4-2 at Manchester City while Leeds held off late pressure to knock out Everton 2-1 and move into the fourth round.

Mario Balotelli gave a strong City side the lead after 27 minutes but Villa drew level thanks to an own goal by old boy Gareth Barry with little more than half an hour remaining. Aleksandar Kolarov restored the hosts’ lead five minutes later before Villa levelled after 70 minutes through Gabriel Agbonlahor to send the game into extra time.

Charles N’Zogbia scored six minutes into the first extra period with a low shot from close range before Agbonlahor then sealed victory with a fine strike two minutes from the end.

At Elland Road, Leeds held off late pressure from Everton. Neil Warnock’s side made an ideal start to the game with a fine individual effort by Aidan White. The hosts doubled their lead with 20 minutes remaining. A free-kick from the left of the area found an unmarked Danny Pugh, whose shot was backheeled in by Rodolph Austin. Everton clawed their way back into the game with nine minutes remaining when Victor Anichebe’s cross into the box found Sylvain Distin whose header looped into the net.

All that was in doubt at Stamford Bridge was the number of goals Chelsea would score as they hammered Wolves. They settled for a 6-0 win with goals from Gary Cahill, Ryan Bertrand, Juan Mata, Oriol Romeu (pen), Fernando Torres and Victor Moses.

Two moments of individual magic proved enough for ten-man Sunderland to see off a spirited MK Dons side 2-0 at Stadium:mk. A fantastic Craig Gardner free-kick and a well-taken solo effort from James McClean secured safe passage for Sunderland.

Wigan enjoyed an emphatic 4-1 victory at West Ham and a last-minute goal from Garry Monk saw Swansea secure a hard-earned 3-2 win at Crawley. Southampton beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0.

Middlesbrough went to Preston and won 3-1, while Swindon beat Burnley by the same score.