And so am I. It’s been memorable. Bye!
And Reading complete the evening’s action by beating MK Dons 4-3 on penalties! We’re done!
Derby win enormous shoot-out!
Timi Max Elsnik wins it for Derby, completing a 14-13 victory on penalties over Carlisle!
Updated
It’s 13-13 now. I think 15-14 is an English record. But now McKee’s penalty is stopped by Carson! Can Derby win it 14-13?
Derby 12-12 Carlisle.
Derby 11-11 Carlisle.
Derby 10-10 Carlisle.
Kabong Tshimanga has equalised for MK Dons at Reading in the 118th minute. More penalties in the offing there.
It’s now 9-9, and everyone on the field – referee excepted – has now taken a penalty.
8-8. This might not end.
8-7 in Carlisle’s favour. Scott Carson is up next for Derby.
Lowe has scored his penalty for Derby, and it’s 7-7 now. Crumbs.
In the late kick-off, Callum Harriott has given Reading a 114th-minute lead. 2-1 now.
Tom Miller puts Carlisle 7-6 up. Can Derby stay in this?
Meanwhile at Derby, the first 12 penalties all went in, and then the next two both didn’t. It’s 6-6 there.
Confirmed upset! West Bromwich are out as well! Kenji Gorre calmly scores the decisive penalty to book Northampton’s place in round three!
Updated
West Brom have missed another penalty! Morrison’s penalty is saved, and Northampton have a kick to win it!
It’s into sudden death penalty shootage at Derby, the first 10 penalties all going in.
John-Joe O’Toole is the second to miss from the spot at Northampton, so it’s level at 2-2 after three kicks each.
Saido Berahino is the first to miss a penalty at Northampton – and Taylor pushes home the home side’s advantage: it’s 2-1 on penalties there.
We have an upset! Top-flight Watford are out!
Gillingham complete their 2-1 win over Watford, who become the first Premier League club to exit the competition. The Hornets are repeat offenders here: they have only got to the third round of the League Cup once in the last eight seasons.
Blackburn Rovers, meanwhile, are through, 4-3 victors against Crewe in a ding-dong, see-saw encounter.
Updated
Penalties will decide Carlisle v Derby and Northampton v West Brom.
Bristol City have beaten Scunthorpe 2-1 after extra time. West Brom are in stoppage time at the end of extra time, and still being held 2-2 by Northampton.
Watford’s seldom-seen home-grown defender Tommie Hoban has a shot cleared off the line, but Sky say they “look as though they’re in a trance at the moment”, which isn’t a good thing.
Brendan Rodgers, having guided Celtic into the Champions League courtesy of an exceedingly squeaky win over Hapoel Be’er Sheva, speaks:
It was probably the longest game of my life. We half-expected it anyway, it was a very difficult evening for us. I thought they played really really well, but we showed a real resilience, the identity of the team. The mentality that we’ve built up over pre-season came through and by the end I thought that we were, never comfortable, but we blocked out by going to a five, a diamond and one up front.
We just couldn’t get hold of the ball. We didn’t have enough belief in the first half. That’s natural, with so much riding on the game and what the players have been through before. The first 20 minutes of the second half they were really pushing on and gambling, then we moved to the five.
It was poor goals we conceded. You can’t make mistakes like that. These things happen in big pressure situations. But they found a calmness again. We knew we had to defend for our lives in that second half, and the players deserve a huge amount of credit, they came through a difficult situation very well.
So far this season Watford have taken the lead in 100% of their games, and won 0% of them.
Potential upset alert!
Gillingham have taken a 2-1 lead at Watford! Bradley Dack scores it, though it took a while for the referee to decide the ball crossed the line after bouncing down off the bar.
Updated
Roma’s 3-0 home defeat to Porto was the result of the night in Europe, and continues an unhappy long-term trend:
Last 7 italians in UCL playoffs:
— MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) August 23, 2016
2010 Sampdoria ❌
2011 Udinese ❌
2012 Udinese ❌
2013 Milan ✅
2014 Napoli ❌
2015 Lazio ❌
2016 Roma ❌
Bristol City have taken an extra-time lead against Scunthorpe, Tammy Abraham making it 2-1 in extra time. Blackburn are, meanwhile, now 4-3 up at home to Crewe, Shane Duffy the man on the spot.
Tonight’s EFL winners in full:
Crystal Palace beat Blackpool 2-0
Liverpool smashed five past Burton
Chelsea pipped Bristol Rovers 3-2
Everton eased past Yeovil 4-0
Hull have won 3-1 at Exeter
Leeds have scraped a 1-0 win at Luton
Nottingham Forest beat Millwall 2-1
Newcastle got lots of injuries, but beat Cheltenham 2-0
Norwich thrashed Coventry 6-1
Brighton grabbed a 4-2 win at Oxford
Swansea were too good for Peterborough to the tune of 3-1
Preston beat Oldham 2-0
QPR Sandroed their way past Rochdale 2-1
Stoke were four goals better than Stevenage
Wolves and Cambridge did all their scoring in the first 14 minutes, the match ending 2-1 in Wolverhampton’s favour
Five games have gone to extra time, and Reading v MK Dons is heading the same way.
Final score: Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2-0 Celtic (aggregate 4-5)
The final whistle blows, and Celtic have got away with this!
Updated
More final scores: Chelsea have beaten Bristol Rovers 3-2, and Norwich have pipped Coventry 6-1.
We’re midway through the four minutes of stoppage time in Beer Sheva, and the referee has largely spent them booking people, which will suit Celtic fine. Craig Gordon gets a yellow card for timewasting, and Shabtai one for fouling.
Comeback kids Blackburn have been revenge-comebacked, Crewe’s Chris Dagnall popping up with a last-minute equaliser.
Final scores start to drift in, and Liverpool are 5-0 winners against Burton, while Stoke have beaten Stevenage 4-0.
Celtic boot the ball randomly into the Beer Sheva half, and there’s now just one minute plus stoppages to play and they continue to cling to their horribly slender advantage.
Blackburn, 2-0 down at home to Crewe with three minutes of the first half remaining, now lead 3-2 with two minutes of the second half to play.
Arouna Koné has placed the cherry atop Everton’s case, with their third unanswered goal against Yeovil.
Updated
Into the last six minutes in Israel, and Celtic are clinging on to a 5-4 aggregate lead and not looking very good about it. Sahar gets played in on the left of the penalty area but scoops a cross to nobody in particular, and is lucky to get a corner for his pains. It is cleared.
Gillingham have equalised at Watford, Mark Byrne scoring. Apparently it was “a superb strike”.
Updated
Sturridge scores his second and Liverpool’s fifth against Burton, set up by Sadio Mané. Near-simultaneously, Sergi Canos scores his second and Norwich’s fifth against Coventry (who at least have one of their own).
Possible upset update: Northampton have equalised against West Brom, Alex Revell with it.
Updated
A first final score of the night: Crystal Palace have beaten Blackpool 2-0 in the earlyish kick-off.
Adama Diomandé has scored his second goal of the night to give Hull a 2-1 lead at Exeter.
Updated
Beer Sheva have brought on Yuval Shabtai for Miguel Vitor, a like-for-like change in the back four, I think.
Liverpool are 4-0 up at Burton, Daniel Sturridge scoring his seventh goal in his last seven League Cup appearances, tapping in James Milner’s low cross.
Brighton have gone 2-1 up at Oxford, Kazenga LuaLua scoring, and QPR have gone 2-1 up at home to Rochdale, Sandro scoring both goals.
Hoban has another effort in Beer Sheva, but Gordon saves and – just – holds it.
And Gillingham have not taken their chance. Bradley Dack has blazed his penalty over the bar, and Watford remain 1-0 up.
At Vicarage Road, Gillingham have a chance to equalise from the penalty spot after Allan Nyom fouls Elliot List.
Ross Barkley has put Everton 2-0 up at home to Yeovil, and Peter Crouch has completed his hat-trick at Stevenage, where Stoke lead 4-0.
Updated
Oooh! A cross from the left is headed back to Hoban, and his scissor-kick flies across goal and, with many hearts in all sorts of mouths, wide.
“I’m watching Roma v Porto,” writes JR. “Roma just got their second straight red card (De Rossi – big surprise, huh? – and Emerson) and are down to nine men and down 0-1. It is on Fox Sports here in the U.S. They have misspelled ‘Italy’, telling us the game is being played in ‘Rome, Itlay’.” There has been an insufficient outlay on their graphics, I fear.
Celtic take off Callum McGregor, a midfielder, and bring on Erik Sviatchenko, a defender.
Oooh! Celtic nearly grabbed the goal they need to settle their nerves! Scott Sinclair’s shot is saved, and Dembele fails to turn in the rebound (and may have been offside anyway).
Liverpool are now 3-0 up at Burton, and cruising into round three.
Watford finally take the lead against Gillingham, Odion Ighalo scoring a few moments after coming on for Guedioura. Meanwhile, Sky are reporting this:
WATCH: Watford agree a fee for Daryl Janmaat. Full story here: https://t.co/SagMisim65 https://t.co/Lzc5KDuEkN
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) August 23, 2016
Celtic are clinging on for dear life now. Sahar misses a fine chance after a cross from the left, and Leigh Griffiths gets booked for a foul on Buzaglo. Brendan Rodgers, trying to stem the tide, brings Moussa Dembele on for Leigh Griffiths.
Updated
Here is that horror show in full. Watch in defensive terror.
GOAL! Hapoel Beer Sheva 2-0 Celtic (4-5 on aggregate)
This is a horror show. It’s a harmless enough cross from the right, and Gordon takes a step forward to catch it – but just then Saidy Janko wonders into his path, pushes the ball out of his grasp, and Ovidiu Hoban accepts the gift.
Updated
Oooh! It was Chelsea 2-0 Bristol Rovers, but now it’s Chelsea 3-2 Bristol Rovers, Ellis Harrison converting a penalty after Sinclair was fouled by Pedro.
Updated
And it’s Stevenage 0-3 Stoke, Peter Crouch heading in a left-wing cross.
In a further blow for fans of upsets and interest and stuff, West Brom are now 2-1 up at Northampton, where Gareth McAuley has scored another.
Legia lead 2-1 on aggregate, but it’s game very much on there.
Also, Dundalk are 1-0 up at Legia Warsaw, Robbie Benson putting them ahead with an absolutely fabulous, crashing right-foot volley.
Updated
I’m back! While I was gone, Connor Wickham – a half-time substitute for Christian Benteke – scored a 47th-minute second for Crystal Palace against Blackpool.
It’s half time in Beer Sheva, and in most of the EFL games, and I’m thus going to slip away for five minutes. Back in a bit.
Meanwhile at St James’ Park Ayoze Perez goes off for treatment to a head injury, gets some bandages wrapped round his bonce and then trots back onto the field, where he immediately buries a right-foot shot from 15 yards. Newcastle 1-0 Cheltenham.
Updated
Gah! West Brom have equalised against Northampton, McLean’s low shot dribbling under the keeper, who looks appropriately gutted for letting it past him.
Swansea are now 2-0 up at Peterborough and apparently in total control. Oliver McBurnie scores the second after being played through the Peterborough defence. And they’ve scored another! McBurnie again, picking up the loose ball after a low drive had been saved, cutting inside, teasing a couple of defenders and then scoring.
Another goal for Batshuayi, who turns in a low cross from the right and puts Chelsea 3-1 up against Bristol Rovers.
Updated
Beer Sheva continue to lead 1-0 but are having the better of their game against Celtic, though they still need to score a couple of unanswered goals if they’re to progress. Nwakaeme just had an excellent chance from the edge of the area, but his shot was deflected over.
Of the very many EFL Cup ties, only Derby v Carlisle, Newcastle v Cheltenham, Preston v Oldham and Watford v Gillingham are goalless as I type.
Two-goal lead dept: It’s Norwich 2-0 Coventry, with Sergi Canos scoring the second for the Canaries, and Blackburn 0-2 Crewe, where Chris Dagnall has doubled the visitors’ advantage.
Potential upset alert!
West Brom are now the only Premier League side to be trailing, Zander Diamond heading in Brendan Maloney’s cross to give Northampton a 1-0 lead.
This is perhaps more Os than it deserves, but Peter Hartley has headed Bristol Rovers back into the game at Stamford Bridge, where they now trail Chelsea 2-1.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL
— Bristol Rovers (@Official_BRFC) August 23, 2016
Updated
34 minutes gone in Beer Sheva, and the home side have made a second substitution, Maor Buzaglo coming on, Maor Melikson – the captain, no less – coming off.
Phil Bardsley has slammed a left-foot 25-yarder into the top corner! No, he has! Honest! Stoke now lead Stevenage 2-0.
And they’ve got another! Victor Moses taps in from four yards after Azpilicueta recrossed an overhit cross.
Chelsea also lead, at home to Bristol Rovers, Michy Batshuayi with a thumping left-foot finish into the roof of the net.
Updated
Everton are 1-0 up against Yeovil, after an excellent team move which ended with Lukaku passing to McCarthy, who pulled back for Lennon, who tucked the ball between two defenders and into an otherwise unguarded net.
Wes Thomas has equalised for Oxford against Brighton, expertly poached after a shot was blocked on the line.
And Hull weren’t behind for long: Adama Diomandé headed in their equaliser less than a minute after they conceded.
Meanwhile, Leeds and their 11 changes are 1-0 up at Aston Villa-humbling Luton, Tyler Denton poking in from the edge of the area.
Woof! Exeter are 1-0 up at home to Hull, Jake Taylor driving into the top left corner from 25 yards.
Updated
Liverpool are 2-0 up at Burton, thanks to an Origi backheel and a Firmino header, and have missed a hatful of chances. It could be a long night for Burton.
GOAL! Beer Sheva 1-0 Celtic (3-5 on aggregate)!
Sahar, who only just came on, is already on the scoresheet! He heads a corner goalwards, and Craig Gordon and Kieran Tierney combine to fail to hack it off the line! Sahar had been on the field for one minute and 43 seconds.
Updated
“Can I just suggest a small change to make that ‘Canadian international Sam Adekugbe’?” asks Kevin Smith of the Brighton scoreflash. “It’s not every day that a Canadian scores a goal in the English leagues, and we’ve got a rather important world cup qualifier coming up in about two weeks.” Your wish is very much my command.
Lucio Maranhão’s booted head clearly isn’t quite right, and he’s been substituted in the 20th minute, Ben Sahar replacing him.
More bad news for upsetphiles: Swansea are 1-0 up at Peterborough, Jay Fulton nodding them ahead in the 15th minute. Wolves, meanwhile, are now 2-1 up at home to Cambridge United, with three goals in the first 14 minutes.
Saidy Janko gave the penalty away, with a messy sliding tackle on I think Davidzada right on the edge of the area.
Beer Sheva win a penalty! And they miss it!
And Beer Sheva have a penalty, but Maharan Radi’s effort is dreadful, driven near enough straight down the middle and Gordon can hardly help but save it!
Bad news for fans of upsets: Stoke are 1-0 up at Stevenage through Peter Crouch, and Crystal Palace are similarly leading against Blackpool thanks to Scott Dann.
Beer Sheva’s Lucio Maranhão goes down after a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge with Kolo Touré, who then accidentally boots him in the head. The players look concerned for a while, but the player is nothing more than a bit groggy as he goes off for further treatment.
Crewe are 1-0 up at Blackburn, the goal scored by Billy Bingham. Is current Crewe ace Billy Bingham related to former Sunderland ace Billy Bingham?
Updated
More goals in the EFL Cup! Matthew Lund puts Rochdale ahead at QPR, and Hélder Costa gives Wolves the lead at home to Cambridge United.
Back in Beer Sheva, Celtic win a corner on the right and Mikael Lustig rises highest to meet it, heads into a defender, gets to the rebound and slams a shot over the bar.
Brighton and their 11 changes score the night’s first goal, Canadian international Sam Adekugbe slamming in at the near post.
Updated
The Be’er Sheva bench is surprisingly sleeveless. You don’t see a lot of sleeveless benches. Ovidiu Hoban tries a curler from 20 yards in the second minute, which Craig Gordon saves easily.
At the Turner Stadium, Beer Sheva, the teams are out. Celtic wear their all-black away kit. BT Sport’s commentary says Beer Sheva is home to the highest number of chess grand masters in the world. Can this really be true? Maybe on a per capita basis it’s vaguely feasible, but surely there are more grand masters in London or New York or Moscow?
Here’s news of Watford and their nine changes – only Guedioura and Deeney keep their places, while there’s a debut for Kabasele and a first start for Doucouré:
Watford: Pantilimon, Hoban, Kabasele, Paredes, Nyom, Guedioura, Watson, Doucouré, Anya, Deeney, Vydra. Subs: Gomes, Kaboul, Zuniga, Sinclair, Ighalo, Holebas, Capoue.
Gillingham: Nelson, Pask, Ehmer, Oshilaja, Konchesky, Wright, Osadebe, Byrne, Knott, McDonald, Emmanuel-Thomas. Subs: Hessenthaler, Donnelly, Hadler, Oldaker, List, Dickenson, Dack.
Referee: James Linington.
EFL Cup team changes league table:
Leeds Utd, Brighton 11
Swansea 10
Watford 9
Derby, MK Dons 8
Hull 7
Preston, Chelsea 6
Burton Albion, Exeter 5
Liverpool 4
Liverpool, meanwhile, have made four changes for their first ever meeting with Burton.
Burton Albion: Bywater, Naylor, McFadzean, McCrory, Akins, Irvine, Choudhury, Williamson, Dyer, Butcher, Beavon. Subs: Turner, Delaney, McLaughlin, O’Grady, Palmer, Fox, Harness.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Matip, Milner, Henderson, Can, Lallana, Firmino, Origi, Mane. Subs: Manninger, Sturridge, Ings, Stewart, Moreno, Klavan, Wijnaldum.
Referee: Simon Hooper
Nick Ames is fully focused on this game, if you want a less general experience:
Swansea are doing the old-fashioned thing, making 10 changes for the trip to Peterborough:
Peterborough: Alnwick, Smith, Bostwick, Santos, Hughes, Maddison, Forrester, Anderson, Gwion Edwards, Taylor, Nichols. Subs: Tyler, Coulthirst, Da Silva Lopes, Gormley, White, Chettle, Binnom-Williams.
Swansea: Nordfeldt, Rangel, Amat, van der Hoorn, Taylor, Britton, Fulton, Dyer, Ki, Montero, McBurnie. Subs: Fer, Llorente, Barrow, Sigurdsson, Naughton, Fernandez, Tremmel.
Referee: James Adcock.
Crystal Palace also name a strong team, though Jordon Mutch hasn’t played more than 45 minutes since January.
Crystal Palace: Mandanda, Kelly, Dann, Tomkins, Souare, McArthur, Cabaye, Puncheon, Mutch, Townsend, Benteke. Subs: Speroni, Zaha, Lee, Fryers, Wickham, Anderson, Boateng.
Blackpool: Slocombe, Mellor, Aldred, Robertson, Aimson, Daniel, Nolan, McAlister, Cain, Potts, Gnanduillet. Subs: Taylor, Cullen, Cameron, Letheren, Herron, Yeates, Samuel.
Referee: Andrew Madley.
Chelsea give a debut to Ola Aina, a young left-back who impressed in pre-season. Interesting though that Chalobah hasn’t been given a chance in the first XI.
Chelsea: Begovic, Aina, Ivanovic, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Fábregas, Matic, Moses, Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Batshuayi. Subs: Oscar, Hazard, Courtois, Costa, Terry, Chalobah, Solanke.
Bristol Rovers: Mildenhall, Leadbitter, Lockyer, Hartley, Brown, Ollie Clarke, Sinclair, Bodin, Lines, James, Harrison. Subs: Taylor, James Clarke, Easter, Montano, Puddy, Broom, Gaffney.
Referee: Keith Stroud
And here’s the team sheet from Beer Sheva, where Celtic have a handsome first-leg lead to protect:
Hello world!
So, the team sheets are already rolling in, and excitement is building ahead of a night of high-stakes, high-intensity, high-drama action! Or whatever. Here’s some early team news for you from Everton, where as advertised Ashley Williams, Bolasie and Lukaku all start in a very strong home team.
Everton: Stekelenburg, Lennon, Holgate, Ashley Williams, Funes Mori, Oviedo, Gana, Barkley, McCarthy, Bolasie, Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Baines, Gibson, Jagielka, Kone, Mirallas, Cleverley.
Yeovil: Krysiak, Shephard, Smith, Butcher, Mugabi, Dawson, Lawless, Dolan, Hedges, Eaves, Khan. Subs: Maddison, Sowunmi, Campbell, Lea, Bassett.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh.
Hello! Simon will be here shortly. Yeovil manager Darren Way takes his team to Goodison Park in the EFL Cup tonight; he took charge of the Glovers after his playing career was cut short by a serious car accident, as he tells Ben Fisher:
Darren Way was a passenger in a white van, in the process of moving house, when a 4x4 veered over from the other side of the A3088 just outside of Yeovil in December 2008. The impact of the serious car accident that followed ended Way’s playing career and almost his life.
“I feel very fortunate to be alive,” Way says. “At one stage I did ask the passerby that came up to the window to help me just to tell the kids that I love them and that one day I would see them again. If it was not for her asking me my children’s names, then I do not think I would be here to tell the story today. It was a critical moment in me staying alive because it gave me something to fight for.”
He broke three limbs but what was left undamaged, though, was an incredible relationship between Way and Yeovil Town. Following the crash, he joined the club’s backroom staff, working as a scout and honing his skills in sports science, later assuming duties as the first-team coach and assistant manager before taking interim charge following Paul Sturrock’s exit in December.
Yeovil went on to lose seven league matches during the rest of the season as Way steered the club away from a League Two relegation that was virtually inevitable when he took over on a permanent basis last New Year’s Eve. “When it came to me having the opportunity to becoming manager, I didn’t want to let the club down knowing what they had done for me.”
You can read more here.
