EFL Cup: Sandro Tonali fires Newcastle past Brentford into semi-finals, Gabriel Jesus inspires Arsenal, Liverpool win

Newcastle United move into the EFL Cup semi-final after a 3-1 win over Brentford thanks to two sublime finishes from Sandro Tonali, coming one step closer to ending their 70-year trophy drought. Arsenal came from a goal down against Crystal Palace to book their place in the final four with Gabriel Jesus delivering an inspired hat-trick, while Liverpool beat Southampton to keep their defence alive.

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Sandro Tonali was the man of the evening as his brace fired Newcastle United to a 3-1 win over Brentford, booking The Magpies a place in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.

The Italian opened the scoring within 10 minutes, firing home a beautifully-struck first-time shot from outside the box.

Brentford were poor at clearing Tino Livramento's cross and Yoane Wissa had left Tonali unmarked for the 24-year-old to shoot freely.

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It was Tonali’s first goal for Newcastle since he returned from his 10-month gambling ban and his first since his debut against Aston Villa back in August 2023.

Shortly after, Wissa was responsible for a penalty shout in Brentford's favour, but a closer look showed little contact between the forward and Martin Dubravka.

Tonali then delivered his second goal shortly before half-time to stun Brentford. He leapt into a crowded penalty area and volleyed mid-air, finding the back of the net with the help of a slight deflection off Nathan Collins.

Passage through to the semi-finals was well and truly secured once Fabian Schar added the third goal. Going for a hat-trick, Tonali saw his volley blocked and Lewis Hall's follow-up was deflected away too.

The defender took a second shot only for Mark Flekken to parry, and Bruno Guimaraes then slipped it to Schar for a tap-in.

A late surge from the visitors saw Wissa grab a goal in the final few minutes of play as he combined with strike partner Bryan Mbeumo, but it was a consolation goal and Newcastle survived the final three minutes with ease to see them through to the final four.

JESUS FINDS FORM TO SINK PALACE

A second-half hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus saved Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side from a slow start against Crystal Palace, booking their place in the semi-finals.

Jean-Philippe Mateta took advantage of some lax defending from Jakub Kiwior to open the scoring.

Dean Henderson took advantage of an Arsenal backline in disarray with a long goal-kick and the Polish defender missed the ball, allowing Mateta through on goal and to slide it past David Raya.

It took until the 53rd minute for Jesus to equalise, doing so with a graceful chip over Henderson after skipping past the challenge of Trevoh Chalobah.

Roughly 20 minutes later, he added the second, this time having Bukayo Saka to thank for playing him in. The forward composed himself and rifled the ball into the left corner and Arsenal finally had the lead.

In the 80th minute, Jesus wrapped up the game and his hat-trick as he finished a clinical counter-attack started by Martin Odegaard, who pinched Palace's ball and played a beautiful long-range pass to his striker to finish ruthlessly once again.

The win was briefly put in doubt by former Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah on his return to the Emirates. The 25-year-old leapt to meet Nathaniel Clyne's cross and connected with a powerful header into the bottom right corner.

Despite conceding, Arsenal managed to deal with everything Palace threw their way in the final 10 minutes and held on to secure a 3-2 win.

Liverpool keep defence alive with saints win

Liverpool kept their League Cup defence alive after holding on for a 2-1 win over Southampton thanks to first-half strikes from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliot at a wet St Mary's Stadium on Tuesday.

It was a more respectable result for the hosts, who played their first match since an embarrassing result against Tottenham three days ago saw them concede five first-half goals, and culminated in the swift sacking of Russell Martin.

Southampton interim manager Simon Rusk faced a weakened Liverpool side, with Arne Slot fielding several youngsters, including rare appearances for Jarell Quansah and Wataru Endo.

Nunez gave the visitors the lead in the 24th minute with a great finish. Trent Alexander-Arnold played a ball forward only for a Jan Bednarek touch to send it skywards over the Southampton defence and straight into the Uruguayan’s path. He calmly slotted it past Alex McCarthy.

Elliot doubled Liverpool’s lead 10 minutes later to net his first goal of the season. Cody Gakpo and Endo exchanged a one-two, and the former found Elliot on the edge of the box, who let a shot fire into the bottom left corner.

Some much-needed luck finally came The Saints' way as Cameron Archer pinned a goal back for the hosts. A Liverpool clearance struck Endo right in the face and fell into Archer's path, and he drove towards the goal, cutting onto his right and striking a beautiful shot into the far corner.

But Slot's young side survived Southampton's improved second-half showing and took a step closer to retaining the trophy.

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