Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City knocked out of English League Cup in 3rd round

Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City lose in League Cup

LONDON — Liverpool’s season took another turn for the worse when it was knocked out of the English League Cup in the third round on Wednesday night with a shocking loss to fourth-tier Northampton, and Chelsea and Manchester City also were eliminated.

Michael Owen scored twice as defending champion Manchester United rallied past second-tier Scunthorpe 5-2.

Liverpool lost 4-2 on penalty kicks following a 2-2 tie against Northampton, which came away with arguably the biggest win in its history.

“It is certainly up there as one of the best nights of my career,” Northampton manager Ian Sampson said.

Milan Jovanovic put Liverpool, a seven-time League Cup champion, ahead in the ninth minute in a downpour at Anfield, but Billy McKay tied it in the 56th and Northampton took the lead on Michael Jacobs’ goal in the 98th. David Ngog equalized in the 116th, and Abdul Osman converted the decisive penalty kick.

“All I can do is congratulate Northampton and apologize to everyone. The fans came expecting to see us win and I expected us to win. These players have to accept responsibility,” said Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, who joined Liverpool in the offseason.

Liverpool, owned by Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., is just 16th in the 20-team Premier League. Northampton is 17th in League 2, the equivalent of a Class A baseball league.

Liverpool rested many regular starters.

“I accept responsibility for changing a lot of players in the team,” Hodgson said. “I did it because I honestly thought the players I put on the field were good enough to win the game and they weren’t.”

Newcastle upset Chelsea 4-3 following a last-minute goal by Shola Ameobi, his second goal of the night, and West Bromwich Albion came from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 on goals by Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox.

“I don’t regret making the changes,” said City manager Roberto Mancini, whose club plays Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday. “I have big problems at the moment and we couldn’t take any risks.

United, which like Chelsea and City played largely second-string lineups, fell behind in the 19th minute but came back on the goals by Owen, and one each by Darron Gibson, Chris Smalling and Ji-sung Park. United manager Alex Ferguson skipped the match to scout Valencia ahead of next week’s Champions League meeting.

Aston Villa beat Blackburn 3-1 in the first game for new manager Gerard Houlllier, and Wigan defeated Preston 2-1.

American defender Eric Lichaj started for Aston Villa, and Brad Guzan started in goal in place of American compatriot Brad Friedel. Lichaj’s only previous competitive appearance was Aug. 19 at Rapid Vienna in the first leg of a Europa League qualifying playoff.

MADRID (AP) — Playing without injured star Lionel Messi, Barcelona beat Sporting Gijon 1-0 when David Villa scored in the 50th minute off a through pass from Daniel Alves.

Messi, the FIFA player of the year, sprained right ankle ligaments Sunday when he was fouled by Atletico Madrid defender Tomas Ujfalusi, who was given a two-game suspension.

“A player like Leo you always miss, there’s no doubt,” Villa said.

Real Madrid (3-0-1) leads La Liga with 10 points, ahead of Valencia (3-0-1) on goal difference and one point ahead of Barcelona (3-1). Valencia was held to a 1-1 tie by visiting Atletico Madrid. Aritz Aduritz scored on an 84th-minute header after Simao Sabrosa put the visitors ahead in the 18th.

On Thursday, it’s Sevilla vs. Racing Santander, Getafe vs. Malaga and Villarreal vs. Deportivo La Coruna.

ROME (AP) — Diego Milito ended his scoring drought with two goals to help European champion Inter Milan rout Bari 4-0 and move into sole possession of the Serie A lead.

Milito scored nearly all of Inter’s key goals when the club won a treble of titles last season but had gone scoreless in the Nerazzurri’s opening six games.

He scored off a setup from Samuel Eto’o in the 27th minute at San Siro, Eto’o converted penalty kicks in the 50th and 63rd, and Milito added goal to finish a counterattack in the 86th.

Inter (3-0-1) has 10 points, one ahead of second place Chievo Verona (3-1), which won 3-1 at Napoli.

Eight-place AC Milan (1-1-2) was held to a 1-1 tie at Lazio. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his first Serie A goal since he was acquired from Barcelona and his third of the season overall in the 66th minute, but Sergio Floccari tied the score in the 81st. American defender Oguchi Onyewu hasn’t dressed for the Rossoneri this season.

AS Roma (0-3-2) dropped to 18th with a 2-1 loss at Brescia. Perparin Hetemaj scored off a cross in the 13th from Andrea Caracciolo, who added a penalty kick in the 64th after Philippe Mexes was ejected.

Marco Borriello scored in the 84th for Roma, which was missing captain Francesco Totti and midfielder Daniele de Rossi due to injuries. Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio played the final minutes in tears due to an apparent right ankle injury — his team had used all its substitutions.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Schalke, last season’s runner-up, earned its first points of the Bundesliga season by beating Freiburg 2-1.

Ivan Rakitic scored in the ninth minute and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in the 87th with Papiss Demba Cisse getting Freiburg’s goal in the 69th minute. Midfielder Jermaine Jones, who may soon make his debut for the U.S. national team, played the entire match for Schalke.

Despite the win, Schalke (1-4) remains in last place with three points.

Lucas Barrios scored twice as second-place Borussia Dortmund (4-1) won its fourth straight, 5-0 over Kaiserslautern 5-0. Mainz (5-0) leads with 15 points.

St. Pauli won 2-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1, with midfielder Michael Bradley — son of U.S. coach Bob Bradley — going the entire way for the hosts.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Benny Feilhaber scored a rare hat trick for an American in a European club match, helping AGF Aarhus defeat Skive 6-3 in overtime in the fourth round of the Danish Cup.

Feilhaber converted a penalty kick in the 16th minute, scored from the run of play in the 92nd, then converted another penalty kick in the 101st minute.

A member of this year’s U.S. World Cup team, the 25-year-old midfielder has two goals in 36 national team appearances.