Bristol City knock Man Utd out of League Cup

LONDON: English Championship side Bristol City dumped Manchester United out of the League Cup on Wednesday, scoring with seconds remaining to beat the holders 2-1 as Chelsea also progressed to the semi-finals after late drama of their own.

United, second in the Premier League, made 10 changes from their weekend victory against West Brom but still boasted a star-studded line-up including a fearsome front three of Marcus Rashford, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial against the second-division high-flyers. But as the match appeared to be drifting towards extra time with the score at 1-1, unfancied Bristol dug deep to fashion one last chance and Korey Smith’s strike sparked scenes of wild celebration at Ashton Gate.

Bristol, third in the Championship, have now beaten four Premier League sides on their march to the last four of the League Cup and their reward is an even-more daunting-looking two-legged tie against runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. The other semi-final next month sees an all-London clash between Chelsea and Arsenal.The home side took the lead after an even first half, Joe Bryan firing the home side ahead in the 51st minute with a left-foot shot that arrowed into the net past the despairing dive of Sergio Romero.

United were only behind for a few minutes before Ibrahimovic blasted the ball through the wall after a softish-looking free-kick awarded for a foul on Paul Pogba in a central position.Manager Jose Mourinho threw on even more attackers as he pushed for victory, with Romelu Lukaku replacing Daley Blind while Henrikh Mkhitaryan came on for Ibrahimovic.

But despite pressure from the away side, Bristol held their nerve, taking advantage of some sloppy defensive play from United to score deep into injury time through Smith, who burst into the area, chested the ball down and finished coolly with his left foot.