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The biggest match of the Carling Cup third round was undoubtedly the North London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. Arsene Wenger would have been feeling slightly smug after his team’s comeback at White Hart Lane, but was his joy to be shared by the Premier League’s other managers?

Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Arsenal (AET)
Consigned to the stands after receiving a touchline ban for his actions at Sunderland, Arsene Wenger sent out a team of starlets and superstars to take on their local rivals. His opposite number, Harry Redknapp, clearly had other priorities on his mind after sending out a second string team. Throughout the match Arsenal were the better team although Tottenham did well to keep the score at 1-1 after Robbie Keane scored a leveller four minutes after the restart.

It all changed in extra time, though, when Tottenham gave away two penalties which Samir Nasri ably converted (take note Mr. Rosicky) before Andrey Asharvin killed the game with a powerful strike on 105 minutes.

Sunderland 1-2 West Ham United
The Londoners needed this win like Robbie Savage needs a hair cut, and it was the new boys that showed there is hope for the future, winning their first away game since beating Wolves last season. Both sides were clearly desperate for a win, given that this is probably their best chance of silverware. Steve Bruce will possibly be disappointed Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan didn’t take more advantage of West Ham’s soft centre.

Former Portsmouth player Frederic Piquionne opened the scoring before Gyan scored his second Black Cats goal of the season. Victor Obinna scored the winning goal to finally put a smile on Avram Grant’s face.

Birmingham City 3-1 MK Dons
Birmingham’s progression to the fourth round was never in doubt as they scored all their goals in the opening half hour. New signing Aleksandr Hleb scored his first Blues goal on 24 minutes, with fellow new boy Nikola Zigic scoring two minutes later. Craig Gardner got the third to score his fourth goal of the season. Although MK Dons deserved their consolation after hard work and perseverance, it is clear there is work to be done before they can play with the big boys.

Liverpool 2-2 Northampton Town (AET - Northampton win 4-2 on penalties)
The trauma continues for the red half of Liverpool as they were knocked out on penalties by the League Two side. As the off the field sagas continue, Roy Hodgson has been forced to come out and apologise to he fans for their pitiful performance. Even without Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, the Premier League stars should have been able to beat the lower league team. With things all square after extra time, Northampton made their way to the fourth round by scoring four penalties to Liverpool’s two.

Chelsea 4-3 Newcastle United
Conceding four goals, losing at home and having two players felled by injury made this a miserable night for Carlo Ancelotti. Much to the shock of everyone, the Magpies were 3-1 up by the early stages of the second half. Chelsea came back with two goals from Nicolas Anelka, the second a penalty that was as weak as Liverpool’s bank balance, leaving Shola Ameobi to score his second goal of the night to win the tie for Chris Hughton’s men.

West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Manchester City
The tale of the two Robertos finished with the one without the scarf going home to a glass of wine and the other back to the drawing board. There is much talk of City’s trophy-winning abilities, but if they can’t beat the newly promoted West Brom on a cold Midlands night there is still work to be done.

Confidence is the base of all good goalkeeping and Shay Given didn’t look comfortable in his first start of the season. Although City did a lot of attacking, the Baggies perseverance paid of when they cut through the City back line for Simon Cox to score the winning goal.

Top Five Players: Jack Wilshere (Arsenal); Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United); Frederic Piquionne (West Ham); Michael Owen (Manchester United); Northampton Town - all of them

Tags: Carling Cup