Manchester United moved into the League Cup fourth round with a 2-1 win over Newcastle, while holders Liverpool fought back to seal a 2-1 victory at West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday. United, looking to win the League Cup for the fifth time, made a host of changes from the side that won at Liverpool on Sunday.
However, they still fielded a strong side including Wayne Rooney, back from a month out with a thigh injury, and Darren Fletcher, who was starting for the first time in 10 months after recovering from a bowel condition. United's Anderson broke the deadlock in the 44th minute when the Brazilian midfielder drove his shot past Rob Elliot. Tom Cleverley put United further ahead in the 58th minute as the England midfielder curled home his first goal for United.
Papiss Demba Cisse came off the bench to reduce the deficit with a header four minutes later, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side survived a late barrage of Newcastle pressure to go through. "I'm very pleased," Ferguson said. "Newcastle probably had a stronger team than us physically but we played some fantastic football and I think we deserved to win."
Rooney added: "I feel good, obviously it's always difficult in your first game back after a few weeks but it's great to get the minutes under my belt and hopefully that can benefit me."
At the Hawthorns, Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool made a terrible start when Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones spilled a free-kick and Gabriel Tamas pounced to score from close range in the third minute. But Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin equalised in the 17th minute with his first Liverpool goal, a long-range effort that Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster should have saved. And Sahin ensured Liverpool, who made 11 changes from the United defeat, stole the victory when the on-loan Real Madrid star turned in Oussama Assaidi's cross in the 82nd minute.
"It was an outstanding performance," Rodgers said. "I'm not surprised as our performance level has been good all season. It's great to see the kids playing with confidence. We fully deserved the win." Olivier Giroud finally ended his long wait to score his first Arsenal goal as the Gunners crushed League One strugglers Coventry 6-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham brushed aside League One side Carlisle with a 3-0 victory at Brunton Park. Reading came from behind to clinch a dramatic 3-2 win over QPR at Loftus Road.