Arsenal and Liverpool are through to the fourth round of the EFL Cup after victories over Ipswich Town and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Max Dowman again showed what he can do for Arsenal with two fine goals.
Ipswich Town - Arsenal 2-4
Arsenal, with a much-changed side, made a flying start at Ipswich. Max Dowman finished calmly after a fine individual move, then Noni Madueke quickly doubled the lead. The away end at Portman Road loved it.
Zian Flemming had struck the winner in the 90th minute away to Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Dutchman also looked lively against Arsenal, but Ipswich could not turn that into a goal before half-time. Arsenal went into the break with a comfortable lead.
Shortly after the restart, Dowman struck again and all the tension vanished. Arsenal then saw out the third-round EFL Cup tie comfortably, with Mikel Merino also making it 0-4. Anis Mehmeti pulled one back for Ipswich after a slick move from the home side, and former Ajax player Chuba Akpom also scored in stoppage time.
Liverpool - Tottenham Hotspur 3-1
Liverpool and Tottenham both started with heavily changed line-ups, which gave Cody Gakpo, Jeremie Frimpong and former Ajax loanee James McConnell places in Liverpool's starting XI. Yet Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring after about 20 minutes with a measured strike into the top corner: 1-0.
Before that, Lucas Bergvall had already passed up a huge chance for Tottenham. In an otherwise even first half, Mohammed Kudus also had a big chance to level it, but his effort flew just over the goal.
Then Liverpool quickly made it 2-0 after the break through Gakpo. The Dutchman, wearing the captain's armband at Anfield, shifted the ball nicely on to his right foot and unleashed a superb strike. That gave the home side some breathing space, but Spurs were back in it with 20 minutes to go when Conor Gallagher made it 2-1 from a corner.
Still, it was not enough because Dominik Szoboszlai produced another moment of class in stoppage time. After a dink from Gakpo, the Hungarian let the ball bounce once before smashing it into the top corner from about 25 metres: 3-1.