Benoit Badiashile scored the opener as he made his first appearance of the season in Chelsea’s win over Blackburn at Stamford Bridge. The French defender has not started a game for the Blues since he was injured in the draw with Nottingham Forest in May and was involved at both ends of the pitch in a match that also saw Reece James returns to the starting lineup. Leopold Wahlstedt blocked Conor Gallagher’s dangerous pass, but the counter-attack somehow took place amid a sea of corpses. It finally landed at the feet of the lucky Badiashile, who duly completed his duties to open the scoring in the 30th minute of the half, which also saw penalty shouts from both sides. Raheem Sterling scored after the break and although the visitors defended well, they never looked close to getting back into the game. Chelsea have now reached their 24th quarter-final in 33 attempts and are on track to win their first League Cup since 2015, when Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino took charge of runners-up Tottenham.
Everton gave late chairman Bill Kenwright the farewell he wanted as former Burnley duo James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil played key roles in the Carabao Cup win over their former club. On a night when fans, often divided over Kenwright’s role for nearly two decades, stood as one to mark his death last week at the age of 78, the team made sure that the occasion is marked in an appropriate manner. Tarkowski’s header opened the scoring in the 13th minute and the centre-back’s aerial ability was on display early in the second half when he headed McNeil into the box for Amadou Onana to score from range. Ashley Young’s first goal for Everton in stoppage time came courtesy of substitute Beto’s run along the touchline, giving Toffees manager Sean Dyche victory over his former club. The scoreline pleased Burnley, struggling after direct promotion to the Premier League, who, after making seven changes, struggled to overwhelm the hosts. They are no match for Everton, watched by boss Farhad Moshiri for the first time in more than two years, and they are gaining confidence after a fifth win in seven games – their best in a Covid-19-free season since May. 2019.
Fulham reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004 with victory over Ipswich. Marco Silva’s side take on a Town side who have lost just once since promotion to the Sky Bet Championship in April, but the Premier League side showed their class in Suffolk Harry Wilson gave Fulham a ninth-minute breakthrough with a cool finish and Muniz scored his first goal for the club in 19 months early in the second half to put the Londoners in control. Tom Cairney confirmed Fulham’s victory with a third goal in the 77th minute and while Elkan Baggott reduced the deficit late on, Kieran McKenna’s Championship promotion hopes suffered a rare defeat in front of a packed crowd hard on Portman Road.
