Tuesday saw the first half the Carling Cup 3rd Round draw compete for places in Saturday's fourth round draw. Interestingly enough the draw conjured up a lot of 'same division' pairings and the first all Championship affair came from Fratton Park as Portsmouth took on Leicester; the visitors got off to a great start when defender Michael Morison put Leicester ahead after three minutes. Lloyd Dyer doubled their lead two minutes from half-time to give Portsmouth an even harder task in the second half. A comeback looked very much in doubt when Richard Hughes was sent off after 66 minutes but the ten men of Pompey did score a consolation thanks to new signing Liam Lawrence eight minutes from the end.
Swansea also secured an away win to progress into the fourth round. They beat league one side Peterborough 3-1 at London Road. Ex-Chelsea youngster Scott Sinclair opened the scoring for Swansea after just five minutes. However their lead didn't last long as Craig Mackail-Smith equalised two minutes later for Posh. Sinclair grabbed his second to give Swansea a lead at half-time with four minutes left to play. Sinclair went on to get his hat-trick and to seal the victory for Swansea twelve minutes from time eliminating one of few League One clubs in the third round.
The other all Championship tie was a the New Den as Millwall entertained Roy Keane's Ipswich; the would be the visitors who again opened up the scoring, Tamas Priskin after 23 minutes. Gareth McAuley added a second in first half stoppage time to give Roy Keane an easy-ish half-time team talk. Steve Morison pulled one back for Millwall after 62 minutes but the score finished 2-1 to Ipswich.
There were three all Premiership ties on the night, the first was at the Britannia where Stoke hosted Fulham; A rare goal from defender Danny Higginbotham put the hosts in front after 23 minutes before Kenwyne Jones netted the 2-0 victory eleven minutes from time to see the Potters into the Fourth Round.
The Stadium of Light also saw an all Premiership tie as Sunderland played against West Ham in a game where the newbies shone. Frederic Piquionne put the Hammers ahead ten minutes from half-time but their lead only six minutes as Asamoah Gyan equalised for Sunderland. Victor Obinna provided the winner just before the hour mark to see Avram Grant's side into the Fourth Round.
Birmingham were dealt an easier tie at home to MK Dons, three goals in four minutes was enough to see off the challenge from the League 1 side. New signing Alexander Hleb scored after 24 minutes before in form Craig Gardener doubled Brum's lead, Nikola Zigic rounded off the four minute rout. MK Dons managed to get a consolation from substitute Aaron Wilbraham with ten minutes to go.
Owen Coyle was handed a return date with his former club Burnley at Turf Moor. However it would be the Clarets who got the last laugh after a first half stoppage time goal from Wade Elliot was enough to see off Coyle's Bolton.
Wolves were close to being on the end of a Cup shock when Notts County forced extra time. Lee Hughes actually gave the League One side the lead after 57 minutes and were eight minutes away from winning until Liam Chilvers conceded a penalty and was sent off; Nenad Milijas scored the resulting penalty. Wolves then took the lead just two minutes into extra time thanks to Steven Fletcher, substitute Kevin Doyle then doubled the lead in the first half stoppage time. Kevin Smith pulled one back with six minutes remaining but Doyle made it 4-2 in the final minute of the game.
The shock of the round came from Griffin Park as Brentford managed to beat struggling Everton. Seamus Coleman did give the Toffees an Early lead after six minutes but Gary Alexander equalised four minutes before half-time. Charlie MacDonald could have won it for Brentford before extra time after Coleman fouled Weston in the box, however Jan Mucha saved it. The game did eventually go into penalties and the League One side won 4-3.
The big game of the day came from White Hart Lane as Tottenham battled the old enemy Arsenal, both teams fielded a mixture of youth and experience to give the derby an edge. Defender Henri Lansbury gave the visitors the lead after fifteen minutes in front of the watching Arsene Wenger, who was given a touch-line ban for this game after his outburst on Saturday. Half-time substitute Robbie Keane equalised four minutes into the second half with a little help from the blunderous Fabianski. Extra-time ensued and the youth of Tottenham threw away the tie; Samir Nasri was brought down in the box just two minutes into extra time, the Frenchman then went onto convert the following penalty. Four minutes later Arsenal were awarded another penalty as Chamakh was tugged down by young Steven Caulker, Samir Nasri then stepped up to convert his second penalty to make it 3-1. David Bentley had a glorious chance just before half-time but he put his six yard header wide. With their tails down Tottenham conceded a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal and were caught unaware by a quick free-kick that put Arshavin through one-on-one with deputy goalkeeper on loan Stipe Pletikosa, the Russian made no mistake a rounded off a 4-1 victory for Arsenal.
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