Jesus finally rises to occasion for Arsenal, Liverpool march on, Red Bull ditch Perez

The League Cup reaches the quarter-final stage in England, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle all making it into the last four

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Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus, celebrates after completing his hat-trick against Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium. Photo: AP

Published: 7:30am, 19 Dec 2024

We’re finally at the business end of one football competition, even if it is the League Cup. There were three quarter-finals overnight, and the only surprise was that there were no surprises. More of that in a moment.

Wednesday is also race night in Hong Kong, and Luke Ferraris reached a century of wins in the dirt at Sha Tin, while Vincent Ho got a trip to hospital for his troubles after taking a tumble in the penultimate race of the evening.

Earlier, fresh from world title No 5, Siobhan Haughey was back in the city discussing her plans for the future. Will she retire, will she carry on, apparently it all depends on what her body tells her.

Reds march on

Holders Liverpool made eight changes and still booked their berth in the League Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Southampton, thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott.

Darwin Nunez makes a point to Southampton fans after scoring Liverpool’s first. Photo: Reuters

Without the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, it fell to Nunez to give his side the lead in the 24th minute, pouncing after a miskick by centre back Jan Bednarek.

Elliott doubled the tally eight minutes later when he unleashed a low, hard shot from Cody Gakpo’s pass. Cameron Archer pulled one back for the home side in the 59th minute with a curling shot from just inside the box.

“We have to defend the trophy because the club won it last season,” Arne Slot, the Liverpool boss, said. “As a club we want to compete for all trophies. But we are also aware of Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester United. It’s a tough competition for sure.”

Jesus hits hat-trick

Gabriel Jesus scored for the first time at the Emirates Stadium this year, and his second-half hat-trick helped Arsenal come from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 and move into the League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.