Wednesdays Carabao Cup review

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Tottenham 2-3 West Ham United:

Comeback eases pressure on Slaven Bilic (October 25 2017)

West Ham eased the pressure on manager Slaven Bilic by fighting back from two goals down to beat Tottenham 3-2 in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

The Hammers looked down and out after Moussa Sissoko and Dele Alli had put Spurs 2-0 up at half-time but Andre Ayew's double pulled them level before Angelo Ogbonna completed a remarkable turnaround.

Bilic admitted this was another crucial week for West Ham and the manager will hope this win at Wembley can spark a recovery ahead of Saturday's crunch Premier League game at Crystal Palace.

The Croatian's celebrations were muted both after his team's goals and at the full-time whistle, suggesting he knows his future will depend on his team improving their position in the top-flight.

For Tottenham, this was a thoroughly disappointing night and another opportunity missed to go far in a competition they had a realistic chance of winning. Mauricio Pochettino has made great strides at Spurs but they are still yet to win a trophy under his leadership.
Post-match reaction

A delighted Slaven Bilic watched West Ham beat Tottenham to ease the pressure building on him - but warned them not to "go large".

He told Sky Sports: "Of course I'm glad when we win, especially in this way.

"But it's no time to 'go large' now - we've done nothing, we have to continue like this."

The stunning result followed a dismal 3-0 loss at home to Brighton, and came with a team showing nine changes from that Friday night setback.

Bilic added: "We couldn't wait for the game to start after the Brighton game. We would hope the Brighton game was a one-off, recently we are doing well apart from that.

"We wanted to put a strong team out tonight, a few players we rested but mostly we believed the alternatives were also good enough and deserved a chance.

"Players like (Sam) Byram, Ogbonna, Declan Rice, (Edimilson) Fernandes, Ayew deserved a chance.

"We have to be humble and sacrifice for the cause of the team - no matter who plays, there shouldn't be long faces, we need all the squad."

Captain Mark Noble admitted the players had to take responsibility for the pressure on their manager and welcomed their show of pride.

"Do I believe in the team? Do I believe in the players? Yes," he said. "But 2-0 down at Wembley against a big club like Spurs is a massive mountain to climb.

"We haven't been doing ourselves justice, we're accountable for the performances we put in. We said in the week we needed to wear the shirt with pride and we did that tonight."

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino's emotions were in sharp contrast to his opposite number as he struggled to process how his side - who previously hammered Liverpool 4-1 and drew away to Real Madrid - had thrown the game away.

He said: "We scored two goals and it looked like the game was over but the second half was completely different, in 15 minutes we conceded three goals.

"When you are not on the same mental level, it's difficult because you can concede one goal, the opponent has nothing to lose and they believe.

"After Real Madrid and Liverpool, it is difficult to keep the motivation and the energy. It's not good, it's a bad feeling."

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Chelsea 2-1 Everton:

Blues through with home win at Stamford Bridge (October 25 2017)

David Unsworth's second spell as Everton's caretaker manager ended in a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Club favourite Unsworth, who has spoken of his desire to permanently succeed the sacked Ronald Koeman, presided over an improved performance - but he will likely require more from his players if he is to succeed.

A vastly-changed team from that which on Sunday lost 5-2 at home to Arsenal, before Koeman's dismissal, played with greater confidence and energy and repeatedly threatened but lost following Antonio Rudiger's and Willian's goals.

Substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin responded in injury-time at Stamford Bridge - but at a point when the Toffees' elimination had already effectively been secured.

Unsworth, 44, recalled Tom Davies, Kevin Mirallas, James McCarthy and Aaron Lennon, each having become peripheral under Koeman despite providing the pace Everton have obviously missed.

Summer recruits Michael Keane and Gylfi Sigurdsson were also dropped to the substitutes' bench, but Chelsea's Antonio Conte similarly made numerous changes.

The Italian, who has repeatedly revealed concerns surrounded his squad's strength in depth, gave Danny Drinkwater his debut, Ethan Ampadu his full debut, and rare starts to Kenedy, Willy Caballero and Charly Musonda