Substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen made a significant impact by scoring two goals in two minutes, leading Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 3-2 victory over fellow Premier League strugglers West Ham United, thus advancing to the League Cup third round on Tuesday.
Both Leeds United and Sunderland, newly promoted, exited the competition alongside West Ham, losing in penalty shootouts to Championship team Sheffield Wednesday and third-tier Huddersfield Town, respectively.
Strand Larsen was introduced in the 73rd minute and swiftly changed the game’s momentum by scoring in the 82nd and 84th minutes, overturning the match at Molineux after Lucas Paqueta’s header put West Ham ahead in the 63rd.
Rodrigo Gomes netted Wolves’ first goal of the season just before halftime, following Hwang Hee-chan’s penalty that hit the post, but Tomas Soucek equalized with a header in the 50th minute.
The clash between the league’s bottom two teams offered no relief for West Ham manager Graham Potter, whose team recently suffered heavy league defeats to Chelsea and Sunderland.
Leeds faced a 3-0 loss on penalties after their match at Hillsborough ended 1-1, a surprising outcome as many Wednesday fans boycotted the game in protest against the financially-strapped club’s Thai owner.
US goalkeeper Ethan Horvath emerged as the hero for the home side, earning the man of the match title after making two crucial saves and maintaining a clean sheet in the penalty shootout debut, following his loan arrival.
“I’ve been here for about four or five days. I had to memorize 10 new names in my first match and another 10 in this one,” Horvath shared with Sky Sports.
League One’s Huddersfield secured a 6-5 shootout win after a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.
In another all-Premier League clash, Brentford defeated Bournemouth 2-0 on the South Coast, with Fabio Carvalho and Igor Thiago scoring on either side of halftime, defying the flow of the game.
Brentford’s record signing, Dango Ouattara, who scored on his league debut on Saturday, made a substitute appearance against his former club.
Burnley, one of seven Premier League teams to significantly rotate their lineups from last weekend, triumphed 2-1 over second-tier Derby County, with Oliver Sonne netting a stoppage-time winner at Turf Moor.
Wrexham’s Hollywood owners celebrated as their team clinched a 3-2 victory at Preston North End, courtesy of Kieffer Moore’s stoppage-time goal after the hosts had led twice in the second-tier encounter.
League Two’s Cambridge United achieved a 3-1 victory against Championship side Charlton Athletic.
The draw for the third round will occur after Wednesday’s matches.
