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On Wednesday, the last battles of the second round of the England League Cup took place. They were again not without surprises. Following the example of the "Wigan" team, who lost to much weaker clubs, "Fulham," "Manchester City," and "Middlesbrough" also suffered defeats.
One of the biggest surprises was presented by the humble "Nott County" club (4th division - 6th place), managing to defeat "Middlesbrough" led by the new coach Gareth Southgate with a score of 1 - 0 at Riverside Stadium. The winning goal for the visitors was scored by Tcham N‘ Toya from DR Congo in the 26th minute. "Boro" dominated the opponents' goal after the break, but failed to equalize the score.
"Fulham" also lost at home 1 - 2 to the leader of the fourth division, "Wycombe." Jermeine Easter put the latter ahead in the 8th minute, and Tommy Mooney doubled the lead with a penalty kick in the 41st minute. Shortly after the break, Iceland's Heidaras Helguson scored a goal for "Fulham," giving them hope. However, "Wycombe's" goalkeeper Jamie Young played superbly that day, stopping all the hosts' attacks. Throughout the game, watched by only 6,500 spectators, both teams attempted only 6 shots on target.
Recently struggling "Man City" did not please their fans yesterday. "City" lost 1 - 2 away to "Chesterfield" (3rd division - 17th place) team. The Manchester footballers led after Georgios Samaras' goal in the 40th minute. However, the hosts broke through to lead after goals from Caleb Folan and Derek Niven in the middle of the second half and maintained their advantage until the end of the match. It should be noted that "Chesterfield" only had two shots on target, but it was enough for a sensational victory.
It seems that "Aston Villa" decided not to joke with their opponents. They played away against "Scunthorpe" (3rd division - 14th place), took the initiative from the beginning, and demonstrated their superiority with two goals from Juan Pablo Angel in the 42nd and 64th minutes. However, the hosts responded with rare and dangerous attacks, with Billy Sharp reducing the score to 1 - 2 in the 73rd minute.
In the other Wednesday matches between "Doncaster" (3rd division - 18th place) and "Derby County," fans witnessed a real thriller and a goal show. The main time and extra time ended in a 3 - 3 draw, and after an impressive 8 - 7 victory in the penalty shootout, "Doncaster" advanced to the third round.
