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In the Carling Cup tournament of the English League on Tuesday, one of the biggest surprises took place. The Premier League leaders Manchester United lost away to the second division's underdogs Southend. In the other quarter-final matches, Newcastle and Charlton won their opponents after a penalty shootout, and Wycombe also secured a victory. The remaining quarter-final matches will be played on Wednesday evening.
In the match against Southend, Man Utd took control from the very beginning and dominated the game throughout. Meanwhile, the hosts defended selflessly and countered, sometimes responding with dangerous attacks. The only goal of the match came in the 27th minute, when Freddy Eastwood scored an impressive penalty kick from 30 meters into the top corner of the goal.
Despite the great efforts and opportunities created by the visitors, they failed to score. They also failed to please their manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been coaching Man Utd for twenty years and celebrated this milestone the day before.
Newcastle, currently experiencing a crisis, defeated Watford away after a penalty shootout.
The modest Chesterfield club, who had already eliminated teams like Man City and West Ham, stumbled against Charlton this time. The intense and dramatic match ended in a high-scoring draw of 3-3, with Charlton winning the penalty shootout.
Wycombe won the duel between the fourth-ranked division teams Notts County and Wycombe.
Statistics:
Southend 1 - 0 Man Utd
27' [1 - 0] Freddy Eastwood
Watford 2 - 2 Newcastle
(after extra time, penalty shootout – 4-5)
3' [0 - 1] Antoine Sibierski
69' [1 - 1] Damien Francis
108' [2 - 1] Danny Shittu
116' [2 - 2] Scott Parker
Chesterfield 3 - 3 Charlton
(after extra time, penalty shootout – 3-4)
3' [1 - 0] Colin Larkin
40' [1 - 1] Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
47' [2 - 1] Caleb Folan
73' [2 - 2] Darren Bent
93' [2 - 3] Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
120' [3 - 3] Wayne Allison
Notts County 0 - 1 Wycombe
49' [0 - 1] Jermaine Easter
