LONDON, 10 November 2006 — A full-strength Chelsea got back to winning ways in the League Cup on Wednesday when they thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 while Arsenal and Liverpool joined them in the quarterfinals with 1-0 wins at Everton and Birmingham.
Tottenham Hotspur also got through but needed extra time to beat third division Port Vale 3-1 in the night’s other fourth round tie.
Frank Lampard, Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba were on target for Chelsea as they roared back from Saturday’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham.
Although the competition offers a UEFA Cup place for the winners, most of the leading Premier League clubs have fielded weakened teams in recent seasons but Jose Mourinho wheeled out most of his big guns.
Villa too arrived at near full strength but the only team to take any league points from Stamford Bridge this season after their 1-1 September draw were overwhelmed by the London side, who dominated throughout.
Lampard headed them into the lead in the 32nd minute from a pinpoint Michael Ballack cross and Shevchenko found the net with a close-range header after another perfect delivery from Lampard in the 65th.
Chelsea were in complete command and got the third eight minutes from time when fullback Geremi crossed for Essien and Drogba rounded things off soon after when he seized on a blocked Salomon Kalou effort.
Second division Birmingham, thrashed 7-0 by Liverpool on the same ground in the FA Cup last season, launched a furious late assault but could not find an equalizer.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fielded a virtual reserve team at Goodison Park and they took a long time to get on top despite Everton having forward James McFadden sent off for dissent after 20 minutes.
Everton defended superbly but their marking was found wanting five minutes from time when Emmanuel Adebayor headed in a Mathieu Flamini cross.
Mart Poom, on for his Arsenal debut as a halftime substitute, then saved well to prevent Andy Johnson equalizing within a minute.
Port Vale were dreaming of an upset when Leon Constantine struck his 11th goal of the season in a rare attack in the 64th minute.
Tottenham poured forward and leveled when Tom Huddlestone glanced in a header 10 minutes from time and the same player drove home the second in the first period of extra time.
Port Vale then ran out of steam and Jermain Defoe got a third for Spurs in the 107th minute.
Milan Hit Back to Beat Brescia
4-2 in Italian Cup
In Rome, AC Milan fought back from a two-goal deficit to overcome second division side Brescia 4-2 in the first leg of their last 16 Italian Cup tie on Wednesday.
The Serie A giants, who have lost three of their last four league matches, seemed to have carried over their poor form into the Cup in the first half at the San Siro stadium, when Matteo Serafini and Luis Alfageme gave the visitors a 2-0 halftime lead.
They hit back, however, midway through the second half, striker Marco Borriello and midfielder Cristian Brocchi grabbing two goals in four minutes to level the scores.
Second-half substitute Filippo Inzaghi — on in place of Ricardo Oliveira — put them ahead in the 78th minute from a corner.
Borriello angled in his second goal of the match four minutes from the end to seal the win. AS Roma had no such trouble beating another Serie B side, Triestina, with Vincenzo Montella scoring each side of the interval in a 2-1 win.There was defeat for Palermo, however. The Sicilian club, which leads Serie A jointly with Inter Milan, were edged out 1-0 by Sampdoria, with Italy striker Emiliano Bonazzoli getting the winner for the hosts.
In Wednesday’s other ties, Livorno lost 2-1 at Arezzo, Reggina drew 2-2 with Chievo and Empoli beat Genoa 1-0.
Rangers Join Celtic
in League Cup Exit
In Glasgow, Rangers suffered a humiliating 2-0 home defeat to second division leaders St. Johnstone in their Scottish League Cup quarterfinal clash on Wednesday.
Their exit follows that of old rivals Celtic who lost on penalties to Falkirk 24 hours earlier.
The Rangers debacle piled more pressure on under-fire manager Paul Le Guen who apologized to fans. Saints took the lead with a spectacular overhead kick from striker Steve Milne in 52 minutes from seven meters out.
Milne added a stunning second 16 minutes later when he ran on to drill a low shot beyond keeper Allan McGregor.
Elsewhere, Hibernian beat Edinburgh rivals Hearts 1-0 with a first half goal from Rob Jones to book their semi-final berth.
Holders Celtic crashed out 5-4 on penalties to Falkirk on Tuesday following a 1-1 draw after extra time while Kilmarnock dismissed Motherwell 3-2.
Bayern Six Points Adrift
After Fourth Defeat
In Berlin, Bayern Munich suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Hanover 96 on Wednesday, a result that left the faltering Bundesliga champions six points behind leaders Werder Bremen.
Hanover, who went into the match in last place, took the lead at the end of the first half when a mistake from Martin Demichelis presented Szabolcs Huszti with a soft goal.
Bayern, missing key players such as Lucio, Owen Hargreaves and Lukas Podolski, created little and were roundly jeered by their own fans as they suffered a fourth league defeat of the season and their first at home.
With 11 games played, Werder lead the standings with 23 points following their 2-1 win at Nuremberg on Tuesday.
VfB Stuttgart, who won 2-0 at home to Hamburg SV on Tuesday, are second on 21 points. Schalke moved up to third on 20 points after winning 2-0 away to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday.
Bayern, double winners in each of the past two seasons, have 17 points and lie in fifth place. Hanover’s victory moved them up to 15th place with 10 points and pushed Hamburg SV into the relegation zone.
King’s Cup Holders Espanyol
Humbled by Rayo
In Madrid, third division Rayo Vallecano dumped holders Espanyol out of the King’s Cup in the fourth round on Wednesday, progressing 2-1 on aggregate.
After drawing 1-1 at home in the first leg two weeks ago, Rayo’s Miguel Michel scored the only goal of the game 11 minutes into the second half to stun Espanyol in their own stadium.
The Barcelona-based club were joined by other Primera Liga casualties Real Sociedad and Gimnastic, who also lost to lower league opposition.
Struggling Sociedad recorded their first win of the season to beat second division Malaga 2-1, but it was not enough to overturn their 4-1 mauling from the first leg.
Alarm bells will be ringing at Gimnastic after they lost 3-1 at home to second division Valladolid, to go out 4-1 on aggregate. It was their seventh straight defeat in all competitions. Getafe, Villarreal, Osasuna, Sevilla and last season’s losing finalists Real Zaragoza all won their respective ties to see off lower league opposition. Getafe were the only side of the five to suffer, surviving a scare at home to second division leaders Xerez. Their 2-0 first leg advantage was canceled out in the opening 35 minutes but they held firm and defender Alexis, who conceded a soft penalty from which Xerez scored early on, netted in the second half to give Getafe a 3-2 aggregate win.
Later on Wednesday Barcelona are at home to third division Badalona with a 2-1 first leg lead, the same as Valencia who host third division Portuense.
