Fulham beat Everton on penalties to make Carabao Cup semi-finals
Fulham captain Tosin Adarabioyo scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out against Everton which put the club into their first Carabao Cup semi-final.
The Toffees’ hero from their second-round comeback win at Doncaster, Beto came off the bench to score a late equaliser after Michael Keane’s own goal but in sudden death in the spot-kicks, Idrissa Gana Gueye hit the post and Adarabioyo scored to send the Cottagers through 7-6.
It was the fourth time in the last six seasons Everton had exited the competition on penalties and brought to end a four-match winning run as their hopes of a first semi-final appearance in seven years were dashed.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s save from Bobby De Cordova-Reid in front of the Gwladys Street gave Amadou Onana the chance to win it with their fifth and final penalty in regulation but the Belgium international, who had been relatively ineffective all game, chose placement over power and placed the ball too close to Bernd Leno.
Fulham’s victory also saw them become the first club to win at Goodison Park three times in a calendar year, while their former Toffees boss Marco Silva, who reached the FA Cup quarter-finals last season, returned to haunt his old club once again.
However, in truth there was no masterplan involved in the victory as the 41st-minute lead they took came without them even having a shot on target – they had to wait until midway through the second half for that solitary effort – courtesy of Keane.
Everton were not much better, with just two on target themselves but one of those was crucially their £26million summer signing’s 82nd-minute equaliser, only his third goal for the club.
It may have been a quarter-final but it had all the appearances of a game neither
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