Liverpool put seven past Lincoln, Man City edge Bournemouth in Carabao Cup

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A much-changed Liverpool team thumped Lincoln City 7-2 to progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, while Manchester City kicked off their defence with a tight 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

Liverpool 7-2 Lincoln City

Curtis Jones and Takumi Minamino both struck braces as Liverpool cruised past Lincoln City 7-2 in an entertaining EFL Cup third-round clash on Thursday.

Jurgen Klopp made 10 changes from the side that beat Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, with only Virgil van Dijk keeping his place, but they still had more than enough firepower to swat aside their League One opponents.

Xherdan Shaqiri got the visitors on their way inside the opening 10 minutes, whipping a superb free-kick into the top-right corner, before a fine strike from Minamino and a double from Jones made it 4-0 at the break.

Minamino added a fifth immediately after the restart before Tayo Edun pulled one back for the Imps on the hour mark.

Marko Grujic and Lewis Montsma then exchanged quick-fire goals, while Divock Origi added a seventh late on as Liverpool – who handed Diogo Jota a debut from the substitutes’ bench in the second half – set up a fourth-round clash with Arsenal at Anfield next week.

Liverpool, who included debutants Rhys Williams and Konstantinos Tsimikas in their starting XI, wasted little time asserting their authority as Shaqiri registered his first goal since December 4 with a sublime free-kick from 22 yards in the ninth minute.

The Reds doubled their advantage after 18 minutes when a sloppy pass out from the back by Montsma found its way to Minamino, who sent a strike into Alex Palmer’s top-left corner from 20 yards.

Jones added a third shortly after the half-hour mark, curling home from inside the penalty area after being picked out by Origi’s downwards header.

The 19-year-old claimed his second just four minutes later when his effort from outside the area clipped off Timothy Eyoma and flew past Palmer.

Any thoughts that Klopp’s men would take it easy in the second period were extinguished after just 18 seconds when Minamino volleyed into an empty net after Harvey Elliott had been denied by Palmer.

The Imps started to pour forward in search of a consolation and it duly arrived on the hour mark when Edun coolly slotted past Adrian from inside the area.

Grujic plundered his first Liverpool goal from 20 yards in the 65th minute before Montsma took advantage of Adrian’s woeful goalkeeping to head home Lincoln’s second just a minute later.

Origi then wrapped up the scoring a minute from time when his strike from 15 yards slipped through the grasp of Palmer.

Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth

Liam Delap gave Manchester City a tantalising glimpse of their future before the EFL Cup holders were forced to scrap for a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth in round three.

Delap, the 17-year-old son of former Stoke City favourite Rory, has sparked plenty of excitable talk through his explosive performances for City’s youth teams and he wasted little time when it came to making an impression on his senior debut.

Pace, power and a dead-eyed finish in the 18th minute had Pep Guardiola celebrating with delight, but the City boss soon had a furrowed brow as Sam Surridge brought the Championship side level.

Flimsy defending and a failure to create regular clear chances saw Guardiola send for the cavalry in Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, with the winner arriving in fortuitous fashion when Foden scuffed a shot into the turf and in after Riyad Mahrez’s drive came back off the post.

Foden was one of three players retained from the City side that beat Wolves 3-1 in their Premier League opener and the England midfielder slipped a cute pass to Mahrez in the 16th minute, Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers saving at his near post.

Foden was the provider again two minutes later, with Delap powering past Jack Simpson and clipping a brilliant left-footed finish into the top corner.

City’s other debutant, Zack Steffen, was picking the ball out of his net as Bournemouth found a swift, well-worked equaliser – Surridge firing a low shot across the United States international.

The hosts resumed with renewed purpose, Mahrez going close, but Bournemouth continued to threaten a disjointed defence on the counter-attack.

Surridge twice broke through – a combination of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Eric Garcia, then a wildly sliding Steffen denying him.

Guardiola had seemingly seen enough and sent on De Bruyne and Sterling in place of holding midfielders Rodri and Tommy Doyle after the hour.

But it was Foden who decisively showed his poaching instincts 15 minutes from time.

Surridge could have sent the tie to penalties but glanced wastefully wide in the 87th minute.

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Dean Workman