Summer signings dominate in League Cup

Sahin, Vertonghen, Giroud, and Pogrebnyak among the scorers

By Zain Alvi | 26th September 2012

Nuri Sahin scored his first two goals in a Liverpool shirt as holders Liverpool came from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 and progress to the fourth round of the League Cup.

Turkish midfielder Sahin scored in the 17th and 82nd minute to deem Gabriel Tamas’ sixth-minute opener a mere consolation for the Baggies at the Hawthorns.

While Sahin made perhaps the strongest impact of all on Wednesday evening, several other summer signings accompanied him on the scoring front for clubs across the country.

Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-0 win away to Carlisle United featured a goal from new Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen and another summer arrival, Gylfi Sigurdsson, also got on the score sheet along with Andros Townsend.

At Loftus Road, high-spending Queens Park Rangers got a goal from Junior Hoilett against Reading two months after the player signed from Blackburn Rovers.

However, the Royals equalized early through Kaspar Gorkss and despite Djibril Cisse restoring the Rangers’ advantage in the 71st minute, Nicky Shorey leveled the scores promptly once again.

Then, it was time for Reading’s summer signing – Pavel Pogrebnyak – to make an impact with a late match-winning strike that eliminated Mark Hughes’ side with a shock 3-2 home defeat.

Staying in London, Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for Arsenal in their 6-1 thrashing of Coventry City at the Emirates Stadium.

Although the Frenchman was the first to appear on the scorecard, several others followed for the Gunners, including defender Ignasi Miquel with his first senior goal for the club.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott (two goals) both impressed, while out-of-favor Russian Andrei Arshavin also netted his first goal of the season.

Norwich continued successful representation of the Premier League with a 1-0 win at home to Doncaster while an all-Premier League clash between Manchester United and Newcastle was disappointingly dull.

With Old Trafford far from full, a quiet first half was highlighted by a powerful goal struck by Anderson right before the interval.

Tom Cleverley doubled the home side’s advantage a few minutes after the interval and even though Papiss Demba Cisse came off the bench to quickly pull the Magpies back into the match, they were ultimately unable to improve upon the scoreline.

On the back of their 2-1 win, United have secured a fourth round meeting away to Chelsea next month.

Defending champions Liverpool, meanwhile, have a tricky home fixture against Wigan and Arsenal – one of the Premier League’s only unbeaten sides – must do with an away fixture against Reading.