London (AFP)
The English League Cup saw red on Wednesday with the wild Liverpool qualification at the expense of Arsenal (5-5, 5-4 on the table) and that of Manchester United winner in Chelsea (2-1), in the round of 16 .
The first eighth of the evening will have reminded all fans of the Gunners tonight of 2012 when Arsenal had won one of the wildest matches in the history of English football, 7 to 5 after being led 4-0 by Reading , the happy ending in less.
The parallel was all the more tempting as the meeting in Liverpool was played seven years later on the same day in the fourth round of the League Cup and with the same goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, in the cages.
The two coaches had decided to make a big turn, Jürgen Klopp lining 11 substitutes against 8 for Emery. But if some blunders are up, the reservists delivered a beautiful show.
Emery had notably released Mesut Özil from the cupboard, as well as his compatriot from the defense, Shkodran Mustafi, but also the Brazilian pearl Gabriel Martinelli.
If the German stopper was the unfortunate hero of the start of the game by opening the score against his side in the 6th minute, Özil showed beautiful things for an hour and Martinelli scored a double (26th, 36th).
But that was not enough to make thirsty Reds go down this season.
Back at 4-4 after being led 3-1 and 4-2 early in the second period, they equalized at the end of the additional time to 5-5 to eventually win on penalties.
This is only the second time Liverpool has taken five goals in his home at Anfield in the last 66 years.
The only precedent was a 6-3 loss in January 2007 against ... Arsenal. In League Cup.
A little later, it is other "reds", those of Manchester United, who ended the series of 7 victories in all competitions of Chelsea (2-1).
They can thank Marcus Rashford who managed Manchester's first penalty of the season, after four consecutive failures to open the scoring, before giving the victory of a free kick worthy of Juninho, more than 30 meters and in full skylight after a floating trajectory.
Seemingly adrift before the last international truce, the Red Devils seem transfigured since they held Liverpool in check (1-1): they remain on three victories of rank since.
In the third match of the night, Aston Villa defeated Wolverhampton 2-1.
Tuesday night, Manchester City, Leicester and Everton in the Premier League, but also Oxford United (D3) and Colchester (D4) pocketed their ticket for the quarterly draw which will take place on Thursday and will take place on December 17 and 18.
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