Wenger’s young guns see off Liverpool

A young Arsenal side delighted a near capacity crowd at the Emirates Stadium with a scintillating 2-1 victory over Liverpool to secure a place in the League Cup quarter-finals yesterday.

Manchester City thumped Championship Scunthorpe 5-1 to take their place in the last eight and Chelsea saw off Bolton 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.

That trio joined holders Manchester United, last year’s runners-up Tottenham, Blackburn, Portsmouth and Aston Villa in an all-Premier League draw for the quarter-finals which takes place on Saturday.

Manager Arsene Wenger, in charge of Arsenal for the 750th time, put his faith in younger players as he usually does in this competition, and they rose to the occasion with a deserved win.

Fran Merida, their 19-year-old Spanish midfielder, put them ahead with a superbly struck left-foot shot after 19 minutes, before Liverpool equalised with an equally stunning shot from Argentine Emiliano Insua.

Liverpool, seeking their first win at Arsenal for nine years, played excellent football but were eliminated after Niklas Bendtner scored with a powerful drive after 50 minutes.

Manchester City, who have not won a major honour since the 1976 League Cup, took the lead through Stephen Ireland after only three minutes against Scunthorpe, but the visitors shocked the ultra-rich Premier League side when Jonathan Forte equalised.

City soon took control, however, with goals from Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott, Carlos Tevez and Michael Johnson.

Chelsea enjoyed a routine win over Bolton at Stamford Bridge with Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda, Deco and Didier Drogba scoring.