🏆 EFL Cup: Everton and Villa pick up important wins; Iversen saves Foxes | OneFootball

Several Premier League teams entered the EFL Cup for the second round of action on Tuesday night.

This is what went down.

Gray fires Everton to first win of season

Scorers: Gray 28′

Everton picked up their first competitive win of the season by edging past Fleetwood Town as lady luck went their way.

Under pressure Everton showed few signs of feeling that in the early stages and took the lead through a man who wasn’t supposed to be on the park shortly before the half-hour point.

Demarai Gray, who replaced Tom Davies following an injury in the warm-up, scored from close range after a good Toffees team move to put him in position to find the net.

Lewis Warrington and Stanley Mills introduced after half-time for Everton debuts as their side saw things out for a narrow win at Highbury.

Villa fight back with a flourish

Scorers: Charles 24′; Luiz 36′, Ings pen 63′, Digne 66′, Bailey 87′

Aston Villa came from behind to gloss over their poor recent form and advance to round three at the expense of Bolton with a clinical showing.

After a good Villa start in which Philippe Coutinho was twice denied by good saves, they fell behind when Boubacar Kamara lost possession, allowing Kieran Lee to twist beyond Calum Chambers and tee up Dion Charles for the opener.

But the visitors equalised in unconventional fashion when Douglas Luiz found the net directly from a corner to level things up and almost turned things around completely after half-time, only for a Danny Ings effort to be denied by the post.

After the hour mark, Villa and Ings were given a much more clear cut chance to get their goal when they were awarded a penalty and this time, the former Southampton striker made no mistake, with a third following three minutes later through Lucas Digne.

Leon Bailey put the cherry on top with three minutes left on the clock, capping a lively display with a fine individual finish.

Iversen the hero for Foxes in shoot-out

Struggling Leicester needed penalties to edge past League Two Stockport after a scoreless 90 minutes at Edgeley Park.

Normal time offered little of note by the way of action, leaving a shoot-out to decide things and there, Daniel Iversen made three incredible saves from the spot to spare James Maddison and Ayoze Pérez’s blushes from their misses as the Foxes eked out a 3-1 win.

Wolves win thanks to Traoré stunner

Scorers: Jiménez 8′, Traoré 29′; Woodburn 48′

A wonder goal from Adama Traoré was the difference between Wolves and Preston as the Premier League side marched on at Molineux.

Wolves took an early lead, when on eight minutes, Raúl Jiménez finished at the far post after excellent work down the left from Rayan Aït-Nouri to tee him up.

He should have had a second before the break, only to head straight at the goalkeeper from a perfect Traoré delivery and the winger then decided to do things himself on the half-hour mark by thundering an unstoppable strike on his left foot into the top corner.

They should have made it three on the stroke of half-time when Hwang Hee-chan was fouled in the area but perhaps shouldn’t have opted to take the penalty himself – his weak effort being saved by David Cornell.

That miss was capitalised on three minutes after the break when Ben Woodburn reduced the deficit for Preston when he was allowed room on the edge of the area to pick his spot and score but they failed to find an equaliser.

Adams inspires Saints to victory

Scorers: Adams 16′, 55′, Ballard 87′

A brace from Ché Adams saw Southampton comfortably put their name into the hat for the round three draw against Cambridge in a game that was notable for a dream debut.

In-form Adams kept up his hot streak early by grabbing his third goal in two games by finishing clinically after Lewis Payne picked him out following a quick burst into the penalty area.

And the Scotland star continued it after the break with his second of the night and one of the simplest of goals he’ll ever score, finishing from an unmarked position yards out to make it 2-0, with Dom Ballard going on to make a debut in the closing stages.

And the 17-year-old made it a memorable one by getting himself on the score sheet with a close range finish to make it three.

Other results

Wednesday’s fixtures