• Carling Cup round-up

Suarez stars for Reds, City cruise once again

Luis Suarez and Kenny Dalglish share a moment © Getty Images

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Two second half goals from Luis Suarez were enough for Liverpool to come from behind to defeat Stoke City 2-1 and book their place in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

Kenny Dalglish's side had found themselves behind thanks to Kenwyne Jones' header just before half-time, but a wonderfully crafted curling effort from the Uruguayan - after embarrassing Ryan Shotton with a sublime piece of skill - eventually evened things up before a close range header just minutes from time clinched victory.

Stoke pushed hard late on but were unable to grab an equaliser and force extra-time, as Liverpool gained a measure of revenge for the defeat they suffered at the same venue in the Premier League earlier in the season.

However, the game still ended on something of a worrying note for Dalglish and his side - as Suarez was forced off with an injury in the closing stages, although it didn't look too serious as he joyfully embraced his manager before heading down the tunnel.

Under-fire Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief as his side bounced back after throwing away a two-goal lead in injury time to eventually secure a 4-3 victory against a resilient Newcastle United side.

Ruben Rochina got the home side on their way with a fine finish after just five minutes, before winning the penalty that enabled Yakubu to put Rovers within touching distance of the next round on the hour mark.

Danny Guthrie then gave Alan Pardew's men a glimmer of hope in injury time, but it appeared to have come too late for the Magpies to prolong their unbeaten record this season. That was until Yohan Cabaye popped up in the dying seconds, however, as the France international followed his first goal for the club at the weekend with another fine finish from a long-range free-kick to somehow send the game into extra-time.

The added period proved to be just as dramatic as the final stage of normal time, as Morten Gamst Pedersen expertly beat Tim Krul with a free-kick on the 100-minute mark.

Alan Pardew's men then seemed to have engineered another Houdini act as Peter Lovenkrands scored from 12-yards after they were awarded a soft penalty by referee Robert Madley - but Gael Givet was in the right place at the right time to turn in Pedersen's speculative deep free-kick with just seconds left on the clock to belatedly send his side into the next round.

Elsewhere, Manchester City enjoyed their second comprehensive victory in four days as they defeated Wolves 5-2 at Molineux.

Roberto Mancini opted for a very different side to that which started Sunday's 6-1 derby victory against Manchester United, with youngsters Abdul Razak and Luca Scapuzzi both given a chance in the first team. But goals from Adam Johnson, Edin Dzeko (twice), Samir Nasri and a Dorus de Vries own goal helped the league leaders to another comfortable triumph.

Edin Dzeko is mobbed by team-mates © PA Photos

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It did not always look like that would be the case, however, after Nenad Milijas spun and fired the hosts into an 18th-minute lead following a spell of sustained pressure that also saw Alexander Kolarov perhaps lucky to avoid giving away a penalty for handball. But three goals in four minutes for City shortly before half-time saw them comprehensively snatch the momentum.

First Adam Johnson curled a fine strike beyond De Vries, before Dzeko took advantage of a mistake to bury a chance from close range. When Nasri then ran on to a beautiful ball from Johnson to fire a right-footed shot from the edge of the box, there were genuine fears of a second half City rampage.

De Vries - who generally had a poor game - was unlucky to see the ball squirm in off his back after Scapuzzi's shot had been blocked by a defender shortly after half-time, before Dzeko swept home to end the contest minutes later.

That meant Jamie O'Hara's second half effort did little more than add some respectability to the scoreline, although Mick McCarthy's side did perhaps edge the closing stages.

Chelsea needed extra-time to eventually secure a 2-1 victory against familiar foes Everton at Goodison Park, in a game that saw both sides miss a penalty and both sides have a player sent off.

Nicolas Anelka and Leighton Baines were the guilty parties on the former count, either side of Salomon Kalou's fortunate opener - but Louis Saha took advantage of the confusion in the Blues defence in the minutes following Ross Turnbull's dismissal to send the game to extra-time after putting the ball beyond substitute goalkeeper Petr Cech.

However, Royston Drenthe eroded his side's numerical advantage by picking up a foolish second yellow card in the added 30 minutes, and Daniel Sturridge punished the Toffees for that folly with just four minutes remaining as he clinically lashed home after the impressive Florent Malouda had forced a sprawling save from Jan Mucha - to the evident delight of his manager Andre Villas-Boas.

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