Qantas Socceroo Brett Emerton got on the scoresheet for the first time this season, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Blackburn Rovers shock exit from the League Cup overnight.
Qantas Socceroo Brett Emerton got on the scoresheet for the first time this season, but it wasn-t enough to prevent Blackburn Rovers shock exit from the League Cup overnight.
That was the only major surprise of matches played overnight, although Everton nearly suffered the same fate, but managed to get past Bristol City 4-3 on penalties.
However there was no such luck for Emerton and Australian teammate Lucas Neill, who both played in the 3-3 draw with League One side Bournemouth, but lost 7-6 on penalties.
Emerton opened the scoring after just eight minutes with a simple tap in and was prominent throughout including setting a late equaliser in normal time. After grabbing an early goal in extra time, it looked as though they would get through, but Bournemouth proved resilient and made it 3-3 and went onto win the nailbiting penalty shootout 7-6.
Bristol City, with Qantas Under 23 Luke Wilkshire a driving force in midfield, almost pulled off a similar result against Everton. Wilkshire went close to scoring on a number of occasions, including a 20-yard effort that skimmed the crossbar.
Qantas Socceroo Tim Cahill returned to the Everton side after serving his suspension last weekend, and scored his penalty attempt in the shootout.
Elsewhere in the Cup, Richard Johnson was replaced at half time in QPR-s 3-1 loss at Aston Villa, while Predrag Bojic was replaced in the second half as Northampton succumbed to Southampton 3-0.
In Scotland, it was a good night for the Aussie contingent, with Qantas Socceroo captain Craig Moore, Patrick Kisnorbo and Scott McDonald all recording wins and moving into the next round.
There was also plenty of league action in Europe taking place, with Qantas Socceroo duo Marco Bresciano and Vince Grella again featuring for Parma, although the result was a disappointing 2-1 loss at home against Bologna.
In Switzerland, league leaders FC Basel, featuring Qantas Socceroo pair Mile Sterjovski and Scott Chipperfield suffered an embarrassing 4-1 loss at FC Thun. The loss meant Thun, home to injured Qantas Under 23 Ljubo Milicevic, went to the top of the table at Basel-s expense.
Midweek also didn-t prove a blessing for Qantas Under 23 Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, as AGF Aarhus went down 2-1, while in Sweden Ante Covic was also on the losing team as Hammarby lost 1-0.
In League Championship action overnight, Millwall, with Qantas Socceroo Kevin Muscat again starting, beat Derby County 3-1.
