EFL Cup: Jesus bangs hat-trick as Arsenal hits semi-final

Gabriel Jesus scored a second-half hat-trick as Arsenal staged a powerful fightback to ebook their place within the semi-final of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 win towards Crystal Palace.

The residence facet had been observing an underwhelming exit from the competitors at half-time after Jean-Philippe Mateta’s opener for Palace inside simply 4 minutes.

But Jesus, who had scored simply as soon as this season heading into Wednesday’s fixture, fired a treble within the second interval with substitutes Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka each central to his haul.

Elsewhere on the evening, Sandro Tonali scored twice as Newcastle moved into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup with a snug 3-1 victory over Brentford at St James’ Park.

The Italy midfielder, who returned this season from a 10-month ban for breaching betting guidelines, drove in an early opener for the hosts after Tino Livramento’s cross was solely partially cleared.

With Eddie Howe fielding arguably the strongest facet at his disposal, the previous AC Milan participant added a second simply earlier than the break with a cushioned side-foot volley from Anthony Gordon’s nook from the correct.

Also within the Carabao Cup final evening, Darwin Nunez set Liverpool on the trail to 2-1 victory over Southampton as Arne Slot’s facet reached the semi-finals.

First-half strikes from Nunez and Harvey Elliott gave Liverpool agency management, though Cameron Archer pulled a aim again to offer the hosts hope.

Southampton had been led by interim supervisor Simon Rusk following the sacking of Russell Martin after Sunday’s 5-0 residence defeat by Tottenham, they usually began brightly however fell behind after 25 minutes.