Hargreaves returns with debut goal for Man City

Owen Hargreaves made a dream debut for Manchester City as the injury-plagued midfielder scored the opening goal in his side’s 2-0 victory over holders Birmingham in the League Cup third round on Wednesday.

Hargreaves was making his first appearance for City after being released by their bitter rivals Manchester United at the end of last season following a series of knee injuries over the last three years.

The 30-year-old, who had managed just six minutes of action since September 2008, took just 17 minutes to mark his return in style as he smashed a fine long-range strike past Birmingham goalkeeper Colin Doyle for his first goal since April 2008.

He eventually completed 57 minutes before departing to a standing ovation from the City fans after being substituted to avoid provoking any muscle problems in his first prolonged outing for three years.

Birmingham’s last match in this competition was that memorable 2-1 win over Arsenal in the final at Wembley, but much has changed at St Andrews’ since then and the Blues are now languishing in the Championship after relegation on the final day of last season.

They were no match for City and Mario Balotelli increased the hosts’ advantage with his first goal of the season, a powerful effort from inside the penalty area, in the 38th minute.

Hargreaves wasn’t the only England international making his long-awaited return from injury on Wednesday.

At the Amex Stadium, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard made a 15-minute substitute appearance in the closing stages of his side’s 2-1 win at Championship club Brighton.

Gerrard was back in action for the first time since March after surgery on a recurring groin injury and his presence helped Liverpool finish off Gus Poyet’s Brighton.

Kenny Dalglish made seven charges to the side that started Sunday’s 4-0 defeat at Tottenham, with recent signings Sebastian Coates and Craig Bellamy both handed their first starts.

Bellamy, in his second spell at the club, opened the scoring in the seventh minute as he ran onto Luis Suarez’s pass and drilled a low shot into the far corner.

Brighton’s Craig Noone once did building work at Gerrard’s house - fitting a roof onto the England star’s games-room during his days as a non-league player - and the boyhood Liverpool fan showed he had the tools to compete with the Reds as he fired a long-range shot against the bar.

But Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt got the decisive second goal in the 81st minute when he struck with a low shot via the far post.

Ashley Barnes notched a 90th minute consolation for Brighton when he converted a penalty after Jamie Carragher’s foul on Vicente.

Ten-man Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties against west London rivals Fulham after a 0-0 draw after extra time at Stamford Bridge.

Andre Villas-Boas’s side had Brazilian defender Alex sent off early in the second half and saw Fulham’s Pajtim Kasami miss the resulting penalty.

And the Blues rode their luck in the shoot-out as well as Frank Lampard missed their first kick before Fulham’s Moussa Dembele and Bryan Ruiz failed from the spot to send Chelsea through.

Villas-Boas had made nine changes from the team beaten 3-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford as the Portuguese coach gave full debuts to Romelu Lukaku, Oriol Romeu and Ryan Bertrand, with Josh McEachran and Paulo Ferreira making their first appearances of the season.

Everton needed extra-time to see off West Brom 2-1 at Goodison Park.
Chris Brunt’s 57th minute penalty gave Albion the lead but Marouane Fellaini equalised in the 89th minute and Phil Neville got the winner in the 103rd minute.

English League Cup results on Wednesday (aet denotes after extra time):

3rd round
Brighton 1 (Barnes 90-pen) Liverpool 2 (Bellamy 7, Kuyt 81)
Cardiff 2 (Cowie 33, Gestede 82) Leicester 2 (Howard 40, Dyer 66) aet, Cardiff won 7-6 on penalties
Chelsea 0 Fulham 0 aet, Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties
Man City 2 (Hargreaves 17, Balotelli 38) Birmingham 0
Southampton 2 (Hooiveld 27, Lallana 66) Preston 1 (Barton 52)
Everton 2 (Fellaini 89, P.Neville 103) West Brom 1 (Brunt 57-pen) aet

Played Tuesday
Aldershot 2 (Rankine 47, Hylton 78) Rochdale 1 (Grimes 45)
Arsenal 3 (Gibbs 33, Oxlade-Chamberlain 58, Benayoun 78) Shrewsbury 1 (Collins 16)
Aston Villa 0 Bolton 2 (Eagles 54, Kakuta 77)
Blackburn 3 (Roberts 44-pen, Rochina 71, Vukcevic 75) Leyton Orient 2 (Mooney 64, Cox 86)
Burnley 2 (Trippier 59, Amougou 89) Milton Keynes Dons 1 (Powell 6)
Crystal Palace 2 (Zaha 18, Andrew 52) Middlesbrough 1 (Zemmama 55)
Leeds 0 Man Utd 3 (Owen 15, 32, Giggs 45)
Nottingham Forest 3 (Findley 46, Derbyshire 66, Tudgay 114) Newcastle 4 (Lovenkrands 39, 60-pen, Simpson 93, Coloccini 120) aet
Stoke 0 Tottenham 0 aet, Stoke won 7-6 on penalties
Wolves 5 (Edwards 3, Hammill 7, Elokobi 38, Spray 77, Guedioura 88) Millwall 0

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