EFL Cup: Palace need penalties to down Millwall, Grimsby's run continues
Two EFL Cup ties went to penalties on Tuesday as Crystal Palace, Brentford and Grimsby Town progressed to the fourth round.
Crystal Palace needed penalties to edge past fierce rivals Millwall in the EFL Cup third round, while Grimsby Town's impressive run continued on Tuesday.
Ryan Leonard's 91st-minute equaliser at Selhurst Park cancelled out Chris Richards' opener, only for Oliver Glasner's side to squeeze past their Championship visitors on spot-kicks.
Walter Benitez, who made his debut after joining from PSV in July, proved the hero as the backup goalkeeper denied both Aidomo Emakhu and Tristan Crama to see Palace to a nervy victory over their London rivals.
Palace will be joined in the last 16 by League Two side Grimsby, who followed up their scalp of Manchester United with another eye-catching result in a 1-0 victory away at Sheffield Wednesday.
Ethan Horvath and Jamal Lowe were the only senior starters for the Championship side, whose off-field issues saw many Wednesday supporters stay away from Hillsborough in protest against owner Dejphon Chansiri, albeit the Owls did beat Premier League side Leeds United in similar circumstances in round two.
The visitors still did the job, however, with Jaze Kabia's 49th-minute header enough to see Grimsby into the fourth round of this competition for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
Aston Villa's poor start to the season continued as they slumped out on penalties to Brentford after a 1-1 draw in the all-Premier League clash at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliot opened his account for Villa two minutes before half-time, with Unai Emery's side finally finding the net after going four games without scoring to start their campaign.
But Aaron Hickey levelled just before the hour for the hosts, who eventually triumphed 4-2 on penalties after Hakon Valdimarsson denied John McGinn and Matty Cash missed his spot-kick.
Data Debrief: Palace keep bragging rights as Grimsby march on
Palace are now unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Millwall, managing that many games without defeat against their rivals for just the second time in history (also October 1986 to September 1993).
Their nervy shoot-out win may have been expected, though, given Palace have progressed from each of their last 11 FA Cup/EFL Cup games against lower-league opposition.
Grimsby, meanwhile, have eliminated two sides from a higher division in a single EFL Cup campaign for the first time since 2005-06 when they knocked out Derby County and Tottenham.
