Carabao Cup round-up: Arsenal demolish West Brom as Saints run riot

It was raining goals in the Carabao Cup tonight as Arsenal and Southampton served up 14 strikes between them to sink opponents West Brom and Newport County.

Here is everything you need to know about all of this evening’s action.

West Brom 6-0 Arsenal

Arsenal’s 6-0 annihilation of West Brom helped ease the pressure on under-fire Gunners’ boss Mikel Arteta.

The beleaguered coach named a strong side to face the Baggies, with new arrival Aaron Ramsdale starting for the first time and Martin Odegaard making his second debut for the club.

That star-studded line-up had the desired effect, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang marked his return to the first XI with a hat-trick to help Arsenal on their way to a convincing victory.

A first-half goal from Nicolas Pepe and two in the second period from Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette completed the rout, with the Gunners laying down a marker for the rest of their season.

Arteta’s outfit now face a far tougher test in the form of a trip to Manchester City but will be buoyed by a morale boosting victory at the Hawthorns after a tough week for the North Londoners.

Newport County 0-8 Southampton

Southampton have been on the wrong end of two 9-0 thumpings over the past two seasons, so their fans will certainly revel in tonight’s 8-0 trouncing of Newport County.

Michael Flynn’s outfit have built a reputation as cup giant killers in recent years but there was to be no upset on this occasion as the South Coast side ran riot.

The Saints found themselves in complete control by half-time thanks to goals from youngsters Armando Broja and Nathan Tella, before Kyle Walker-Peters put the game out of sight with 44 minutes on the clock.

Any slim hopes of an Exiles comeback were dashed after the break, when Mohamed Elyounoussi popped up with two more strikes before the hour mark.

Not to be outdone, Chelsea loanee Broja added his second of the night soon after, as League Two Newport struggled to contain their Premier League opponents.

But it was Elyounoussi who took home the match ball — completing his hat-trick in injury-time on the Norway international’s first Southampton appearance in two years.

The result was Southampton’s biggest ever away win and Newport’s record domestic cup defeat.

Newcastle 0-0 Burnley (Burnley win 4-3 on penalties)

Things were altogether less exciting at St James’ Park, where Newcastle and Burnley needed penalties to break the deadlock at the end of normal time.

Ultimately it was the Clarets who emerged victorious in the shootout and debutant Wayne Hennessey was the star of the show.

The former Crystal Palace goalkeeper saved spot kicks from Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron, before Burnley’s Charlie Taylor scored the winning penalty.

That victory gets Burnley’s season up and running after back-to-back league defeats against Brighton and Liverpool, while the Magpies’ long wait for cup glory continues after another early elimination.