EFL Cup review: Fulham and Brentford progress in contrasting styles

The fourth round of the EFL Cup began on Tuesday evening, with two Premier League clubs in action. Tom Prentki reflects on how they fared.

Grimsby Town 0-5 Brentford

Brentford brought Grimsby’s fairytale run in the EFL Cup to an abrupt end with an emphatic fourth-round victory at Blundell Park to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Only two players, Dango Ouattara and Sepp van den Berg, remained in Keith Andrews’ line-up from the team who began the 3-2 win over Liverpool on Saturday.

League Two side Grimsby had knocked out Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday in the previous two rounds, but Brentford showed the ruthless professionalism that is fast becoming a hallmark of Andrews’ tenure, to put the game beyond David Artell’s men.

Mathias Jensen has often had to settle for a place on the bench in the Premier League this season, but the Danish midfielder gave Andrews food for thought by opening the scoring midway through the first half, whipping the ball clinically into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Two more players looking to stake a claim in Brentford's Premier League side were Reiss Nelson, who started for the first time since joining on loan from Arsenal, and Keane Lewis-Potter, who had started the last three league games as a substitute.

Four minutes later, Lewis-Potter doubled Brentford’s advantage, gleefully heading in a clever cross from Nelson at the far post.

Two minutes before half-time, Nelson put the game to bed, curling in a low shot from the edge of the area to round off a slick team move from the Bees.

Watch: Nelson's first goal for Brentford

The scoring continued into the second half. Fabio Carvalho was brought down by Evan Khouri but got to his feet to convert the resulting penalty nine minutes after half-time.

Nathan Collins added the fifth, 15 minutes from time, when he outmuscled two Grimsby defenders to head in Jensen’s corner.

Reflecting on a successful first start for his loan club, Nelson told Brentford's official X account: "I'm delighted. It was a bit slow for me coming here [from Arsenal] because I had a bit of an injury setback.

"I've been working in the background [though] and I'm delighted to start today for this great team, [with a] nice assist and a nice goal. It's [about] moving forward from here now."

Brentford next make the short trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday in the league. 

See: Brentford line-up and report

Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Fulham (4-5 on penalties)

Fulham narrowly avoided a fifth straight defeat with a nervy penalty shootout victory at League One club Wycombe to scrape into the EFL Cup's last eight.

French goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte, making only his third appearance for the Cottagers since his summer transfer from Montpellier, saved three of the seven spot-kicks he faced in the shootout when the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes. The winning penalty was converted by Issa Diop.

Lecomte told Fulham's official X account after the match: "For sure, when we win a penalty shootout for a goalkeeper it's always nice. But I have to congratulate the whole team, the whole staff, because it was not an easy game and we did the job tonight.

"After [the results] we have had in the Premier League, I think this can help us to have a better feeling, a positive feeling for the next game at home [against Wolverhampton Wanderers]."

A trip to Adams Park seemed like the perfect chance for Fulham to put their Premier League woes to one side but, unlike their west London rivals Brentford, Marco Silva’s side were made to suffer by their resilient League One opponents.

Silva made seven changes to the team who had lost late at Newcastle United on Saturday and he soon found his team up against it once more, facing opponents who had reached the fourth-round stage for only the second time in their history.

A former Fulham player, striker Cauley Woodrow, took only four minutes to give Wycombe a shock lead. The 30-year-old cut in purposefully from the left and smashed a 20-yard shot in at the near post to leave Silva fearing the worst.

However, Fulham grew into the game and soon came close to levelling through Tom Cairney’s long-range effort, which dropped just wide.

The Cottagers continued to dominate possession and deservedly levelled three minutes into the second half, with exciting youngster Josh King scoring his first senior goal as he flicked in Kevin’s corner at the near post.

Watch: Josh King's first senior goal for Fulham

With Wycombe digging deep, Fulham threw everything at Michael Duff’s side in the hope of avoiding penalties.

In almost the last kick of the game, Kevin saw his low shot blocked on the line by Anders Hagelskjaer and the Cottagers were forced to face a shootout.

The score was 4-4 after five penalties each, with Ewan Henderson being denied by Lecomte and Wycombe goalkeeper Will Norris saving Ryan Sessegnon’s tame effort.

Both teams then had their sixth penalties saved — Wycombe's Fred Onyedinma and Fulham's Jonah Kusi-Asare failed to score — before Lecomte kept out another kick, from Donnell McNeilly.

That gave Diop the chance to win it for Fulham and the French defender smashed his effort into the top corner to put Silva's side into the last eight.

Fulham will look to turn their league form round at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

See: Fulham line-up and report

In Tuesday's other EFL Cup match, Cardiff City won 2-1 at Wrexham in an all-Welsh tie.

Wednesday's EFL Cup fixtures

Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion
Swansea City v Manchester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool v Crystal Palace
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea

The draw for the quarter-finals will be made on Wednesday, after the conclusion of Newcastle v Spurs. The resulting ties will be played in the week commencing 15 December.