Crawley 'wanted it more'

LONDON • Fulham manager Marco Silva said Crawley Town showed more desire than his Premier League team in Tuesday's League Cup second-round clash, in which they were knocked out after a 2-0 loss away to the League Two side.

Silva made 10 changes for the trip to Broadfield Stadium as Fulham, who are seventh in the top flight after three matches, were beaten by Crawley, who are 84 places lower on the English ladder.

"It was a bad performance, definitely, and of course the result as well," the Portuguese said.

"It puts us out of a competition that we wanted to win.

"Congratulations to them, from the first minute they wanted it more than us, and after that we lost a little bit of control in the game, started to make some mistakes, and they scored, which made it more difficult for us."

Crawley manager Kevin Betsy, who played for Fulham from 1998 to 2002, described his team's win - thanks to goals from Tom Nichols and Liverpool loanee James Balagizi - as "unbelievable".

"Little Crawley Town beating Premier League Fulham... What we have done is phenomenal," he told the BBC. "The players put in an amazing performance.

"We were relentless in our pressing and our application. We stuck to the game plan extremely well. It worked and that will be our blueprint going forward. It was a fantastic night for everyone."

The Cottagers joined Norwich City and Leeds United on the list of top-flight clubs who have suffered Cup embarrassments at Crawley in recent years.

Silva handed debuts to Issa Diop, Marlon Fossey and 17-year-old academy graduate Luke Harris, while Shane Duffy and Kevin Mbabu made their first starts.

But Fulham fell behind after just 16 minutes when Nichols took Ashley Nadesan's pass and drilled a low left-footed drive across Marek Rodak into the far corner.

Just four minutes into the second half, Fulham midfielder Tyrese Francois conceded possession deep inside his own half and Balagizi seized on Nichols' reverse pass to slot home.

The Premier League clubs involved in this season's European competitions have a bye into the third round, leaving the spotlight on Aston Villa, Everton and Leicester in the other second-round ties.

Villa came from behind to spare Steven Gerrard's blushes in a 4-1 win at Bolton.

After a frustrating start to the season and just three wins from 14 games stretching back to March, questions were being asked of Villa's direction under Gerrard.

They were stunned as Dion Charles gave third-tier Bolton a 24th-minute lead but Douglas Luiz levelled from a corner.

Danny Ings put Villa ahead with a penalty and further goals from Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey eased Villa into the third round.

"You are always looking for the right reaction and response," Gerrard said in reference to a 3-1 loss at Crystal Palace last weekend.

Everton are also off to a slow start in the Premier League and they only scraped into the third round with a 1-0 victory at League One side Fleetwood. A first-half goal from Demarai Gray ensured Frank Lampard's side progressed.

Leicester needed a 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory to avoid a shock defeat at fourth-tier Stockport, who held Brendan Rodgers' troubled side to a 0-0 draw.

Without a win in three Premier League games and with Wesley Fofana and James Maddison linked with moves, the Foxes needed debutant goalkeeper Daniel Iversen to make three saves in the shoot-out before they advanced.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE