Carabao Cup Round-up: Cork native Gabriel Otegbayo makes Sheffield Wednesday debut

Fans arrive at the ground ahead of a match at Hillsborough, Sheffield. Pic: Gary Oakley/PA Wire.

Cork native Gabriel Otegbayo made his first professional start for Sheffield Wednesday as they reached the Carabao Cup fourth round for the first time since 2015 after a 1-0 win at Blackpool.

The only goal of a scrappy contest packed full of industry but low on quality came in the 34th minute. Di'Shon Bernard claimed his first goal in Wednesday colours, firing home from close range after Michael Smith expertly headed Pol Valentin's delivery back across the face of goal. It was the former Manchester United defender's first goal in over three years.

League One side Blackpool had their moments, with Dom Thompson forcing Pierce Charles into action before Jordan Rhodes glanced over Elliot Embleton's inviting left-wing cross as former Cobh Ramblers and Ringmahon Rangers man Otegbayo was substituted on the hour.

Both sides made a raft of changes late on but the Seasiders failed to land a decisive blow as new boss Steve Bruce suffered his first defeat in front of a crowd of 5,429 at Bloomfield Road.

Elsewhere Ireland underage international Darius Lipsuic made his debut for Stoke City as goalkeeper Viktor Johansson was the hero to ensure they started life after Steven Schumacher with a 2-1 penalty shoot-out victory over Fleetwood.

The League Two visitors were bidding to reach the fourth round of the competition for the first time in their history.

Charlie Adam's side forced a shoot-out as Rhys Bennett cancelled out Michael Rose's header in stoppage time at the bet365 Stadium.

But Johansson kept out spot-kicks from Phoenix Patterson and Ryan Graydon before Mipo Odubeko and Ryan Broom both missed from 12 yards as Stoke, who sacked Schumacher on Monday, advanced.

Brentford survived an early scare against League One Leyton Orient before Fabio Carvalho's stunning first goal for the club helped them ease into the next stage with a 3-1 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Thomas Frank made eight changes to the team that had been beaten by Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday and the gamble looked at risk of backfiring when defender Brandon Cooper stunned home supporters in west London with an early tap-in to hand Richie Wellens' side the lead.

But Frank's stand-ins rallied and replied with three goals before the break, the highlight a fabulous overhead kick from Carvalho to equalise, before Mikkel Damsgaard's header and Christian Norgaard's 18-yard strike established a two-goal lead.

Eberechi Eze scored and assisted on his Loftus Road return with Crystal Palace as the Eagles beat QPR 2-1.

Eze, who joined Palace from their Sky Bet Championship hosts for a reported £17million in 2020, was presented with a shirt before kick-off as he went on to sting his boyhood club in what proved an impressive individual display in west London.

The attacking midfielder set up Eddie Nketiah for his first Palace goal before his fortunate second-half effort cancelled out Sam Field's equaliser.