Toure extra special for City . . . Crouch hits hit-track in Spurs rout

Manchester City 2 Fulham 1 ( After extra time

Manchester City 2 Fulham 1 ( After extra time. 1-1 after 90 mins ):Manchester City captain Kolo Toure steered the club into the fourth round by scoring the winner in extra-time at Eastlands.

Toure got on the end of a corner from substitute Martin Petrov to head home in the 111th minute.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson named a completely different starting XI to the one that lost to Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday and the west Londoners opened the scoring with a wonder goal from Zoltan Gera, only for Gareth Barry to pull City level.

In the 34th minute Fulham took the lead with a goal out of nothing.

READ MORE

Gera picked up a loose ball 30 yards out and smashed a marvellous half-volley beyond Shay Given.

In the 52nd minute City levelled when the Fulham goalkeeper lost his bearings as Craig Bellamy delivered a corner and Barry scored with a header at the back post.

Preston NE 1 Tottenham 5

Peter Crouch made the most of only his third start of the season by claiming a clinical hat-trick to ease Tottenham into the last 16.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp made seven changes for the third-round tie and Crouch emerged as the prime beneficiary as his predatory strikes took his season tally to five.

He made the most of his recall in the 14th minute when he dispatched Gareth Bale’s deep cross with a fine volley, and Jermain Defoe effectively finished Preston off with a predatory header seven minutes before half-time, but there were plenty more goals to come.

With 13 minutes remaining, Crouch tapped home Aaron Lennon’s low cross to add further gloss to a fine night for Spurs, who were given several scares by Alan Irvine’s high-flying Championship outfit.

Preston lacked nothing in spirit, and pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute through substitute Chris Brown.

However, Spurs substitute Robbie Keane added a fourth with three minutes remaining and Crouch completed his treble with a cheeky back-heel in injury-time.

Aston Villa 1 Cardiff City 0

Gabriel Agbonlahor ensured Aston Villa avoided more League Cup humiliation with his third-minute goal sufficient at Villa Park. Villa had crashed out of the competition to lower-league opposition in three of the previous four seasons.

But Agbonlahor continued his hot scoring streak after linking up with fellow striker John Carew to seal a spot in the fourth round.

Hull City 0 Everton 4

Everton were barely extended as they cruised into the fourth round.

The tie was effectively settled in the opening 24 minutes as the visitors powered ahead at the KC Stadium with goals from Ayegbeni Yakubu, Jo and Dan Gosling.

David Moyes’ men took their goal tally to 11 in three games as Leon Osman added a fourth.

Fouth-round draw: Live on Soccer Saturday, Sky Sports, noon.