🚨 EFL Cup: Jesus rescues Arsenal; Newcastle down Brentford; Liverpool win

The League Cup quarterfinals are underway this week, as a trio of games played out across England Wednesday evening.

Here is what went down

Southampton vs Liverpool

Scorers: Archer 59' ;  Núñez 24', Elliot 33'

Liverpool held on in the face of a late onslaught to scrape past Southampton and book passage to the semi-finals.

The torrential rain on the south coast seemed to force the tempo of the opening 10 minutes to stutter, but perhaps Liverpool's makeshift starting lineup didn't help the lack of rhythm either.

It's fitting the opening goal came with the help of a deflection as a Trent Alexander-Arnold through ball was knocked into the path of Darwin Núñez by a Saints defender, and the Uruguayan showed an unfamiliar composure to take the ball down and finish one-on-one with the keeper.

It went from good to great for the Reds past the half-hour mark when Harvey Elliott doubled the lead from close-range to cap off a superb team move.

While it looked like Liverpool would cruise through the second-half, Cameron Archer revitalised the match with a goal to cut Liverpool's lead in half.

Saints poured on the pressure in the dying moments, as Liverpool held on to fend off the equaliser, but the final pass seemed to always be missing from the home side.

A late shout for a Southampton penalty was waved away by the referee after Jarell Quansah appeared to take down a Saints attacker from behind in the box.

But the late push bore no fruit as the visitors held on to book their spot in the next round.

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Scorers: Jesus 53', 74', 81' ; Mateta 4', Nketiah 88'

A Gabriel Jesus hat-trick rescued Arsenal after going behind early, seeing them past Crystal Palace and into the League Cup semi-finals.

It was a rip-roaring start from the visitors as a route-one pass from Dean Henderson played in Jean-Philippe Mateta, and the striker provided a cool finish to open the scoring.

The Gunners dominated possession after the early blow, but struggled to find an opening to carve out a high-quality scoring chance — a pattern for Mikel Arteta's side as of late.

After the break the hosts finally created a flurry of chances, and Gabriel Jesus was the beneficiary as he pulled off an audacious chip after getting in behind the Palace rearguard.

The Brazilian has been much maligned as of late for his lack of goals, but the former Manchester City man quieted those critics for now with another goal on the night to help complete the turnaround for the home side.

He completed his hat-trick not too long later as Crystal Palace grew more exposed in the dying moments, seemingly confirming the Gunners' passage to the semi-finals.

A late Eddie Nketiah header against his former team forced the Emirates faithful to sweat through stoppage-time, though it was merely consolation.

Newcastle vs Brentford

Scorers: Tonali 9', 43', Schár 69' ; Wissa 90+1'

Newcastle United got back to winning ways with a solid showing against Brentford to move onto the next round.

A heavily rotated Brentford side came as a surprise as they are comfortable in the Premier League table as it stands, but Eddie Howe went strong with his XI.

It paid off in the opening 10 minutes when Sandro Tonali fired home a fizzer from the edge of the box to open the scoring.

Brentford did little to pull themselves back into the tie, and they were punished when Tonali scored his second of the night from a corner, flying into fire home a volley.

The tie was put to bed after the break when Bruno Guimarães fed Fabian Schär from point-blank range to fire home Newcastle's third on the evening.

Yoane Wissa pulled one back for the Bees in stoppage-time, but it was too-little, too-late from the visitors as the time ran out on their League Cup campaign just minutes later.

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