We scrape through into the 4th Round of the Carabao Cup

3rd Round Carabao Cup action away to Championship side Reading. KA made eight changes from the team that played Bournemouth on Saturday. Among those coming into the side was Carvalho, who was involved in a competitive fixture for the first time since 1 November 2025, after missing time with an ACL injury. Keeper Balcombe (who has been at the club for years) made only his second senior appearance, while summer signing Diouf started for the first time.

Overall, we just did enough to win, but both sides had plenty of chances, and a more realistic score could have been 3-5. We took the lead inside three minutes. Carvalho fed Ouattara down the right and, when he slipped while attempting to collect the return pass, the ball ran through to Wilson. The striker swept a composed finish into the bottom corner from 12 yards. Reading had the ball in the net in the 12th minute through O’Connor’s acrobatic finish, but the ref ruled it out for a high foot. We got our second in first half added time, with Carvalho being put through by Ouattara and slotting the ball past their keeper.

In the second half, Reading got a deserved equaliser, a header from a corner. At the end, Schuster headed a very good goal that was disallowed for no obvious reason, and the ref blew the final whistle when Thiago was through on goal with only their keeper to beat. Next up is Chelsea at home on Friday.