United responds to Ten Hag firing by routing Leicester in League Cup. Liverpool also advances

Manchester United responded to the departure of Erik ten Hag by scoring four goals in the first 38 minutes on the way to a 5-2 thrashing of Leicester in the last 16 of the English League Cup on Wednesday.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals were defending champion Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

Two days after firing Ten Hag, United displayed the cutting edge so often lacking under the Dutchman with Brazil midfielder Casemiro scoring two of the team’s first-half goals - one a curling strike into the top corner from 30 meters.

Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes also netted in that early flurry of goals, while Fernandes added a fifth in the 59th.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, United’s former star striker, took charge of United having been Ten Hag’s assistant, and enjoyed what might be his only game at the helm. United appears close to bringing in Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim as the replacement for Ten Hag.

Liverpool continued its title defense with a 3-2 win over Brighton that was sparked by a double from Cody Gakpo.

The Netherlands international scored in the 46th and 63rd minutes at Amex Stadium, while Luis Diaz added a third in the 85th after Brighton had pulled a goal back through Simon Adingra.

Liverpool held on after Tariq Lamptey scored Brighton’s second goal in the 90th.

Liverpool has won the League Cup a record 10 times, most recently last season with a victory over Chelsea in the final.

Newcastle beat Chelsea 2-0 thanks to Alexander Isak’s close-range strike and an own-goal by Axel Disasi, while Palace defeated Aston Villa 2-1 in another all-Premier League match thanks to goals by Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada. Jhon Duran netted for Villa.

Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri and Kai Havertz were Arsenal’s scorers in a 3-0 win at second-tier Preston.

Manchester City was playing away to Tottenham in the late game Wednesday.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer