Fulham lose to Preston in what played out to be the longest penalty shootout in League Cup history with a total of 34 spot-kicks taken.
The Championship side produced an upset but dumped the Premier League club out, winning 16-15 on penalties, with Ryan Ledson netting the winning penalty to advance through to the Fourth Round, after Timothy Castagne blazed over the bar for Fulham.
Fulham’s Jorge Cuenca and Preston’s Kaine Kesler Hayden had earlier been unable to score their penalties.
PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Bauer (Hughes, 62), Lindsay, Kesler-Hayden; Bowler (Okkels, 83), Thórdarson (McCann, 68), Ledson, Holmes (Whiteman, 82); Frøkjær (Greenwood, 68), Osmajić. Subs not used: Cornell, Whatmough, Riis, Stewart.
Fulham line-up: Benda; Castagne, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon; Reed (Smith Rowe, 77), Berge, Cairney (Godo, 85); Wilson (Iwobi, 77), Muniz (Lukić, 90+5), Nelson (Jiménez, 86). Subs not used: Leno, Tete, Bassey, King.
Attendance: 5,530 (452 Fulham fans).
Referee: Mr B Madley.
On the remarkable shootout, Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom said: “The standard of penalties was really good. When you get that deep in and the commitment you’ve shown during the game to get to penalties, then when the penalties are racking up, the longer it went on, the more I wanted to win the game.
“When you’ve put so much into it and when you’ve come out on the positive end of that, it’s really good.”
On the Cottagers, Hecky added: “They stretched us and tested us. There were a couple of really good blocks in the first half when they got in behind us, so some really good defending.
“We had our moments as well and it was a really good, competitive game. We had to make a change when Pat (Patrick Bauer) went off and we made the change and we just didn’t set up the same way to go and press. It left Tom Cairney free and he went through and he ended up scoring off that.
“We stuck at it again. Fulham had a lot of the ball and a lot of territory towards the end of the game but again we defended our box really well and had our moments on the break and forced some corners, some opportunities from corners and set pieces.
“I think in the end we were pleased to get it to penalties. We had one or two come off with cramp and then Hughesy (Andrew Hughes) was carrying an injury towards the end when we were making a sub so we were pleased to get it to the 90 minutes.”
Captain Ledson sent a strike into the bottom corner and then scored two penalties in the shootout. Preston said there was a surprise waiting for him in the changing room.
Hecky said: “It’s actually a decent attack and Josh [Bowler] had got on the outside a couple of times. People want to show him on his right foot because of his left and he looks to naturally jink in on his left, but he’s very comfortable going down the right.
“He’d already stood a couple of balls up so Ledo was supporting the attack rather than being involved in it. We had bodies in the box to get on the end of the cross, they made the header but Ledo’s in a really good position at the end.
“I’ve just given Ledo the match ball there. It’s a strange hat-trick, but I think I’m allowing him to claim it.”
Fulham’s Marco Silva said: “I think, no I’m sure, that we did enough during the 95 minutes to win the game.
“From the first minute, we took control of the game and I think we created enough chances to score more goals. That is the situation.
“We created two or three chances that we should have scored. One rebound in that moment on the edge of the box and they scored. A very good reaction from us second-half. We took control of the game all second-half. A good goal from us.
“Some good chances again, the crossbar, a lot of crosses, a lot of moments where we should have scored. We didn’t and after in the penalties, they scored one more than us, one goal, and they are in the next round.”
On Reiss Nelson’s first Fulham goal: “Very good run from Sess. I think he’s improving, he’s getting better. From the first minute until the last minute, he kept composure always. He was strong defensively and, of course, offensively we know that he is capable to do.
“It’s important for him to get the confidence he needs because all of us know the quality that he has.”
On Sander Berge: “It’s important for him to get 90 minutes for the first time with our shirt and he’s going to be, step by step, in the condition that we need him to be to play the Premier League games.”
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PENALTY SHOOTOUT:
Preston 0-1 Fulham – Jimenez R. (scored)
Preston 1-1 Fulham – Whiteman B. (scored)
Preston 1-2 Fulham – Lukic S. (scored)
Preston 2-2 Fulham – Greenwood S. (scored)
Preston 2-3 Fulham – Berge S. (scored)
Preston 3-3 Fulham – Okkels J. (scored)
Preston 3-4 Fulham – Iwobi A. (scored)
Preston 4-4 Fulham – McCann A. (scored)
Preston 4-5 Fulham – Sessegnon R. (scored)
Preston 5-5 Fulham – Osmajic M. (scored)
Preston 5-6 Fulham – Castagne T. (scored)
Preston 6-6 Fulham – Ledson R. (scored)
Preston 6-7 Fulham – Smith Rowe E. (scored)
Preston 7-7 Fulham – Lindsay L. (scored)
Preston 7-8 Fulham – Diop I. (scored)
Preston 8-8 Fulham – Storey J. (scored)
Preston 8-8 Fulham – Cuenca J. (saved)
Preston 8-8 Fulham – Kesler-Hayden K. (saved)
Preston 8-9 Fulham – Godo M. (scored)
Preston 9-9 Fulham – Hughes A. (scored)
Preston 9-10 Fulham – Benda S. (scored)
Preston 10-10 Fulham – Woodman F. (scored)
Preston 10-11 Fulham – Jimenez R. (scored)
Preston 11-11 Fulham – Whiteman B. (scored)
Preston 11-12 Fulham – Lukic S. (scored)
Preston 12-12 Fulham – Greenwood S. (scored)
Preston 12-13 Fulham – Berge S. (scored)
Preston 13-13 Fulham – Okkels J. (scored)
Preston 13-14 Fulham – Iwobi A. (scored)
Preston 14-14 Fulham – McCann A. (scored)
Preston 14-15 Fulham – Sessegnon R. (scored)
Preston 15-15 Fulham – Osmajic M. (scored)
Preston 15-15 Fulham – Castagne T. (missed)
Preston 16-15 Fulham – Ledson R. (scored)
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Here’s how fans reacted as Fulham lose to Preston in what was the longest penalty shootout in League Cup history with 34 spot-kicks taken…
Carole Baldwin: Exciting and terrifying in equal measures. How I didn’t have a heart attack I’ll never know. So well done tonight. You all played your hearts out for 90 mins + then that penalty shootout was off the scale. So proud of you all. So well done. Xx💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
William Michael Neary: I thought the ref gave Fulham loads of the 50 / 50’s . Game was even. They brought their big guns on. We had men to match ’em. The penalties from both sides were brilliant. The ok coral ain’t got nothing on Deepdale 😉
Adam Pernak: Fantastic team performance and a deserved result. Everyone played their part. Sad to see Pat go off but hopefully Hecky saw enough to bring him back into contention when he’s fit again.
Dave Nelson: What a totally committed performance, absolutely tremendous display!! 👏👏👏 So much fight, so much spirit, so much determination – every credit indeed to the entire Preston team, very much including Heckingbottom and McCall!! 👏👏👏 What a penalty Freddie Woodman!! 😉⚽️😉 PS Let us not overlook – we overcame last season’s semi-finalists this evening 👍
Richard Wheeler: What a game..well done everyone.. every player left everything on the pitch tonight.. fight passion, and a determination not to be beaten.. Fitting that Ledo scored the winning penalty, he was superb tonight. So sad to see big Pat injured, he was also superb tonight on his first start for ages, he bought organisation to the defence, and would have been nailed on for a run in the side, we will miss him on Sunday, and Hughes may not make it either, as he was barely able to walk after being on the end of a poor tackle. PHSWA
Emilio De Maio: Great game to watch tonight, cracking effort, some decent penalties taken and some brilliant saves through the match. Bring on the rovers Sunday. COYW.
Cath Owston: Brilliant! Well done all-dug deep and excellent penalties. So good to see us play with belief and pull together as a team
Kevin ‘steve’ Stephenson: It was always a great game when we used to play them back in the 70s when I was a kid
Neil Byott: Full respect to PNE tonight. Committed team, gutsy performance and a deserved win. Wishing you every success in the coming round. FFC supporter.
Mark Cox: Hopefully that will shut the ryan ledson haters up for a while! He aswell as the whole squad were outstanding tonight every single one of them and some atmosphere that 2nd half considering was a poor turnout.
Barry Loughran: The best ever last minute decision to go on North End. Scenes 👍😀
Josh Roscoe: Freddie gets a lot of stick but some cracking saves tonight. Kept us in it. Ledson on fire 🔥
Dan Wilson: The fighting spirit of a Paul Heckingbottom side is shining through ❤️ The tide is turning and we are seeing Preston North End return with some fighting spirit!!
Patrick Corrigan: Penalties was something else but effort in the game was excellent, we played up to a premiership side tonight. Play like that in the league and we’ve nothing to fear.
Darren McDuff: It showed how well we did when Fulham put their big guns on to try to win the game. But to be fair the penalties from both sides, even the keepers were excellent. Next!
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