Barnsley have advanced to the third round of the League Cup for the first time in three years with a convincing 2-0 win at Championship rivals Middlesbrough.
They will now meet Premier League heavyweights Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next midweek, a stadium they have not played at since January 1998 when they lost 2-0 in a Premier League game.
Ironically the last time they reached the third round of this competition they also met a London Premier League heavyweight away – losing 1-0 to Tottenham at Wembley.
Barnsley have progressed to the third round of the League Cup without conceding a goal for the first time ever!
Indeed it is the first time they have kept two clean sheets in one edition of the competition since 2000-2001 when the earlier rounds were two legged affairs and the Reds won 1-0 in the first round first leg at Rotherham (winning 3-2 in the second leg) and then defeated Crewe 7-0 on aggregate in the second round.
Barnsley secured their passage by scoring two first half goals, for the first time in 29 matches (all comps) since scoring twice against QPR in December 2019.
It is the first time Barnsley have scored two first half goals away from home since October 2019 when they led 2-0 at the break at West Brom.
It is the first time Barnsley have held a two goal lead at the break in the League Cup since the second round of 2015-2016 when they led 2-0 against Premier League Everton – yet went on to lose 5-3.
In the first three games of 2020-2021 only one team has scored in the three games (a 2-0 win, 1-0 win and 1-0 defeat) the second successive season this has happened (1-0 win, 2-0 defeat, 3-0 defeat)
This victory ended a run of three successive defeats at the Riverside for Barnsley and is only their second win in 11 visits to Boro.
It is also their first cup win against the Teesiders from six such matches. Previously they had:
- Lost 4-1 in the League Cup – 1967
- Lost 2-1 in the FA Cup – 1981
- Lost 1-0 in the League Cup – 1991
- Lost 3-0 in the Anglo-Italian Cup – 1993
- Lost 2-0 in the FA Cup - 2015
Remarkably it is also the first time they have EVER won by two goals at Middlesbrough (and only the fifth victory there overall) previously winning 2-1 in 1956, 1-0 in 1990, 1-0 in 1992 and 3-2 in 2013.
Patrick Schmidt grabbed the opener after 22 minutes – it is his fourth goal for the club but his first before the 82nd minute of a game and his first when starting a game (albeit he has only started three games)
Luke Thomas set up both goals, the first Red to assist two goals in a game since Jacob Brown against Huddersfield in January.
Brad Collins made his first start since the final game prior to lockdown and kept his fifth clean sheet (from 23 appearances)
The Reds have now won each of the last 13 games in which they have scored the first goal of the game (Fulham, Huddersfield, Crewe, Millwall, QPR, Middlesbrough, Hull, QPR, Blackburn, Nottingham Forestx2, Brentford, Middlesbrough), last failing to do so against Reading in December (1-1)
Barnsley are unbeaten in successive away games for the first time since February.
Barnsley only won two corners, their lowest since winning only one at West Brom in October 2019.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
6. Mads Andersen
30. Michal Helik
26. Michael Sollbauer
2. Jordan Williams
17. Marcel Ritzmaier
27. Alex Mowatt
14. Kilian Ludewig
28. Dominik Frieser
19. Patrick Schmidt
16. Luke Thomas
Substitutes:
4. Callum Styles (for Ludewig 45)
9. Cauley Woodrow (for Thomas 61)
24. Aapo Halme (for Sollbauer 69)
Unused Substitutes:
29. Victor Adeboyejo, 11. Conor Chaplin, 25. George Miller, 1. Jack Walton
Middlesbrough Team
1. Marcus Bettinelli
2. Anfernee Dijksteel
6. Dael Fry
15. Nathan Wood
33. Hayden Coulson
8. Lewis Wing
7. Marcus Tavernier
5. Sam Morsy
27. Marc Bola
12. Marcus Browne
11. Ashley Fletcher
Substitutions:
17. Paddy McNair (Dijksteel 45)
24. Samuel Folarin (for Fletcher 69)
16. Jonny Howson (for Morsy 69)
Unused Substitutes:
9. Britt Assombalonga, 31. Sam Byram, 3. Marvin Johnson, 29. Djed Spence.
Middlesbrough assistant manager Ronnie Jepson said:
"Quite a few players were playing together for the first time so it was a good opportunity for our gaffer to see the lads and try and get one or two up to speed.
"Sam Morsy came in and he's only played 70 minutes in the last couple of weeks so it was good to get him in.
"Overall, it was positive and I thought in the second half we grew into it a little bit and got on the front foot. The main aim was to give people minutes and give everyone a chance."
Carabao Cup Second Round results
TUESDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2020
Middlesbrough 0-2 BARNSLEY
Schmidt 22
Williams 34
Derby County 1-2 Preston North End
Knight 51
Barkhuizen 79
Johnson pen 90+2
Bradford City 0-5 Lincoln City
French og 4
Scully 6
Montsma 29
Jones 41
Morton 90+3
Fleetwood Town 2-1 Port Vale
Madden 14
Whitehead 49
Morris 75
Newcastle United 1-0 Blackburn Rovers
Fraser 35
Burton Albion 1-3 Aston Villa
Daniel 2
Watkins 39
Grealish 88
Davis 90+2
Morecambe 1-0 Oldham Athletic
Wildig 22
Rochdale 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Kachunga 54
Windass 88
Gillingham 1-1 Coventry City
Biamou 61
Graham pen 90+4
Gillingham win 5-4 on pens
Millwall 3-1 Cheltenham Town
Leonard 19
Mahoney 49
Smith 62
Azaz 69
Reading 0-1 Luton Town
Clark 24
Newport County 1-0 Cambridge United
Twine 80
Oxford United 1-1 Watford
Hall 26
Sema 89
Watford win 3-0 on pens
West Ham United 3-0 Charlton Athletic
Haller 22
Haller 26
Anderson 80
AFC Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace
Bournemouth win 11-10 on pens
Leyton Orient 3-2 Plymouth Argyle
Camara 19
Watts 34
Dennis 55
McAnuff 74
Johnson 90+3
WEDNESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER 2020
Leeds United 1-1 Hull City
Wilks 5
Alioski 90+3
Hull win 9-8 on pens
Everton 3-0 Salford City
Keane 8
Sigurdsson 74
Kean pen 87
Ipswich Town 0-1 Fulham
Mitrovic 38
Bristol City 4-0 Northampton Town
Martin 43
Palmer 48
Semenyo 82
Palmer 88
Southampton 0-2 Brentford
Norgaard 40
Dasilva 45+1
West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Harrogate Town
Harper 18
Robson-Kanu 22
Robinson 77
THURSDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER 2020
Burnley 1-1 Sheffield United
McGoldrick 4
Vydra 67
Burnley win 5-4 on pens
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Stoke City
Brown 86
Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 Portsmouth
MacAllister 38
Jahanbaksh 54
Bernardo 57
Gyokeres 71
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Two: Reading v Barnsley, Saturday 19th September 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm.
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Three: Barnsley v Coventry City, Saturday 26th September 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm