Fulham lose longest penalty shootout in League Cup history as Premier League side crash out to Championship club Preston in third round after THIRTY-FOUR spot-kicks
- Preston beat Fulham 16-15 with the 34th penalty of their League Cup shootout
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Championship Preston North End defeated Fulham on Tuesday night after the longest penalty shootout in League Cup history.
Preston captain Ryan Ledson held his nerve on the 31st penalty of the night after Timothy Castagne fired over from twelve yards, sending Paul Heckingbottom’s side through to the fourth round of the competition with a 16-15 penalty win.
“As soon as he (Castagne) missed, I knew I was going to score and it was really time to go home,” Ledson joked. “I want to get out of Liverpool (next round). All the lads are excited after that,” Ledson added.
“I’ve never been to Anfield so I would,” Heckingbottom said. “The penalties were unreal. As it went on I became more determined to win.”
Fulham manager Marco Silva made a complete overhaul of his team for the trip to Lancashire, with Reiss Nelson starting first, while Heckingbottom himself made eight changes.
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Fulham manager Marco Silva has changed his entire squad for the trip to Deepdale in Lancashire
Similarly, Paul Heckingbottom’s North End team had eight changes from the weekend
The home side took the lead in the first half thanks to a wonderful goal from Ledson, but Fulham scored a deserved equaliser after an hour through Nelson.
Silva returned to his bench and made five attacking changes in a bid for a winning goal, but Preston held on before prevailing in a frantic shootout that saw 31 of 34 penalties converted. “I thought we showed enough to win the game,” said Silva, whose team reached the semi-finals of the competition last season.