London, Sep 27: Premier League champions Manchester United suffered a shock League Cup exit for the second season running when they lost 2-0 at home to second division Coventry City today.

Holders Chelsea had no such trouble, however, routing Hull City 4-0 away to record the club's first victory under new manager Avram Grant following Jose Mourinho's exit a week ago.

Another top flight casualty was Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa, beaten 1-0 at home by his old club Leicester City.

In other third-round ties, West Ham United scraped through 1-0 against Plymouth Argyle with a late strike by Dean Ashton and James McFadden scored twice as Everton won 3-0 at second division strugglers Sheffield today.

Tottenham's under-pressure manager martin Jol got some relief when his side beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at White Hart Lane with late goals from Gareth Bale and Tom Huddlestone.

Blackburn Rovers also eased through with a 3-0 home win over Birmingham City in another all-Premier League tie.

United manager Alex Ferguson sent out a youthful side at Old Trafford and Coventry, backed by 11,000 travelling fans, took full advantage to repeat the feat of Southend United last year.

Maltese striker Michael Mifsud slid in after 27 minutes to put Coventry ahead and doubled their lead midway through the second half to seal victory for the Midlands club.

Chelsea's Israeli manager Grant included plenty of his seasoned internationals at Hull but it was 18-year-old Scott Sinclair who opened the scoring after 36 minutes.

Goals from Salomon Kalou and Steve Sidwell just after the break effectively killed the tie before Kalou grabbed his second of the night in the 81st minute.

Worryingly for both Chelsea and England manager Steve McClaren was the sight of winger Shaun Wright-Phillips limping off with a suspected hamstring injury.


Reuters

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