Bournemouth secured a 3‑0 victory over Aston Villa at the Vitality Stadium, sending the Cherries into the Carabao Cup quarter‑finals for the first time in eight seasons. The win, the club’s fifth consecutive clean sheet, also marked a fifth straight victory across all competitions for manager Marco Rose. Villa, a five‑time League Cup champion, suffered their first defeat in eight games.
The match began with a swift opener from Bournemouth winger Amine Adli, who struck in the seventh minute after a precise cross from full‑back Julio Soler. Adli’s goal, the first of the season for the Moroccan international, set the tone for a dominant performance. Villa’s unfamiliar lineup struggled to create chances, and despite a few moments of pressure from Taylor Harwood‑Bellis and substitutes Alejandro Garnacho and Alysson, the visitors could not find a breakthrough. Bournemouth doubled the lead early in the second half when captain Lewis Cook converted a corner into a low cross that slipped past Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
The third goal came in the 69th minute when Álvaro Rodríguez burst into the penalty area and slotted a second goal into the bottom‑right corner after a loose pass was intercepted by Tyler Adams. Rodríguez’s strike, his second of the season, sealed a clean 3‑0 win that matched similar successes against Milan and Manchester United earlier in the campaign. With the victory, Bournemouth will face Liverpool in the quarter‑finals.
In the other fourth‑round tie, Sunderland edged Brentford 3‑2 at the Stadium of Light, with the Black Cats’ three goals coming in a rapid 10‑minute spell. Chemsdine Talbi, Timur Tutierov and Malick Fofana found the net, while winger Jocelin Ta Bi was involved in every one of the goals for Régis Le Bris’s heavily altered side. Callum Wilson pulled one back for Brentford within three minutes of the start, but Sunderland responded with a quick succession of goals in the first ten minutes, including a header from Ta Bi that set up a finish for Fofana.
Brentford’s Nathan Collins and Malick Diouf had early chances, but the Black Cats’ defense held firm. Despite a late header from Thiago, the match ended 3‑2 in Sunderland’s favour. The win guarantees Sunderland a place in the last eight for the first time in five years, when they were a League One team. Sunderland will next travel to Crystal Palace.