By AFP
LONDON: West Ham survived a scare from League One Wimbledon to register Manuel Pellegrini's first win in charge and progress to the third round of the League Cup as Premier League sides Cardiff, Huddersfield and Brighton bowed out on Tuesday.
The Hammers have suffered three straight defeats to begin their league season, despite former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss Pellegrini being backed with nearly GBP 100 million (USD 128.7 million) in the transfer market, and went behind inside two minutes at Kingsmeadow through Joe Pigott's header.
But the hosts were reduced to 10 men after just 18 minutes as Rod McDonald was dismissed for a second yellow card and second-half goals from Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Javier Hernandez secured a 3-1 win to spare Pellegrini's blushes.
Cardiff's poor start to the season on their return to the top flight continued with a comprehensive 3-1 defeat at home to Championship side Norwich.
Saido Berahino scored his first goal since February 2016 to send Stoke into the last 32 with a 2-0 win over Premier League Huddersfield.
Southampton edged out Brighton 1-0 in the only all-Premier League tie of the round thanks to Charlie Austin's winner two minutes from time.
Leicester cruised past Joey Barton's Fleetwood Town 4-0 with Rachid Ghezzal registering his first goal for the club.
Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves also eased into round three over lower league opposition in MK Dons, Exeter and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.
Crystal Palace needed Alexander Sorloth's first goal for the club 20 minutes from time to edge out Swansea 1-0.
Frank Lampard's Derby thrashed Hull 4-0, but Marcelo Bielsa tasted defeat for the first time as Leeds boss, losing 2-0 at home to Preston, while Aston Villa also went down 1-0 to League One Burton Albion.
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