Liverpool's season went from bad to worse Wednesday as it was shocked by fourth-tier side Northampton in the third round of the League Cup, on a night fellow Premier League giants Chelsea and Manchester City were also knocked out. Liverpool, which is fifth from bottom in the league, lost 4-2 on penalties in teeming rain at Anfield to the lowest-ranked team left in the competition. Newcastle upset Chelsea 4-3 following a last-minute strike by Shola Ameobi, the striker's second goal of the night, and West Bromwich Albion came from behind to beat City 2-1 through goals by Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox. Michael Owen scored twice as defending champion Manchester United rallied to thrash second-tier Scunthorpe 5-2. Villa lifts Barca Barcelona survived a tough contest and the absence of Lionel Messi as David Villa's second-half goal earned the Spanish champion a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon Wednesday. Daniel Alves played Villa through on goal in the 50th minute and the Barcelona striker made no mistake as he shot over goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar for the only goal at the Camp Nou stadium. Barcelona dominated play but lacked the cutting edge in front of goal that Messi usually provides, as the Argentina forward missed the match with an ankle injury. Sergio Gonzalez scored with a fierce shot at the edge of the area in the 39th minute to give Levante its first victory of the season in a 1-0 result at Almeria, which remained in the bottom three without a win. Zaragoza is also still looking for a first win following a 0-0 draw against Hercules, which has not won since its shock victory over Barcelona. Aritz Aduritz scored with an 84th-minute header as Valencia rallied for a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid, which had gone ahead through Simao Sabrosa's goal in the 18th. Valencia joined leader Real Madrid on 10 points as the pair lead Barcelona by one in the standings. Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao have seven each. Milito on a roll In Rome, Diego Milito ended his scoring drought with two goals to help European champion Inter Milan rout Bari 4-0 Wednesday to take sole possession of the Serie A lead. Milito scored nearly all of Inter's key goals when the club won a treble of titles last season but had gone scoreless in the Nerazzurri's opening six games in all competitions this campaign. The Argentine finally found the target following a setup from Samuel Eto'o in the 27th minute at the San Siro, Eto'o converted from the spot in the 50th and 63rd, and Milito added another to finish off a counterattack in the 86th. City rival AC Milan was held to a 1-1 draw at Lazio, despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal.
