Manchester, England

Owen Hargreaves had a successful return to the pitch as he scored a goal to help lead Manchester City to a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City in a Carling Cup matchup.

The former Manchester United player scored in the 17th minute from about 25 yards out to give City a quick lead. Mario Balotelli scored just before the half to make it 2-0.

Chelsea played with 10 men after defender Alex was sent off and got lucky in a win over Fulham in a match decided by penalties.

Alex drew a red card early in the second half but Pajtim Kasami missed the penalty kick. Given new life after a scoreless overtime, Chelsea won 4-3 on penalities.

Liverpool survived a scare in a 2-1 victory against Brighton and Phil Neville scored in the 103rd minute to giveEverton a 2-1 comeback victory against West Brom at Goodison Park.

Cardiff won 7-6 on penalties against Leicester to advance to the final 16 and Southampton held on to defeat Preston 2-1 on goals by Jos Hooived and Adam Lallana.

Hargreaves was let go by Manchester United after three injury-plagued seasons but showed his new side he is back with a quick strike. He gained control of a losse ball and rifled a shot past Birmingham goalkeeper Colin Doyle and into the top corner.

The goal was the first for Hargreaves since April 2008 as he scored just twice in 39 appearances for the Red Devils.

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