Sterling shines for Liverpool

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling netted a sharply-taken double in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday to set up a League Cup semifinal with Chelsea as Tottenham Hotspur strolled into the last four with a 4-0 rout of Newcastle United.

Sterling, who wasted chances in the 3-0 defeat by Manchester United on Sunday, looked a sharp-eyed goal-getter against second-tier opponents as he lifted the pressure on his manager Brendan Rodgers.

It was an even more comfortable evening for Tottenham Hotspur, who will face third-tier Sheffield United in a two-legged clash in January.

Nabil Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli, Harry Kane and Roberto Soldado were on target for Spurs against Newcastle who conceded four times for the second match in succession after losing 4-1 to Arsenal in north London on Saturday.

At Bournemouth, the hosts' hopes of an upset were scuppered by their own profligacy against eight-times winners Liverpool.

A glaring miss from Callum Wilson was punished on 20 minutes when Sterling headed the visitors ahead from close range.

Liverpool, who had won only two of 10 matches since they last played in the League Cup, seemed to have rediscovered their scoring touch when Lazar Markovic struck with his first goal for the club.

Sterling finished precisely six minutes after the break before Dan Gosling grabbed a consolation when his shot beat keeper Brad Jones, who should have done better.

Sociedad advance
An Alfred Finnbogason double gave David Moyes' Real Sociedad a 2-0 victory over third tier Real Oviedo and earned them a place in the last 16 of the King's Cup on Wednesday.
Oviedo had held Sociedad to a 0-0 draw at home but Real, who fielded a number of reserve players, were on top in front of their own fans, except for a brief spell at the start of the second half.

Sergio Canales and Pablo Hervias moved the ball around well for Sociedad on the wings and Finnbogason fluffed a couple of early chances, before the hosts took the lead with a well worked move.

Ruben Pardo knocked the ball over the top and Hervias slid it across the penalty area for Finnbogason to score after 28 minutes.

Confidence is fragile in San Sebastian at the moment and there was tension in the stands as Oviedo pressed forward after the break but Finnbogason fired in a volley from close range on the hour to seal the win for Moyes' side.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are already in the last 16 and were joined by Villarreal who beat Cadiz 5-1 on aggregate and Granada, who knocked out Cordoba 2-1. Espanyol beat Alaves 3-0 on aggregate, Getafe had a 5-1 aggregate win against Eibar and Levante went through on away goals against Albacete after drawing 1-1 over two legs.