Football
Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FC 6y

Arsenal, Man City won't face Carabao Cup expulsion over fourth substitute

Arsenal and Manchester City are not in any danger of being thrown out of the Carabao Cup, despite some press reports on Wednesday morning.

It came after both clubs used a third and fourth substitute in their Carabao Cup ties on Tuesday, with the Gunners edging past Norwich 2-1 and City beating Wolverhampton Wanders on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

The Carabao Cup is taking part in a trial of a proposed new law which allows an additional substitute in extra time. 

But no matter how many substitutions a club makes in the 90 minutes, they are still eligible to make a total of four substitutions for the entire game through to the end of extra time. 

Rule 10.2 of the Carabao Cup regulations states: "Where any match goes to extra time (in accordance with the provisions of Rules 14.4, 14.5 and/or 14.6), then subject to the League having obtained the prior approval of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to the application of this Rule, each Club participating in that match will be permitted to use an additional substitute (in extra time only)."

In the last round of the competition, Bournemouth made two substitutes in extra time to take their total for the game to four, while Leeds made all four of their changes in this period in the same game.

It has been trialled in several competitions over the past 12 months, starting with the Club World Cup also including several UEFA and FIFA competitions, as well as the FA Cup and EFL knockout matches.

The very first time a fourth substitute was used, during Real Madrid's 4-2 Club World Cup final win over Kashima Antlers in December 2016, both clubs made multiple extra-time changes.

Madrid made only one sub in normal time, an then introduced a further three substitutes in the additional period with Alvaro Morata becoming the first-ever fourth sub. Antlers made two subs during the 90 minutes, and a further two in extra time. 

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