Wayne Rooney returned from a month-long injury absence as Manchester United eliminated Newcastle to set up a League Cup clash with Chelsea, while Liverpool got Nuri Sahin's first two goals for the club to advance on Wednesday.

Anderson and Tom Cleverley scored to give United a 2-1 victory as Rooney played for the first time since gashing his right thigh, completing 76 minutes at Old Trafford.

"It's been just over four weeks since I last played and I'm delighted to be back out on the pitch playing," Rooney said. "It was a good run-out for me and hopefully there's a lot more games to come. I feel good."

United midfielder Darren Fletcher made his first start in 10 months as he battles a chronic bowel complaint.

With a string of defensive injuries, manager Alex Ferguson turned to youth with Alex Buttner, Marnick Vermijl, Scott Wootton and Will Keane tasked with keeping the Newcastle forwards at bay.

"Newcastle had a stronger team than us physically. We played fantastic football and I think we deserved it," United manager Alex Ferguson said.

Liverpool endured a nervy night, with Sahin scoring his second goal late at West Bromwich Albion to secure a 2-1 victory after having equalized just before halftime. Just before the on-loan midfielder's winner, Jerome Sinclair became Liverpool's youngest ever player by coming off the bench aged 16 years and six days.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, whose name was sung by Liverpool fans at the end, praised his youngsters.

"It's congratulations to Jerome Sinclair," Rodgers said. "Our future is bright with the young players. The style and definition of our game is improving all the time."

In the fourth round draw, Liverpool was drawn to face Rodgers' former club Swansea.

Arsenal will next face Reading after its 6-1 demolition of third-tier club Coventry.

Reading twice had to come from behind at Queens Park Rangers before Pavel Pogrebnyak clinched a 3-2 win.

Tottenham advanced with a 3-0 victory at third-tier club Carlisle. Tottenham will next face Norwich, which beat Doncaster 1-0.

Sunderland will face Middlesbrough, while Aston Villa will play at Swindon, Wigan will host Bradford, and Southampton will face Leeds.

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