The striker made his point to Unai Emery after the Villa boss was willing to let him leave in the summer. Abraham rejected loan moves to Ipswich and Everton in the transfer window to fight for his place, with Emery then calling for him to produce more. Two calm finishes, either side of Ross Barkley's header, underlined the striker's desire to prove his worth following the £65m arrival of Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea. Abraham's crucial contribution helped ease Villa through as they look to find some momentum after a difficult start to the season, with Emery's men losing three of their opening four Premier League matches. They were briefly rattled when the Sky Blues levelled through Victor Torp's fine free-kick and the hosts pressed but it was ultimately a comfortable win with Coventry's season already becoming a nightmare. Struggling Coventry scored their first home goal of the campaign through Torp, but suffered a fifth defeat in their opening six games. Abraham, one of seven Villa changes to the side that lost to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, had scored just once in his previous 16 appearances - back in April - but got the opener after seven minutes Torp levelled when he found the top corner from 25 yards and Gustavo Hamer went close with a long-range strike. But the Sky Blues' soft centre gifted Villa two more goals. Coventry have now conceded 15 goals in all competitions this season and followed up Sunday's 5-0 rout at home to Brighton by allowing an unmarked Barkley to glance in a corner before the break. John McGinn had earlier gone close, but Abraham sealed victory just before the hour mark when he shrugged off debutant Stephen Mfuni to tap in McGinn's corner. Villa face a trip to Bournemouth in round four, with ties taking place during the week commencing 26 October.

The Brazil international has now scored 11 goals in all competitions, nine of them in the league to help Barca begin their title defence with six straight wins. Hansi Flick's side have begun the campaign in blistering form and have scored five or more in five of their seven matches in all competitions, amassing 33 goals in total. Joao Cancelo opened the scoring eight minutes in with a 20-yard curler at the Nou Camp and the hosts doubled their lead with a Raphinha penalty midway through the first half. Racing pulled one back through Maguette Gueye but Barca soon restored their two-goal advantage as Cancelo's long-range strike deflected in off Asier Villalibre, eventually being credited as an own goal. Raphinha's low strike made it four and it should have been five shortly after, but Lamine Yamal saw his penalty saved by Julen Agirrezabala on the stroke of half-time. Yassir Zabiri got Racing's second to reduce the deficit on 65 minutes but two minutes later Barca were awarded their third penalty of the night. Spot-kick duties were handed back to Raphinha and the captain put it away to complete his hat-trick. Yamal teed up substitute Gabriel Jesus to score the sixth and the Spain winger finally got his goal in the 89th minute to round off another emphatic win for the Catalan side.

The decisive moment came in the 66th minute when Le Fee composed himself to calmly roll the spot-kick into the bottom corner having been brought down at the end of a swift counter-attack. Roared on by a vociferous home crowd, the Black Cats had been much the better side in the first half of this Europa League opener but failed to take their chances - Le Fee coming closest with a shot that came back off the post. But AZ arrived boasting an unbeaten record and showed why in a much-improved second-half showing. Sunderland appeared to be clinging on in the closing stages before their Dutch opponents tired. Regis le Bris' side should have extended their lead in the final moments, but missed chances were soon forgotten as the final whistle confirmed a first victory in European competition since 1973.

United head coach Michael Carrick had to bring on skipper Bruno Fernandes 18 minutes from time in a desperate attempt to salvage the game after watching his side concede twice in four second-half minutes. It was the first time United had led at home by two goals and lost since they were beaten 3-2 by Tottenham in 1976, half a century ago. The small band of Brighton fans were jubilant as they celebrated in the corner of Old Trafford, with the home fans booing their team off at the final whistle. It was the worst possible outcome for United and Carrick, still reeling from the stunning Manchester derby defeat by 10-man City - followed by 15-year-old academy star JJ Gabriel informing the club of his intention to quit. United thought they had the perfect response when their other highly rated youngster Shea Lacey marked his first senior start with a well-taken goal after just eight minutes. Mason Mount doubled their advantage two minutes later when he drove home the rebound from a Marcus Rashford effort that had been blocked. At that point, it looked like being a good night for Carrick and his team. But Charalampos Kostoulas pulled one back just before half-time. Brighton skipper Pascal Gross levelled when he was left on his own on the edge of the area and had time to turn on to a clearance from halfway and send his shot beyond Wales goalkeeper Karl Darlow, who was making his United debut. Four minutes later, Kostoulas turned supplier as he cut the ball back for substitute Maxim de Cuyper to finish. Jason Steele denied Marcus Rashford an equaliser at one end, but United were reliant on Darlow denying Diego Gomez a fourth Brighton goal. After their humbling EFL Cup loss at League Two Grimsby last season, followed by Brighton's FA Cup triumph here in January, it was a third successive domestic cup loss for Manchester United.

The 16-year-old was one of two youngsters making their first appearance of the season from the start, alongside centre-back Marli Salmon, 17. Dowman opened the scoring with a fine solo goal in the seventh minute. He won the ball in midfield, played a one-two with Eberechi Eze and ran through, leaving two defenders on the ground, before sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. Noni Madueke rifled in their second effort following Mikel Merino's flicked ball over the top. And after the break Dowman showed good composure to control Martin Zubimendi's pass before rolling the ball into the far bottom corner. Merino fired in Arsenal's fourth goal off the inside of the post. Ipswich scored twice, through Anis Mehmeti's finish from Jack Clarke's pass and Chuba Akpom's tidy turn and finish - but it was far too little and too late. As is the norm these days, both sides put out heavily rotated starting line-ups - with a combined 19 changes from their weekend Premier League matches.