Under-pressure Manchester United manager Michael Carrick is retaining Bruno Fernandes as captain despite dropping the Portugal star during a crisis at the beleaguered Premier League giant. Fernandes criticized Carrick’s tactics after a heavy Champions League defeat at Como last week. Fernandes was named as a substitute and never got on the field in the 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth on Sunday. Those two results left Carrick’s job under massive threat but United has decided to give its former midfielder the chance to turn things around. That starts against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.

Manchester City has stayed on course to retain the English League Cup by beating Brighton 4-3 in a penalty shootout in the last 16. Backup goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli saved Brighton’s last two spot kicks in the shootout to earn City a spot in the quarterfinals. The match finished 2-2 in regulation. City avoided the fate that befell fellow Premier League heavyweight Arsenal, which was eliminated by fourth-tier minnow Fleetwood Town on penalties on Tuesday. Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland also won.Liverpool was hosting Chelsea in the late game.

Fleetwood Town and its fans woke up Wednesday still pinching themselves following one of the biggest upsets in English League Cup history. The fourth-tier team knocked Premier League champion Arsenal out of the competition in a penalty shootout. More than 80 places separate the two teams in the English soccer pyramid. Arsenal’s stellar squad is worth an approximate $1.6 billion, while Fleetwood’s is valued at a relatively paltry $3 million. Mikel Arteta has steered Arsenal to five trophies, including last season's Premier League title. Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor is less than a year into his first senior managerial position.

Two-time World Cup coach Takeshi Okada has resigned as Japanese soccer federation vice president in protest at the politics around FIFA during Gianni Infantino’s campaign to be re-elected. Japan’s soccer body has published Okada’s resignation statement dated last Saturday. That was 24 hours after the Asian Football Confederation did a U-turn by publicly supporting Infantino, who seeks a fourth and final presidential term at an election in March. The 70-year-old Okada coached Japan at the World Cups of 1998 and 2010. His resignation statement spoke of his belief “that sports should embody integrity.”

The national soccer federation says all 24 Copa del Rey games scheduled on Wednesday have been postponed because of the train accident that killed at least 30 people in central Spain. Authorities say about 80 people have been injured and the death toll could rise after a high-speed train slammed into the rear of another one that had stopped on the track. The federation says it ordered the postponement of the games “in solidarity with the victims” of the accident.