Holders Man United at Bristol City after delayed draw

Saturday, 28 October 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: Holders Manchester United will travel to Championship side Bristol City in the League Cup quarter-finals following an embarrassing delayed draw on Thursday.

The draw was scheduled to be broadcast live on Twitter at 1600 local time, but was delayed by nearly two hours due to technical problems before being shown in a pre-recorded video.

“We’re sorry for the issues that led to the delay of today’s Round Five draw,” Twitter UK said in a statement.

“We would also like to apologise to the thousands of supporters who had been patiently awaiting news of who their team would be playing.”

Arsenal host London rivals West Ham United and Premier League leaders Manchester City are at Leicester City in a repeat of their match at the same stage of the competition in 2013-14.

Manchester City won that game 3-1 and went on to lift the trophy.

Champions Chelsea welcome Bournemouth in the other quarter-final with all matches to be played in the week commencing Dec. 18.

The English Football League (EFL) said a number of technical issues had affected the draw.

“The EFL has received an apology from Twitter UK for the delay which is believed to have occurred as a result of a faulty encoder,” the organisers said.

“The EFL has requested a full explanation into the events that led to this afternoon’s unacceptable delay.”