LONDON (AP) — Premier League teams Brentford and Southampton both squeezed past second-tier opponents to reach the quarterfinals of the English League Cup on Tuesday.
Brentford needed a penalty shootout to get past Sheffield Wednesday after a 1-1 draw.
Goalkeeper Mark Flekken saved from Liam Palmer off the last spot kick of a high-quality shootout that Brentford won 5-4.
James Bree scored an 88th-minute winner as Southampton beat Stoke 3-2.
A cup run is proving some respite for Southampton, which is in last place in the Premier League.
The rest of the last-16 matches are played on Wednesday, with all of the competition favorites in action.
Defending champion Liverpool visits Brighton, Premier League leader Manchester City is away to Tottenham and there are three other all-Premier League matchups: Newcastle vs. Chelsea, Manchester United vs. Leicester and Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace. Arsenal visits second-tier Preston.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Sheffield's Djeidi Gassama, center, celebrates scoring their side's first goal against Brentford during a League Cup fourth round soccer match at the Gtech Community Stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl reacts in the penalty shoot-out during a League Cup fourth round soccer match against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Sheffield Wednesday's Max Lowe, left, and Brentford's Yoane Wissa battle for the ball during a League Cup fourth round soccer match at the Gtech Community Stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an emergency appeal to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the presidential ballot in two battleground states.
Kennedy wanted to get off the ballot in Wisconsin and Michigan after dropping his independent bid and endorsing Republican Donald Trump in the tight contest. He argued that keeping him on violated his First Amendment rights by wrongly implying he still wanted to be elected president.
Michigan and Wisconsin said removing his name now, with early voting underway days before the election, would be impossible. More than 1.5 million people in Michigan have already returned absentee ballots, and another 264,000 have voted early, state attorneys wrote in court documents. In Wisconsin, over 858,000 people have returned absentee ballots.
The justices did not detail their reason in an order rejecting the emergency appeal, as is typical. One justice, Neil Gorsuch, publicly dissented in the Michigan case.
The presence of independent and third-party candidates on the ballot in swing states could be a key factor in the close presidential race. The high court previously rejected Kennedy’s separate effort to stay on the ballot in New York, a state where his presence is unlikely to make a difference in the race between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.
Kennedy has been working to get off the ballot in the seven key swing states since endorsing Trump. Wisconsin and Michigan are the last two where his name is expected to appear.
In Michigan, he notched an appeals court win but courts ultimately found he couldn't withdraw as the candidate of the Natural Law Party, which had wanted him to stay on.
In his dissent, Gorsuch pointed to lower court judges who wrote that the timing of Kennedy's original request to be removed wasn't so unreasonable that it should be denied.
In Wisconsin, courts rejected Kennedy's argument that major parties unfairly get more time to switch nominees. Judges there found candidates who miss deadlines to change nomination papers must remain on the ballot unless they die, and a plan to cover Kennedy's name with stickers was unworkable.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
