Indonesia international defender Elkan Baggott gave out an impressive performance on Tuesday night as he helped EFL League Two side Gillingham knock out Premier League side Brentford on penalties in the 2022 EFL Cup third round at the Brentford Community Stadium in London.
Things initially didn’t go according to plan for the Gills as they were forced to hold their team talk in their bus and walk around 402 meters to the Brentford Community Stadium due to protests held by ecological group Just Stop Oil practically stopping traffic in the M25.
Ivan Toney then piled more misery on Gillingham by scoring Brentford’s opening goal after just seven minutes.
Brentford practically dominated the proceedings and overran their opponents, who were struggling in the League Two table. However, Gillingham refused to yield and they managed to land themselves the equalizer in the 75th minute, with substitute Mikael Mandron scoring the Gills’ only shot on target throughout the game.
With the game tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout was required to decide a winner. With all five takers from each side managing to score a penalty a piece, Alex MacDonald scored past David Raya to make it 6-5 Gillingham, before Brentford’s Mikkel Damsgaard sent his spot kick into the crossbar much to the jubilation of the Gillingham players.
Elkan played all 90 minutes of the match, being partnered by manager Neil Harris in the Gills’ central defense alongside Will Wright. The Indonesia international looked composed as he faced-off against a Brentford attack that included the likes of Toney, Damsgaard, and Keane Lewis-Potter, performing nine clearances, a block, and an intercept. Elkan was also involved in four one-on-one duels with opposition players, as well as sending three long balls as he also helped out Gillingham’s attack.
Elkan’s efforts in defense coupled with the strong mentality that the Gillingham players had in the shootout meant that the Gills are now in the hat for the EFL Cup fourth round draw for the first time since 1996. The League Two strugglers were drawn to face another Premier League side in Julen Lopetegui’s Wolverhampton Wanderers away at the Molineux on December 20th, right after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.