Ravanelli hits four for Boro

COCA-COLA CUP: Chelsea shine brightly and Forest establish slim advantage over Wycombe but Hammers are held at Barnet

Fabrizio Ravanelli scored four times last night as Middlesbrough overwhelmed Hereford United 7-0 in the first leg of their second-round Coca-Cola Cup tie at the Riverside Stadium, writes Mark Burton.

The pounds 7m Italian took his season's tally to 10 goals, including two hat- tricks. He was backed up against the Third Division side by the Brazilians Emerson and Branco, and Curtis Fleming. It was the first time Boro had scored seven in a match since 1978, when they beat Chelsea 7-2 at home in a League game.

Hereford's manager, Graham Turner, said: "I was hoping the referee would blow the whistle 15 minutes after half-time. It was a tidal wave at times."

York City moved half-way to an upset by holding Everton to a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. The Second Division side, who disposed of Manchester United at the same stage last season, briefly led through Neil Tolson's 54th-minute goal. Andrei Kanchelskis rescued Everton with an equaliser three minutes later, and York survived a late onslaught, thanks largely to goalkeeper Andy Warrington.

Nottingham Forest made hard work of securing a 1-0 victory over Wycombe, who are struggling in the Second Division. The decisive goal at the City Ground came from Bryan Roy, whose stunning 54th-minute shot went in off the crossbar.

Goals by Matthew Le Tissier and Gordon Watson helped Graeme Souness to his first victory as Southampton manager, 2-0 over another Second Division side, Peterborough. Le Tissier opened the scoring in the 18th minute after a superb piece of ball juggling. Deep into the second half Watson added their second, set up by the centre-back Claus Lundekvam, who sprinted half the length of the pitch.

Stewart Houston also enjoyed his first success as manager of Queen's Park Rangers, but only after seeing his First Division side fall behind at Second Division Swindon. Mark Walters put Swindon ahead with a superb solo goal in the 63rd minute, but Rangers turned the game round when Daniele Dichio equalised from Paul Murray's pass in the 77th minute. Two minutes later Andrew Impey scored the winner from a Trevor Sinclair cross.

n Diego Maradona's troubled career took a fresh turn yesterday when he agreed to pay for damage caused to an Alicante hotel where he was a guest. Five chairs, a table, a marble ashtray, a door, a ceiling and the doors of a lift were damaged in incidents following Maradona's return to the hotel in the early hours of Wednesday morning.