Liverpool easily made it to the FA Cup fifth round with a 3-0 win over Brighton yesterday. Mohamed Salah scored, and Marc Guehi scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 2-0 win against Salford, who play in the fourth tier.
Brighton upset Manchester United in the third round, but the Seagulls have been terrible since then and were easily beaten by a Liverpool team that is getting better at Anfield, according to AFP.
Because a lot of the English champions’ defenders were hurt, Curtis Jones had to start in an odd position as a right-back. He ran into the box and scored from a Milos Kerkez cross.
Salah has not been himself for most of the season, but a goal and an assist in the second half might give him a lot of confidence.
The Egyptian’s sloppy pass let Dominik Szoboszlai score Liverpool’s second goal. Salah then scored his 252nd goal for the Reds from the penalty spot.
Salford was playing in the fourth round for the first time in their existence. They were owned by Manchester United icons David Beckham and Gary Neville.
Last season, when they played City in the third round, the League Two team lost 8-0. But yesterday, they came much closer to beating Pep Guardiola’s team.
“They played really good defense, so tight, and we didn’t attack the spaces the way we should have.” Guardiola observed, “The game was boring until we scored the second goal.”
Alfie Dorrington’s own goal gave City an early lead, but England defender Guehi scored the game-winning goal with only nine minutes left. This was his first goal since joining Crystal Palace in January.
Newcastle’s rally
Newcastle overcame Aston Villa 3-1, coming back from behind with two goals from Sandro Tonali.
Unai Emery’s team lost their chance to win a trophy after Marco Bizot, the goalie, got a red card in the first half.
Tammy Abraham scored the first goal for the home team since he came back to Villa last month.
But the Magpies got the upper hand when Bizot ran off his line and took out Jacob Murphy, stopping him from getting a clear chance to score.
Newcastle’s comeback spared the officials from a humiliating moment. The situation got even more controversial when Lucas Digne’s handball, which was clearly within the box, was called a free kick instead of a penalty.
The decision couldn’t be looked at again because VAR wasn’t working at this point in the competition.
Wayne Rooney, a former captain of England, called the event “one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen!”
But Newcastle still tied the game on the free kick when Tonali’s shot went off Emi Martinez’s back.
Tonali has been linked to a move to Arsenal at the end of the season, and the Italian proved why he is in demand with a powerful shot from outside the box that changed the game.
Nick Woltemade then scored his first goal in 15 games, putting Newcastle into the last 16. The previous time they won the trophy was in 1955.
The gamble Burnley made didn’t pay off.
Mansfield, a team in the third tier, pulled off the biggest upset of the day by beating Premier League Burnley 2-1 to move on to the fifth round for the first time since 1975.
Scott Parker, the manager of Burnley, made nine changes, and the risk didn’t pay off even though Josh Laurent scored in the 21st minute to give them the lead.
In the 53rd minute, Rhys Oates scored the equalizer, and ten minutes before the end of the game, Louis Reed scored a great free kick to end a great individual effort.
West Ham won 1-0 against League One Burton after extra time, thanks to a goal from Crysencio Summerville, who was in great form.
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