Lukaku double sends Man United into FA Cup quarters
LONDON (Reuters) - Romelu Lukaku extended his impressive FA Cup scoring record by netting twice in Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Huddersfield Town to send Jose Mourinho’s side through to the quarterfinals.
The Belgian has scored in each of the three rounds United have played of this year’s competition and now has 11 goals from his past 10 FA Cup appearances.
Lukaku’s first came after three minutes, and the striker scored again in the second half after United mounted a quick counter-attack against a side which beat it at the John Smith’s Stadium in the Premier League last October.
Saturday’s fifth-round late kickoff also featured English football’s latest video-assisted referee (VAR) decision when United’s Juan Mata had a goal disallowed after being ruled fractionally offside before the interval.
United’s midfielder Paul Pogba missed the game due to illness.
West Bromwich Albion’s tumultuous week took a final turn for the worse as it was knocked out by Southampton, which won 2-1 to secure a quarterfinal berth for the first time since 2005.
Defeat always seemed likely for West Brom, which is bottom of the Premier League and sacked its chairman and chief-executive on Tuesday.
West Brom had four senior players interviewed by Spanish police over the alleged theft of a taxi from outside a fastfood restaurant in Barcelona.
Two of those involved in the incident, Jonny Evans and Gareth Barry, both started against Southampton after issuing a public apology, although Evans was stripped of the captaincy by Albion manager Alan Pardew.
“I felt I needed to make a little bit of a statement about the events,” Pardew said. “I was far from happy over them.”
Evans could do nothing to stop Southampton taking the lead through Wesley Hoedt on 11 minutes, with Dusan Tadic adding the second after the interval.
Salomon Rondon quickly countered for West Brom but Southampton held on to record its second win at Albion in two weeks.
Brighton’s Jurgen Locadia scored on his debut in the 3-1 win over Coventry City which, after knocking out Stoke City in the third round, failed in its attempt to make FA Cup history by be-coming the first fourth-tier side to beat two top-flight teams in the same season.
There was never much chance of that with Brighton’s record signing Locadia scoring with his first shot on target after 15 minutes and Leicester City loanee Leonardo Ulloa, who is in his second spell with the Seagulls, rounding off the win after Connor Goldson netted his first goal in almost two years. Jonson Clarke-Harris scored Coventry’s consolation.
At Hillsborough, both managers bemoaned the replay after second tier Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City shared a goalless draw.
On Friday, last season’s FA Cup runner-up Chelsea struck four times before the break to crush second-tier Hull City 4-0 and stroll into the quarterfinals at Stamford Bridge.
Willian bagged two and Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for the club since joining from Lon-don rival Arsenal, while Pedro was also on target for Antonio Conte’s dominant side.
The night’s other fifth round tie saw Leicester City also in action against Championship opposition but having to work far harder for a 1-0 home victory over Sheffield United.