Wolves and Palace ease into cup quarters
Bristol City, Doncaster Rovers eliminated in 5th round • Swansea hits back to beat Brentford
LONDON (Reuters) – Wolverhampton Wanderers’ impressive season continued as they moved into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup with Ivan Cavaleiro’s first-half goal sealing a 1-0 victory at Championship (second-tier) club Bristol City on Sunday.
Portuguese Cavaleiro slotted home clinically in the 28th minute after great work by Matt Doherty and it was enough for Wolves to reach the lasteight for the first time since 2003.
After a mass exodus of Premier League clubs in the previous two rounds, Wolves continued a good weekend for the big boys which saw Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and Crystal Palace all send lower-league opposition packing.
Palace was far too good on Sunday for third-tier Doncaster Rovers, with first-half goals by Jeffrey Schlupp and Max Meyer securing a 2-0 win to send Roy Hodgson’s side into the last-eight for only the second time in 24 years.
Schlupp ran through to fire home in the eighth minute and Meyer’s effort on the stroke of halftime deflated the hosts, who had hoped for a first-ever run to the last-eight.
In the day’s other fifth-round tie, Swansea City recovered from a halftime deficit at home to fellow Championship outfit Brentford to win 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium.
Bersant Celina’s free kick rebounded off the post and in off ’keeper Luke Daniel to level it up before a wonderful solo goal by Daniel James put the Welsh club ahead.
With Brentford down to 10 men after a red card for Ezri Konsa, Celina made it 3-1 and George Byers added a late fourth goal to seal a second successive quarterfinal appearance for the Swans.
Comfortably placed in the Premier League and with Liverpool’s scalp in the FA Cup already, Wolves have emerged as dark horses to go all the way this season.
In the first half at Bristol City, the visitor certainly had the look of a side which fancied its chances.
Doherty was a constant menace for the Bristol defense and he was unlucky not to score when his shot hit the woodwork after a flowing move down the right.
It was his trickery that opened up the home defense again before his cut back picked out Cavaleiro to fire home.
The second half was a different story as City, sixth in the second tier, improved dramatically and forced Wolves ’keeper John Ruddy into several sharp saves.
Substitute Matty Taylor was twice denied and in stoppage time, with City throwing the kitchen sink at Wolves, Ruddy reacted well to stop opposite number Frank Fielding from equalizing after he had gone up for a corner.
“I’m very happy, it was very tough, but I’m happy for fans and it was a moment of joy,” said Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who has guided his team to seventh on its top-flight return.
“In the first half they gave us space but then they changed it and they are a tough team.”
On Saturday, Premiership leader Manchester City endured some anxious moments but escaped from fourth-tier Newport County with its cup hopes intact as Phil Foden scored twice in a 4-1 fifth-round victory.
Newport, 82 rungs below City on the English soccer ladder, rattled Pep Guardiola’s aristocrats in the first half and Tyreeq Bakinson almost gave it a dream lead.
But City’s class showed in the second half and once Leroy Sane’s powerful shot from a tight angle put his side in front after 51 minutes the chances of a seismic cup shock faded away.
Only seven of the 16 teams to reach the fifth round were from the Premier League, but with Chelsea hosting Manchester United on Monday in a repeat of last season’s final, six of the teams in the last-eight will be from the top flight.
Sanchez worried over losing his spark at Man United
Meanwhile, Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez is concerned people may not have seen his best at Old Trafford as he continues to fight for an extended run of playing time this season.
The Chile international is a shadow of the player he was at Arsenal, having scored just five goals in 37 appearances since moving to United in January 2018.
“I would like to have brought more joy to the club,” Sanchez told the BBC. “Yes, it worries me because I believe in my abilities as a player, I want to show it.”
After struggling for form and fitness under former manager Jose Mourinho, Sanchez has fallen further down the pecking order under caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“[Solskjaer] hasn’t spoken to me a great deal about what I have to do on the pitch, but I think I’m an experienced player and I think I know what I need to do and what I shouldn’t do,” Sanchez added.
The 30-year-old is behind Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial in contention for first-team spots and did his chances no good after an underwhelming display as a substitute in Tuesday’s Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
Sanchez, however, confirmed he was injured after an assistant referee ran into him as he warmed up on the sidelines.
“I’ve got bruising but that’s not an excuse for not being on my game in the way that I normally am,” he said.
“I’m a player that, if I’m not in contact with the ball, I lose that spark, and sometimes I want to play in every game. You’re in, you’re out, and I’m used to playing.
“It’s not an excuse because if I go on for 10, 20 minutes, I have to perform because that’s what I’m here for, to make a difference.”