Saints edge into last eight
Miserable week for West Brom as Southampton, Man United and Brighton advance
Misfortune comes in threes, so the saying goes, and West Bromwich Albion know it well. Capping a miserable week, West Brom were dumped from the FA Cup by Southampton 2-1 in the fifth round yesterday. The latest defeat for the English Premier League’s bottom club came after four West Brom players — captain Jonny Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill — faced a Spanish judge following the alleged theft of a taxi during a training camp in Barcelona.
Evans lost the captaincy yesterday in the fallout. Also, the club terminated the contracts of chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman in the middle of last week.
Wesley Hoedt was unmarked when he gave Southampton an 11thminute lead, and Dusan Tadic made it 2-0 with a clever chip over keeper Ben Foster early in the second half. Salomon Rondon pulled a goal back with a spectacular first-time volley with half an hour left but it wasn’t enough to save West Brom.
“I was furious with what happened but I’ve got to stay faithful to the players and give them a chance to remedy the situation,” manager Alan Pardew said. “We’ve had this one crazy evening and it doesn’t reflect the work and professionalism we do as a staff and as players.”
Manchester United beat Hudders- field 2-0, courtesy of two goals by Romelu Lukaku.
There was more VAR (video assistant referee) controversy late in the first half when Juan Mata had a goal disallowed for the most marginal of offsides. It took the officials several minutes to rule out the goal, with Mata deemed to have his knee beyond the last Huddersfield defender.
Sheffield Wednesday held Premier League side Swansea to 0-0, the occasion marking a return to Hillsborough for Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal. Sheffield Wednesday released him on December 24.
Carvalhal has had a positive effect since joining Swansea four days after his departure from Wednesday, with the Welsh club losing once in 12 games in all competitions on his watch. The teams will meet again in a replay on February 27 at Liberty Stadium.
The last time Brighton were in the top division, they reached the FA Cup final in 1983, losing to Manchester United. Chris Hughton’s team joined United and Southampton in the last eight with a 3-1 win against fourth-tier Coventry.
Jurgen Locadia, a club record £14 million signing from PSV Eindhoven in the mid-season transfer window, scored on his debut. Connor Goldson added a second goal in the first half, and Leonardo Ulloa headed the third.
— AP