United send Liverpool packing in cup thriller
A scream from Andy Robertson was a forlorn attempt to distract Mason Greenwood beginning Manchester United’s comeback. The defender won’t be the only one shrieking at Liverpool after going out of the FA Cup.
Not that everything went wrong for Liverpool at Old Trafford, with Mohamed Salah scoring twice. The Liverpool striker’s opener was cancelled out by Greenwood and he levelled after Marcus Rashford put United in front. But Bruno Fernandes bent in a free kick in the 78th minute to send United into the fifth round with a 3-2 victory yesterday.
‘‘If you win a game there are negatives, if you lose a game too but I saw the boys really, really wanted it,’’ Liverpool manager Ju¨ rgen Klopp said. ‘‘We had problems on the counterattack. It was intense, but there were positives.’’
Losing, though, compounded a miserable 70 hours that also saw Liverpool beaten at home by Burnley on Friday in a further blow to their title defence. It was a 0-0 draw with United a week ago that helped United stay top of the league.
The excitement lacking in the Anfield league encounter was on show a week later at a freezing Old Trafford with the highest scoring match between these fiercest of English rivals since 2010.
United were joined by Chelsea, Leicester and Burnley yesterday in advancing to the round of 16 where they will play West Ham next month.
In snowy conditions at Stamford Bridge, Tammy Abraham scored a hat trick as Chelsea beat Luton 3-1 — the first two coming in a seven-minute span in the first half.
There was a rare start these days for Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga but familiar error, which allowed Jordan Clark’s shot to go through him. But Abraham struck again in the 74th minute.
Leicester staged a second-half comeback to beat Brentford 3-1 after conceding after six minutes from Mads Bech Sorensen.
James Maddison teed up Cengiz Under to equalise and Youri Tielemans put Leicester ahead from a penalty after being tripped. Maddison tapped in a rebound to seal the win.
Jay Rodriguez struck twice for Burnley in a 3-0 win at Fulham — the 31-year-old striker’s first goals since July. Rodriguez turned provider for Kevin Long for the third.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his first goal in 50 days after returning from injury to set Everton on their way to a 3-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. Corners from James Rodriguez were headed in by Richarlison and Yerry Mina in the second half.