Liverpool strike late to knock Arsenal out
An own goal by Jakub Kiwior and a thumping late strike by Luis Diaz sealed a 2-0 victory for Liverpool at Arsenal in the weekend's headline FA Cup third round tie as the hosts’ dismal form extended into the New Year on Sunday.
Arsenal wasted a sackful of chances in the first half and were made to pay as Liverpool skipper Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick glanced off the head of Kiwior in the 80th minute.
Diaz then made sure of eighttime winners Liverpool’s place in the fourth round draw as he lashed home in stoppage time.
Premier League leaders Liverpool had been second-best in the opening period with Arsenal unable to make the most of a flurry of early chances - captain Martin Odegaard coming closest as he rattled the crossbar with a powerful drive.
Liverpool improved after the break though and their 7,000 army of travelling fans were rewarded with two late goals.
Arsenal have now lost their last three games in all competitions.
“We changed things around at halftime internally, and we came out and played football and created chances,” AlexanderArnold said. “There were times in the first half that we were a little naive ... We hit the woodwork a couple of times, so we’ve had our chances, and towards the end, we put them away.”
Phil Foden scored twice as holders Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town, with playmaker Kevin de Bruyne making a welcome return after four months out with a hamstring injury.
Fielding a strong side, City suffered a setback when they lost defender Manuel Akanji to injury early in the first half, but Foden’s superb finishing and De Bruyne’s comeback gave coach Pep Guardiola plenty to be happy about.
Huddersfield, who are hovering just above the relegation zone in England’s second-tier Championship, fell behind in the 33rd minute when Foden rifled the ball into the net from a tight angle, and striker Julian Alvarez poked home a second four minutes later. De Bruyne entered the fray in the 57th minute and City added their third a minute later as Norwegian winger Oscar Bobb tried to pick out the Belgian at the far post, only to see his deflected cross loop into the net to make it 3-0.
Foden added his second with a precise shot from the edge of the area in the 65th minute, and nine minutes later De Bruyne teed up fellow substitute Jeremy Doku to complete the rout.
“We are incredibly delighted to have him back, because Kevin helps to win games. It is so important to have him back after a long injury,” Guardiola told the BBC. “He will help us with his talent but I don’t want to put all the pressure on Kevin’s shoulders because it is not fair to him ... he had a good assist for the Jeremy Doku goal.”
Goalscorer Foden gave credit to Huddersfield for making it difficult, but ultimately City’s class told. “We seem to come against a low block quite often — we know what to expect, we just need to be patient, find the spaces and keep switching and hopefully they’ll open up and get tired,” he said.
Elsewhere, City’s Premier League rivals struggled as the lower-tier clubs made their presence felt in the cup competition to force some potentially lucrative replays.
Luton Town played out a scoreless draw at home against Bolton Wanderers, and Nottingham Forest were held to a 2-2 draw at the City Ground by Blackpool, with West Ham United and Bristol City ending in a 1-1 stalemate.
Leeds United had no such problems as striker Patrick Bamford netted a brilliant volley in a 3-0 hammering of Peterborough United, and West Bromwich Albion cruised to a 4-1 win at home over Aldershot Town. /