Arsenal, Man City advance in FA Cup
LONDON (Reuters) – Lincoln City’s fairytale FA Cup run ended at the quarterfinal stage as Arsenal put aside its own problems to crush the fifth-tier side 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
It took a laboring Arsenal until firsthalf stoppage time to take the lead through Theo Walcott but the 12-time winner made its superiority count after the break.
Olivier Giroud side-footed Arsenal’s second after 53 minutes and five minutes later Lincoln’s hopes were extinguished as its skipper Luke Waterfall turned in Kieran Gibbs’ cross into his own goal.
Alexis Sanchez, on from the start added a classy fourth and Aaron Ramsey made it 5-0 to the Premier League side, which was humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.
Lincoln, which became the first minor league side to reach the FA Cup quarterfinals in more than a century by knocking out top-flight Burnley in round five, had delighted its 9,000 traveling fans in the first half with a gritty display.
It even went close to taking the lead when Nathan Arnold weaved in from the right and forced Petr Cech into a fine save.
Meanwhile, David Silva and Sergio Aguero scored in each half as Manchester City became reached the semifinals with a comfortable 2-0 win at Premier League rival Middlesbrough.
A dominant City cruised into the last four after Silva gave it a third-minute lead and Aguero struck in the 67th minute, with the visitors missing numerous chances to win by a bigger margin.
Pep Guardiola’s attacking formation, featuring Silva, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane behind Aguero, paid instant dividends as City carved open the home team’s defense.
Yaya Toure fed Pablo Zabaleta on the right flank with a defense-splitting pass and the Argentine defender drove a perfect ball across the face of goal for Silva to shoot home from close range.
Middlesbrough kept getting undone on either wing as Sane and Silva gave its markers a roasting, and the home team’s goalkeeper Brad Guzan made a string of good saves.
Aguero hit the woodwork after another lightning raid down the right, but made no mistake when he steered a first-time shot past the helpless Guzan at the near post from a fizzing low cross by Sane.
City threatened to run riot in the closing stages as acres of space opened up, but Guzan spared the home side a heavier defeat by denying Sterling and Silva.
Hull and Bournemouth strike blows in relegation battle
In Saturday’s Premiership action, Hull City’s hopes of escaping relegation got a huge boost as it dragged fellow struggler Swansea City back into the mire with a 2-1 home win over the Welsh club.
Defeat would have left Hull nine points behind 16th-place Swansea, but a second-half double from substitute Oumar Niasse helped it move above Middlesbrough into 18th place and within three points of the Swans and champion Leicester City.
With the top six, except Liverpool, all in FA Cup quarterfinal action this weekend, the focus was on the survival scrap.
Bournemouth, one of the clubs too close to the bottom three for comfort, eased its relegation fears as Joshua King netted a hat-trick in a 3-2 home win over West Ham United.
Bournemouth missed two penalties and looked to have been denied its first win of 2017 when substitute Andre Ayew equalized for West Ham in the 83rd minute. King, who drilled a ninth-minute spot kick wide, had the last laugh though when he struck at the death from a rebound after Darren Randolph had saved Jack Wilshere’s effort.
Also, Everton improved its chances of European soccer next season as it brushed aside West Bromwich Albion 3-0 with Romelu Lukaku rounding off a dominant display with their third.
Lukaku now has 19 league goals this season, level at the top of the scoring charts with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane.