Chelsea, City progress in FA Cup
LONDON — Chelsea suffered an FA Cup fourthround scare yesterday when they had to come from behind and needed extra time and a penalty save to beat League One Plymouth Argyle 2-1 with goals from Spaniards Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.
Plymouth shocked the Premier League side when defender Macaulay Gillesphey nodded the ball home from a free kick by former Chelsea player Jordan Houghton in the eighth minute, sparking wild celebration and a shower of green balloons from the travelling fans.
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel had tested positive for Covid-19 and missed the game. It was not clear whether he would be free to travel to Abu Dhabi next week for the Club World Cup.
His expensively assembled squad looked rusty and heavy-footed after a fortnight's break and though they had more than 40 shots, their performance was well below their best.
Striker Romelu Lukaku failed to take command up front and rarely looked like scoring.
Chelsea hit the woodwork three times in the first half, twice through Mateo Kovacic and again through Callum Hudson-Odoi but Plymouth's well drilled defence kept the European champions at bay until the 41st minute when quality told.
Captain Azpilicueta scored with a neat backheel from a low Mason Mount cross.
Plymouth absorbed waves of Chelsea attacks in the second half and extra time and last-ditch defending as well as inspired goalkeeping from Mike Cooper kept the hosts out until the 16th minute of extra time.
Alonso broke the deadlock when he got on the end of a pass from Kai Havertz and swept the ball in.
With five minutes to go Plymouth earned a penalty when Malang Sarr brought down Ryan Hardie in the box.
But Plymouth joy was short-lived when Spain’s Kepa Arrizabalaga dived low to his left to save Hardie's shot.
Meanwhile Riyad Mahrez scored twice as Manchester City fought back from a goal down to see off Championship leaders Fulham and book their place in the FA Cup fifth round.
City, who are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League and have not lost in domestic competition since October, were given an early fright when Fabio Carvalho turned in Harry Wilson’s cross.
Fulham’s lead lasted barely 90 seconds, however, before Mahrez set up Ilkay Gundogan for an assured first-time finish to settle the nerves of the home fans at a sold-out Etihad Stadium.
John Stones put City in control soon afterwards when he climbed highest at the near post to head home Kevin de Bruyne's corner, but they did not finish the tie off for good until the start of the second half.
Mahrez, who missed from the spot as Algeria crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations against Ivory Coast last month, made no mistake this time when City were awarded a penalty for Joe Bryan's clumsy foul on Jack Grealish.
A few minutes later, Mahrez made it four when he ran on to De Bruyne's pinpoint pass and saw his shot deflected past Paulo Gazzaniga.
That signalled the end of Fulham's resistance, and they seemed to accept their fate when their 28-goal top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic was taken off with 15 minutes to go.
ZIMBABWEAN teenager Natsiraishe Maritsa has been honoured for her efforts to empower girls through the martial arts sport of taekwondo with a continental prize in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Women and Sport Awards.
Maritsa was awarded the African honour in recognition of a project, which seeks to use taekwondo to raise awareness of hazards associated with child marriage, a particular issue in Zimbabwe.
The 18-year-old was nominated for the IOC honour by World Taekwondo.
"Natsiraishe thoroughly deserves this award in recognition of the crucial work she is doing in supporting young women in her community," World Taekwondo president Chungwon Choue said.
"Her determination to reduce inequalities through sport and raise awareness through the global media has also helped these vulnerable women and girls to attend school and receive quality education.
"It is truly inspirational to witness her contributions to the sustainable development goals and Olympic agenda."
World Taekwondo has collaborated with the Zimbabwe Taekwondo Association and Korean Taekwondo Promotion Foundation to offer the initiative supplies, and has vowed to continue to support it.
The project combines taekwondo lessons with discussions about the risks of early marriage, designed to create a safe environment for girls to discuss topics including pregnancy, gender-based violence and harassment.
“Taekwondo tenets empowered me to fight for [awareness of] child marriages and had positive results to people who I impacted the taekwondo tenets to,” Maritsa added.
“With Taekwondo we are indeed champions of freedom, justice and peace.”