FA Cup
FA CUP: MAN CITY IN FA CUP STROLL, MINNOWS KNOCK OUT LEICESTER, FULHAM
Premier League champions Manchester City began their FA Cup campaign with a 7-0 thrashing of Rotherham on Sunday but Fulham, battling to avoid relegation from English football’s top-flight, were beaten 2-1 by fourth-tier Oldham.
Similarly, Newport County dumped 2016 Premier League champions Leicester City out of the competition at a raucous Rodney Parade thanks to Padraig Amond’s late penalty.
Barnet ensured there would be a non-league presence in the fourth round with a 1-0 win away to second-tier Championship club Sheffield United.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola may have made eight changes from the team that beat Premier League leaders Liverpool on Thursday but still fielded a strong side for the visit of Championship side Rotherham, with Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus all starting as playmaker Kevin De Bruyne returned from injury.
Sterling made it 1-0 in the 12th minute and City then scored twice in the closing stages of the first half.
Phil Foden, the England Under-21 international, got on the end of a cross from Ilkay Gundogan in the 43rd minute to score his first home goal for City before Rotherham defender Semi Ajayi turned the ball into his own net.
Jesus made it 4-0 early in the second half before Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane added further goals.
“We are going to try and do well in every competition we play in,” Guardiola told the BBC.
Turning to Foden, he added: “He missed some simple passes and he needs to be solid but he is young. When he attacks the central defenders he is incredible.”
On Saturday, FA Cup holders Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in what seems certain to have been Cesc Fabregas’s final match for the Blues.
It was the same result as Manchester United beat Reading to make it five wins out of five under caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Arsenal, the record 13-times FA Cup winners, won 3-0 at Blackpool, West Ham beat Birmingham 2-0 and Everton defeated Lincoln 2-1.
Saturday also saw Championship club Bristol City beat top-flight basement club Huddersfield 1-0.
Elsewhere, in an all-Premier League clash, Brighton won 3-1 away to south coast rivals Bournemouth.
Second division Derby, managed by ex-England midfielder Frank Lampard, came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Premier League strugglers Southampton.
Newcastle were also held to a draw, 1-1 against second-tier Blackburn.
For Leicester, it was Jamille Matt’s perfectly placed header after a pulsating run and cross from Robbie Willmott gave the Exiles the advantage against a side 74 places above them in the football leagues.
Marc Albrighton hit the crossbar and Newport goalkeeper Joe Day produced a string of saves before Rachid Ghezzai smashed the Foxes level.
However, Amond’s 85th-minute penalty after Albrighton’s handball sent the crowd into raptures as Newport produced one of the greatest results in their history.
It is not an exaggeration to say Newport and Leicester are at completely opposite ends of the footballing scale. The year Leicester stunned the world under Claudio Ranieri to win the Premier League, Newport finished 22nd in League Two.
The enormity of the achievement was shown in scenes of jubilation at full-time as Newport’s players sank to their knees and punched the air in delight while their fans went wild.
Manager Michael Flynn hugged assistant Wayne Hatswell and his mentor, veteran manager Lennie Lawrence to celebrate a seismic result for the city.
Arsenal will be without injured England attacker Noni Madueke when they face Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final, but Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber may return from injury, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Madueke was among the 11 Arsenal players who withdrew from international duty last month over injuries and fitness management, as the club eye their first Premier League title since 2004.
“When you have to communicate the state of every player, we are always honest and a medical decision had to be made. That was clear what the conclusion was,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“It makes us so proud that we had that many players in the national team. Players are desperate to play for their nation. I know how important it is to them. We are fully supportive of that and when we can do it, we do it.”
Madueke picked up a knee injury during England’s friendly with Uruguay, missing the game against Japan. But Arteta said his condition was not as bad as a knee injury that kept him out for six weeks.
Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Timber, Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were unavailable for their countries.
Arteta did not disclose how many of them will be available for Saturday’s game, as Arsenal look to shake off last month’s League Cup final loss to Manchester City with a return to Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.
“We’re in a position right now where we need to make the strongest line-up we possibly can to win every competition,” he said. ” We are two or three games away from the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.”
-Reuters
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Manchester City will look to secure a historic eighth straight semi-final appearance in the FA Cup when they face Liverpool on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola said.
City beat Arsenal to win the League Cup before the international break, and Guardiola is hoping his team maintain the momentum as they fight to add the FA Cup and Premier League to this season’s trophy haul.
“Once you finish one, it is the next one,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“Tomorrow we have the chance to reach an incredible milestone, to make eight semi-finals in a row. It’s never happened… it is a prestigious competition, and one of the toughest, special opponents for all of us, Liverpool.”
City have dominated English football with six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups since Guardiola joined in 2016, but Liverpool have been a constant thorn in his side throughout his coaching career.
As a coach, Guardiola has only nine victories and seven draws in 26 matches against Liverpool, his worst win rate against a Premier League club.
City have beaten Liverpool twice in the Premier League this season, but had to dig deep for a late comeback when they won 2-1 at Anfield in February.
“So many times they have been the rival, the biggest, biggest one… top contender, top class players, all of them. Hopefully we have to perform in the level we did against Arsenal to reach the next step,” Guardiola said.
The manager also praised Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who has announced his departure in the summer.
“Absolutely. One of the greatest. The numbers, the consistency. What a player… absolute legend, of course for Liverpool, but (also) for the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola, however, avoided commenting on his own midfielder Rodri, who said he was open to a move to Real Madrid when his contract with City runs out at the end of this season.
“No clue, no opinion… because I know the intention of the club, I know the intention, I think, of him, but I don’t know,” Guardiola said.’
-Reuters
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Manager Arne Slot hailed the impact Mohamed Salah has had on Liverpool during his nine years at the club, and is hoping the Egyptian forward will win two more trophies with them before leaving.
Salah, who has scored 255 goals for Liverpool and helped them win two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups and one Champions League trophy, announced last week he would depart at the end of the season.
Slot said Salah was available for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final clash at Manchester City.
“He trained with us yesterday and today, and he’s available for the game tomorrow,” he told reporters on Friday, heaping praise on the club’s third-highest goalscorer of all time.
“It’s been unbelievable what he did for this club, for so many years, every three days, scoring the goals he did, having the assists, having the impact that he had on this club, winning the trophies… I can only hope that he can add two extra trophies to it towards the end of the season.”
Liverpool are fifth in the Premier League, 21 points below leaders Arsenal, but have reached the Champions League quarter-finals and face Paris St Germain away on Wednesday.
ALISSON OUT WITH LONG-TERM INJURY
Slot’s side are without first-choice keeper Alisson Becker as they enter the final two months of the season, with the Brazilian sidelined due to injury.
“Towards the end of the season we expect him to be fit,” Slot said.
Striker Alexander Isak has rejoined the team after missing over three months due to a broken leg.
“It would definitely be too fast to expect him in the starting line-up. He’s trained with us yesterday for the first time… after exactly 101 days,” the manager added.
Liverpool have lost both Premier League games against City this season, but Slot said their improved performance in February’s 2-1 home defeat showed his team can be competitive against Pep Guardiola’s side.
“First half at Anfield, City dominated possession… how impressive was it that we dominated possession in the second half? Because how many teams can dominate possession against City?” Slot asked.
“Now we have to show this as well in their stadium, which is more difficult than having 60,000 people at Anfield helping you.”
-Reuters
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