Michael Owen and Javier Hernandez scored second-half goals as Manchester United fought back to beat League One Southampton 2-1 in their FA Cup fourth-round tie at St Mary’s on Saturday.
The 11-times winners played a weakened side and looked in trouble after Richard Chaplow blasted home an unstoppable shot in the last minute of the first half, but United finished strongly to advance to yesterday’s fifth-round draw.
Holders Chelsea needed a late equalizer by Salomon Kalou to snatch a 1-1 draw at Everton, while Crawley Town became the first minor league team since 1994 to reach the last 16 when they beat League Two Torquay 1-0 away despite having two penalties saved.
PHOTO: AFP
Matthew Tubbs got the only goal late in the first half for Crawley, who had already knocked out league clubs Swindon Town and Derby County.
Tubbs was one of the Crawley players to have a penalty saved by Scott Bevan in a match in which both sides had a man sent off.
In two more of the weekend’s five all-Premier League ties, Aston Villa beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 and Bolton Wanderers drew 0-0 at home with Wigan Athletic.
United manager Alex Ferguson gave goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard his debut, opted for a reserve back four, and left Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Nani and Ryan Giggs on the bench.
It played into Southampton’s hands, and after Chaplow unleashed a screaming shot into the top corner, the home fans were dreaming of an upset.
Yet United, with Giggs and Nani introduced for the last half-hour, improved and leveled after 65 minutes from an Owen header.
Ten minutes later Giggs slid a pass perfectly into the path of Mexican striker Hernandez, who kept his cool as he stumbled to the ground to roll the ball under Southampton goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski and inside the post.
Chelsea played a full-strength team, but looked flat all day and only good goalkeeping by Petr Cech kept them in the game.
Everton, unbeaten against them in five league games, took control after 62 minutes when Louis Saha powerfully headed in a corner.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti reacted by sending on Kalou in the 70th minute, and five minutes later the Ivorian finished off a swift counter-attack for the equalizer.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at