Bruno Fernandes’ superb free-kick on Sunday sent troubled Liverpool crashing out of the FA Cup as Manchester United beat their bitter rivals 3-2 in the fourth round, while Tammy Abraham’s hat-trick in a win over Luton Town was not enough to save Chelsea manager Frank Lampard’s job.
Fernandes struck with 12 minutes left at Old Trafford to cap a thrilling clash that left Liverpool searching for answers after another painful defeat.
Juergen Klopp’s side took the lead through Mohamed Salah’s first-half goal, but Mason Greenwood equalized before the interval.
Photo: Reuters
Marcus Rashford put United in front after the break and, although Salah equalized, Portugal midfielder Fernandes came off the bench to fire his free-kick past Alisson Becker.
After slumping to fourth in the English Premier League following Thursday last week’s shock 1-0 defeat against Burnley — their first league loss at Anfield since 2017 — Liverpool have to lick their wounds again.
The English champions, who trail leaders United by six points, have won only one of their past seven games in all competitions and that lone success came against Aston Villa’s youth team in the third round of the FA Cup.
Liverpool struck in the 18th minute when Roberto Firmino threaded a pass to Salah, who lifted his shot over Dean Henderson.
However, the hosts leveled in the 26th minute when Rashford’s pass sent Greenwood clear for a low strike past Alisson.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men netted again in the 48th minute after a mistake from Liverpool’s young defender Rhys Williams allowed Greenwood to race clear and score.
Firmino’s cross was converted by Salah for Liverpool’s 58th-minute equalizer, but Fernandes won it with his sublime set-piece after Fabinho fouled Edinson Cavani.
United next host West Ham United in the fifth round as their momentum continues to build.
“You know when you go a goal down the reaction of everyone was really good. We played some really good stuff, good goals. We have to defend well against them and we managed to react well,” Solskjaer said.
Liverpool have never got past the fifth round in Klopp’s reign, but that will be the least of his concerns as he tries to spark a revival from his spluttering team.
“There was a lot of good things and some mistakes around the goals. If you want to win here you have to be absolutely top and we were not,” Klopp said.
Lampard had been under the spotlight and there was some relief for the Blues boss as Abraham’s finishing helped seal a 3-1 victory over Luton, but he was fired yesterday and replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel..
Leicester City and Everton were also successful over Championship opposition.
The Foxes came from behind to beat Brentford 3-1 and set up a home tie against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck on his return from injury as Everton saw off Sheffield Wednesday 3-0.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men were to face the winners of Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Wycombe Wanderers.
Burnley beat Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage and play AFC Bournemouth or Crawley Town.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite