Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday dumped FA Cup holders Liverpool out of the competition, as Hollywood star and Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds saw his non-league side denied a dramatic win by Sheffield United in a six-goal thriller.
Kaoru Mitoma’s brilliant control and finish in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win was another enormous blow to Liverpool, whose season is fast unraveling just months after they came close to winning a historic quadruple.
The Reds had led at the Amex through Harvey Elliott, but have now won just once in their past six games in all competitions.
Photo: AFP
Lewis Dunk leveled before the break for the home side, and they were well worth their place in the fifth round courtesy of a moment of magic from Mitoma.
The Japanese winger cushioned Pervis Estupinan’s cross into his path, flicked the ball over Joe Gomez and fired high past Alisson Becker in the 92nd minute.
“He is an incredible player who I think can play one step higher,” Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi said. “I am pleased for his goal.”
Liverpool are languishing in ninth in the English Premier League, 21 points behind pacesetters Arsenal. An FA Cup exit leaves the UEFA Champions League as their only remaining shot at a trophy this season.
“I am not over the moon about this performance, but, again, the only thing that happened really is that we lost against a good side, who we lost to two weeks ago in a horrendous game,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “Today was much better.”
“We are obviously in a situation where we constantly want to make the final step. That’s why it feels now especially bad in this moment because it didn’t happen,” he said.
Wrexham are the last non-league club left in the competition, but were left disappointed as John Egan made it 3-3 in the dying seconds for the 10-man Blades.
The hosts could not have got off to a worse start as Oli McBurnie headed Sheffield United in front after 61 seconds.
Sheffield manager Paul Heckingbottom’s side look set for a return to the Premier League next season, but they were rocked by a pulsating atmosphere inside the Racecourse Ground.
James Jones and Thomas O’Connor struck within 11 minutes early in the second half to turn the tie around. Oli Norwood quickly leveled, but the momentum swung Wrexham’s way once more when Daniel Jebbison was sent off 20 minutes from time.
Paul Mullin looked to have pulled off the shock of the round with a calm finish 4 minutes from time, only for Egan to break Wrexham hearts by turning home a corner at the death.
“I’m so proud of everyone,” Mullin said. “We’ve worked so hard to get here. We came into the game thinking we could win and we had a game plan. Unfortunately it hasn’t quite paid off, but I think when the dust settles tomorrow we’ll be proud of it.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later