Phil Foden on Tuesday struck twice as Manchester City eased into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win against Bristol City, while 2020-2021 winners Leicester City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat against second-tier Blackburn Rovers.
Pep Guardiola’s side were never in danger of a giant-killing in the fifth-round tie at Ashton Gate thanks to Foden’s brace and a late strike from Kevin de Bruyne.
Guardiola saluted the impact of England forward Foden, who is starting to recapture his peak form after an inconsistent season.
Photo: Reuters
“His career was always up, up, up. This season he struggled a bit and was a bit down, but now he’s back for the best bit of the season,” Guardiola said. “His impact has been amazing. Football pays off when you work like he does.”
City took a seventh-minute lead when Riyad Mahrez crossed to the far post, where Foden fired into the roof of the net.
Foden doubled City’s lead after 74 minutes as Julian Alvarez flicked toward Foden, who produced another clinical finish past Max O’Leary.
De Bruyne got the visitors’ third from long-range in the 81st minute to ensure the smoothest of nights for the six-time FA Cup winners.
Leicester were booed off after Blackburn ended the Foxes’ bid to reach a second FA Cup final in three seasons.
Brendan Rodgers led Leicester to the club’s first ever FA Cup triumph in 2020-2021, but Rovers punished woeful defending from the Premier League side to shatter their hopes of emulating that run.
With Leicester 14th in the top-flight, just three points above the relegation zone, Rodgers made six changes to the side beaten by Arsenal at the weekend and paid the price for his gamble.
“If there’s anyone to blame it’s me. I made the changes and sadly it didn’t work,” Rodgers said.
“We brought four players into the starting lineup who won the FA Cup a couple of seasons ago, but they were better than us and we have to worry about that,” he said.
Manor Solomon scored for the fourth time in four games as Fulham beat Leeds United 2-0 at Craven Cottage to make the last eight for the first time since 2009-2010.
Brighton & Hove Albion won 1-0 at second-tier Stoke City to reach the quarter-final for the third time in the past six seasons.
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Jannik Sinner on Sunday beat Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), winning seven straight points to rally from a 4-0 deficit in the second-set tiebreak and claim the title without dropping a single set. The No. 2-ranked Italian beat Medvedev for the ninth time in their last 10 matches to claim his first title at the California desert tournament. Medvedev handed top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz his first loss of the year in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. Sinner congratulated fellow Italian Kimi Antonelli, who won Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix earlier on Sunday. “It
Luka Doncic on Monday scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked NBA Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for post-season positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort
THRILLING GAME: The loaded US roster featuring Paul Skenes, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge reached their third straight WBC final game, after 2017 and 2023 Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony on Sunday homered, and the US limited the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to win a thrilling semi-final 2-1 and move one win from capturing their second World Baseball Classic (WBC) championship. The loaded US roster led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and featuring stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge reached their third straight WBC title game after winning in 2017 and falling to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. The US are to face the winner of this morning’s (Taiwan time) semi-final between Italy and Venezuela a day later. The Dominicans reached
RSS