European Leagues

Man Utd, Liverpool to meet in FA Cup quarter-finals, Chelsea survive

Manchester United will host Liverpool in an FA Cup quarter-finals blockbuster after the bitter rivals took contrasting routes to their fifth round victories on Wednesday.

United eased the pressure on beleaguered boss Erik ten Hag as they scraped through with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest thanks to Casemiro’s late goal.

Fresh from their League Cup final triumph against Chelsea on Sunday, Liverpool relied on their youngsters again in a 3-0 win against second tier Southampton at Anfield.

Chelsea bounced back from their painful 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Wembley, snatching a 3-2 win against Championship promotion chasers Leeds to book a last eight date with Leicester.

After Liverpool’s ball boys paraded the League Cup around Anfield prior to kick-off, Jurgen Klopp’s kids gave another glimpse into a bright future as two of their young guns inspired the win.

With Liverpool ravaged by injuries to Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Alisson Becker among others, Lewis Koumas, the son of former Wales and West Brom midfielder Jason Koumas, marked his debut with the opening goal in the 44th minute.

The 18-year-old forward drilled a fierce low drive that deflected in off Southampton’s Jack Stephens.

Jayden Danns, another 18-year-old offspring of a former player — his father Neil starred for Crystal Palace — netted Liverpool’s second in the 73rd minute with a composed finish that belied his tender age.

James McConnell, 19, and Bobby Clark, 19, also impressed for Liverpool, who introduced 16-year-old Trey Nyoni to become their youngest ever FA Cup player in the second half.

Danns capped the victory in the 88th minute when he lashed home in front of The Kop.

At the City Ground, United reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for a record 48th time.

Ten Hag insisted this week that he doesn’t need a public vote of confidence from Jim Ratcliffe after the British billionaire took charge of United’s football operations.

•⁠ ⁠Pressure mounting –
But United are languishing in sixth place in the Premier League, eight points adrift of the top four, after Saturday’s shock 2-1 home defeat against Fulham.

A loss to Forest would have been a major blow for Ten Hag after Ratcliffe was linked with a move for former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

The FA Cup represents United’s last silverware chance this term and, after missing a host of chances, they finally hit the target in the 89th minute when Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick was headed in by Casemiro.

Ten Hag will hope a 1-0 FA Cup win at Forest proves a launchpad for sustained success at United in the same way it did for former boss Alex Ferguson in 1990.

At Stamford Bridge, Mauricio Pochettino will have felt similar relief to Ten Hag.

With the pressure mounting in his troubled first season in charge, the Argentine was indebted to Conor Gallagher for a late winner.

It was the first FA Cup tie between Chelsea and Leeds since the Blues won the 1970 FA Cup final replay, a booking-filled clash regarded as one of the most vicious matches in English football history.

Chelsea fell behind after just eight minutes when Mateo Joseph fired home for his first senior goal.

Nicolas Jackson dragged Chelsea level seven minutes later, driving his shot through the legs of poorly-positioned Leeds keeper Illan Meslier.

Mykhailo Mudryk swept Chelsea ahead in the 37th minute with a clinical finish into the far corner.

Joseph equalised after 59 minutes with a close-range finish from Jaidon Anthony’s cross.

But Gallagher won it in the 90th minute, lifting his shot over Meslier to make partial amends for missing a host of chances in the League Cup final.

Elsewhere, Wolves beat Brighton 1-0 at Molineux, with Mario Lemina’s goal after just 77 seconds securing a home tie against second tier Coventry.

Related Topics:Chelsea FA Cup Liverpool Manchester United

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European Leagues

Richard Keys Makes Pep Guardiola Sack Claim After Man City Draw v Everton

Richard Keys believes Pep Guardiola would have been sacked after the loss to Everton if he had not been the Manchester City manager.

Sean Dyche’s team held the Sky Blues to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad on Thursday [26 December], making it one win in nine Premier League matches for Pep Guardiola’s team.

Iliman Ndiaye equalised for the Blues to secure a point, and Keys believes the former Barcelona head coach would have been relieved of his duties had he been managing a team towards the bottom of the table.

Speaking on beIN SPORTS 1 [26 December, 17:11], the 67-year-old said: “It’s one win in 13 in all competitions for City now. Five points from 27 in the Premier League. If that’s a manager at the bottom, he gets the sack.”

Sean Dyche relieves Everton sack pressure after Manchester City draw

Guardiola has been arguably the finest manager anywhere in the world for more than a decade, and while calls for sacking him feel absurd, the Spaniard certainly needs to turn things around at the Sky Blues.

Dyche was under pressure at the Toffees not long ago after a poor start to the season, but the Englishman has turned things around in recent weeks.

The Blues were languishing close to the relation zone before a set of tricky fixtures in December, and many of the Goodison faithful were fearful.

However, Everton have gone up against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in their last three games and have taken a point from each.

Dyche must be commended for the remarkable set of results, and his conservative approach to football has certainly been instrumental.

The 53-year-old head coach has quelled the noise around his future in the Goodison dugout, but it remains to be seen whether The Friedkin Group will pull the plug if things go sideways in the coming months.

With Nottingham Forest up next on Sunday [29 December], the Blues can’t rest on their laurels and must see off Nuno Espirito Santo’s unexpectedly successful team.

In other Everton news, an ESPN image shows what might have helped Jordan Pickford during the Erling Haaland penalty save.

European Leagues

Bruno Fernandes sees red as Manchester United slump to another Premier League defeat

Manchester United’s struggles continued in a bruising St Stephen’s Day defeat at Vitor Pereira’s resurgent Wolves as Matheus Cunha scored one and provided another shortly after Bruno Fernandes saw red.
Gary O’Neil’s successor followed up Sunday’s 3-0 victory at Leicester with another impressive win as the Portuguese’s first match at Molineux ended with a huge boost in their bid to stay up.

Wolves deserved their 2-0 win, exposing the set piece frailties of Ruben Amorim’s stumbling side as Cunha beat Andre Onana directly from a corner shortly after Fernandes’ third sending off the season.

Star man Cunha – whose availability had been in doubt with a Football Association misconduct charge hanging over him – teed up substitute Hwang Hee-chan to wrap things up at the death.

New boss Pereira punched the air after his perfect star continued, inflicting a fifth defeat in 10 matches in all competitions on Amorim.

This was an alarming United display four days on from a 3-0 home humbling by Bournemouth, leaving them languishing in 14th spot.

Cunha shone amid the Molineux fog from the outset, drawing fouls during the early exchanges that saw Leny Yoro and Fernandes booked. The latter decision would prove particularly costly.

European Leagues

Ola Aina And Taiwo Awoniyi Star As Nottingham Forest Execute Toothless Tottenham

Super Eagles stars Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi featured for Nottingham Forest as they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at the City Ground, Soccernet.ng reports.

Nottingham Forest returned to Premier League action with a fixture against Tottenham at home. The Tricky Trees have been impressive this season, claiming the scalps of Manchester United and Aston Villa recently, and they were looking to continue their run.

Super Eagles defender Aina kept his place on rhe starting XI, while Awoniyi started from the bench. Tottenham started the game on the front foot, with Mats Selz making some important saves in the first 25 minutes.

However, Nottingham Forest had a big chance in the 28th minute, and they took it. Sweden star Anthony Elanga produced an effort from inside the box to open the scoring.

Tottenham probed hard for the equalizer, but they failed to get it. In the second half, Nottingham Forest were solid and stopped Tottenham for getting good looks at goal. Super Eagles star Aina put in a great shift at right back, registering three clearances and one tackle. Despite facing a lightning-fast Brennan Johnson, he was dribbled past just once.

Awoniyi was introduced into the game in the 87th minute, and he had an opportunity just a minute after his introduction, but he dragged his shot wide.

Nottingham Forest had an easy end to the game, as Djed Spence got sent off in stoppage time. It eventually ended 1-0 to the Tricky Trees, as they won their 10th game of the season.