Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson were rested after international duty, but Zack Steffen and Man City cruised past Tim Ream and Fulham in the FA Cup Fourth Round.
Manchester City 4 – 1 Fulham
Zack Steffen helped steer Manchester City to another FA Cup win as they beat Tim Ream and Fulham in the Fourth Round.
Antonee Robinson was rested for the trip to Manchester after international duty, but Ream captained Fulham and went the distance.
Fulham started the goal scoring with a sweeping counter attack that found Fabio Carvalho alone inside the six yard box face-to-face with Steffen, giving an easy one-touch tap in for the Fulham teenager just four minutes into the game.
City created the instant equalizer in the sixth minute through İlkay Gündoğan, as all ten players inside the box for Fulham failed to clear their lines for a clever finish from the midfielder.
The home team then doubled their advantage as defender John Stones, on the back of Ream, saw his near-post header off of a corner kick would prove to be the game winner in the 13th minute.
The teams traded chances but it took Jack Grealish dancing past Ream and into the box to prove the difference, as the attacker was fouled to earn a penalty kick. Riyad Mahrez was on penalty duty to dispatch the 53rd minute spot kick.
Four minutes later Mahrez added his second of the night as Fulham turned over possession for a City counter attack, swept home by Mahrez at the back post, off of Ream, and into the nets.
The American shot stopper Steffen was called upon once more in the second half to make a double-save, the first from distance that he parried straight to Carvalho, but made the second save more comfortably as the shot was directed right at him.
Steffen and City take on Peterborough away in the Fifth Round, while Fulham turn their sights to Tuesday’s Championship match against Millwall.
Watch the game highlights here:
Huddersfield Town 1 – 0 Barnsley
Duane Holmes scored the game winner to send Huddersfield Town through to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
The opening goal came in the 19th minute after a sweeping move from the home team saw Holmes in the box off of a headed pass from Josh Koroma. After a good first touch, the American fired a left-footed shot to the far post for the game winner.
There were plenty of chances either direction, with both teams hitting the post, and Barsnley had a goal pulled out due to a foul in the build-up.
Huddersfield move on to the Fifth Round to face Nottingham Forest.
Watch the game highlights here:
Manchester United 1 – 1 Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough advanced 8-7 on penalty shootout against giants Manchester United, giving on-loan Folarin Balogun the chance to one-up one of the historical rivals of his primary team, Arsenal.
Balogun started against the Premier League giants and went 62 minutes as his team advanced after eight rounds of penalty kicks.
Images of a stuttering United continued as Cristiano Ronaldo missed a 20th-minute spot kick, but United still started on the front foot through 25th minute goal by Jadon Sancho who was picked out by Bruno Fernandes. Sancho’s low shot went in at the far post after beating his defender.
United strung together 30 shots compared to ‘Boro’s six, but in the 63rd minute the visitors tied the game through a bit of controversy. Duncan Watmore looked to have handled after a miscontrolled first touch, but his cross was turned in by Matt Crooks without a foul being called, nor VAR getting involved.
The game went to penalty kicks; both teams were perfect through their first five attempts, but United’s 19 year-old forward Anthony Elanga missed the eight penalty kick, which put Middlesbrough through on sudden death.
Boro look forward to facing Tottenham in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
Watch the game highlights here:
Sunderland 1 – 0 Portsmouth
Lynden Gooch went the distance in Sunderland’s loss to Doncaster in League One action.
Reo Griffiths scored the opener in the 22nd minute as the Sunderland goalkeeper decided to backtrack instead of pressure, leaving Griffiths with loads of time to place his shot to the bottom right corner.
Tommy Rowe scored the go ahead goal just before the break as his strong back-post shot rocketed past the Sunderland goalkeeper. Gooch could have scored in the second half after going 1v1 with the Doncaster goalkeeper; as the ball was eventually directed towards the goal line by Ross Stewart, the referee adjudged it to have not gone over the boundary.
Sunderland were able to claw one back after Doncaster failed to clear their lines, as Corry Evans turned his shot home in a crowded box in the 89th minute. Sunderland hero Jermaine Defoe made his second debut, but was unable to help the home team get over the hump as their promotion push suffered a dent.
Sunderland, currently without a manager, turn their attention Cheltenham on Tuesday in more League One action.
Watch the game highlights here:
Notes
Christian Pulisic was rested in Chelsea’s 2-1 win against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup.
Josh Sargent was rested in Norwich City’s 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup.
Ethan Horvath was on the bench for Nottingham Forest’s 4-1 upset win over Leicester City, last year’s FA Cup winner.
Matthew Olosunde was not on the bench for Preston North End’s 1-0 win over Hull City in the Championship.
