https://arab.news/9ggj2
- Rising talent James McAtee struck a second-half hat trick, and City prospects Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also scored
- Liverpool, Chelsea, Brighton, Bournemouth and Leicester also booked their place in the next round with big wins
MANCHESTER: Manchester City routed fourth-division Salford City 8-0 in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Salford, which are co-owned by Manchester United icons David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, were humbled by Pep Guardiola’s four-time defending Premier League champion at Etihad Stadium.
Rising talent James McAtee struck a second-half hat trick, and City prospects Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also scored.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Brighton, Bournemouth and Leicester also booked their place in the next round with big wins.
Quad chasing
Liverpool’s bid to win an unprecedented quadruple was still on after a 4-0 victory over Accrington Stanley.
The Premier League and Champions League leader were also into the semifinals of the English League Cup.
Fourth-division Accrington were never expected to prevent Arne Slot’s team from advancing to the fourth round and Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jayden Danns and Federico Chiesa scored for Liverpool at Anfield.
Rio Ngumoha, aged 16, became Liverpool’s second youngest debutant.
Big wins
Chelsea won 5-0 against fourth-division Morecambe at Stamford Bridge. Tosin Adarabioyo and Joao Felix scored two goals each for the eight-time winner.
Leicester were fighting relegation but thrashed second-tier Queens Park Rangers 6-2 for only their second win under manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutch coach hadn’t won since his first game in charge at the start of December against West Ham.
James Justin scored twice and Jamie Vardy converted a second-half penalty.
Georginio Rutter scored twice in Brighton’s 4-0 win at Norwich. Norwich’s American striker Josh Sargent went on as a 79th-minute substitute after recovering from groin surgery that had sidelined him since Oct. 27.
Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara struck a double in a 5-1 victory against West Brom.
Forest advances
Sitting third in the Premier League, Forest notched their seventh straight win by beating Luton 2-0. Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa scored.
Wolverhampton advanced 2-1 at second-division Bristol City.
Plymouth shock
Plymouth are in danger of being relegated to the third division and last month parted ways with manager Wayne Rooney. But they turned giant-killer with a late winner against Brentford.
Morgan Whittaker’s 82nd-minute strike ended Plymouth’s 11-game winless run and secured a famous Cup upset.
Former Manchester United prospect Demetri Mitchell scored twice to help third-division Exeter beat second-division Oxford 3-1.