Holders Manchester City and Manchester United were in scintillating form on Sunday as they thrashed their opponents to advance in the English FA Cup fourth rounds matches
City thumped Fulham 4-0 with Gabriel Jesus scoring twice within three second half minutes, while United thrashed English football league third tier Tranmere Rovers 6-0.
Any hopes of Championship side Fulham causing an upset at the Etihad Stadium were dented in less than six minutes after captain Tim Ream received his marching orders.
This was for dragging down Brazilian striker Jesus inside the penalty area.
Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan converted the resulting penalty kick for his fifth Manchester City goal of the campaign, before Bernardo Silva made it 2-0 for the hosts.
Phil Foden slid the ball across the edge of the box to Silva, who made a sharp turn before driving the ball past Fulham goalkeeper
Marek Rodak into the bottom right corner.
Manchester City continued to carve open Fulham in the second half, with substitute Raheem Sterling striking the crossbar from close range on the hour mark.
The game was eventually put to bed by Jesus, who scored two headed goals in quick succession to take his tally to 16 goals across all competitions this season.
Manchester United were also in excellent form when they Tranmere.
A muddy and bobbly Prenton Park pitch looked the perfect stage for a shock but Tranmere Rovers were blown away as Harry Maguire’s early thunderbolt settled any Manchester United jitters.
Tranmere Rovers had knocked out English Premier League (EPL) Watford in a replay on Thursday.
But apart from an early flurry of pressure they were never in Sunday’s tie as United scored five times before the break.
Diogo Dalot, who like Maguire had not scored all season, made it 2-0 after weaving into the penalty area and delivering a fierce finish.
Later on, Jesse Lingard curled a right-footed shot inside the post for only his second goal of the season.
Phil Jones got in on the act with a looping header from a corner kick, ending his own near six-year goal drought.
Anthony Martial added a fifth goal just before the break.
It was the first time since 2001 that Manchester United had scored five before half-time and they continued the onslaught after the break when Mason Greenwood converted a 56th-minute penalty kick.
No Comments