Liverpool routs Accrington Stanley to advance in the FA Cup while Brentford stunned
Liverpool’s bid to win an unprecedented quadruple is still on after a 4-0 victory over Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Premier League and Champions League leader is also into the semifinals of the English League Cup.
Fourth-division Accrington was 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.
The third round is traditionally one of the most anticipated weekends in English soccer as Premier League clubs enter the FA Cup.
Top-flight Brentford was upset 1-0 at home by Plymouth, which is bottom of division two.
There were no such problems for Chelsea, Brighton, Bournemouth and Leicester, who all routed lower league opposition, while high-flying Nottingham Forest was also through to the next round.
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 was fighting relegation but thrashed second-tier Queens Park Rangers 6-2 for only its 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 its seventh straight win by beating Luton 2-0. Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa scored.
Wolverhampton advanced 1-0 at second-division Bristol City.
Plymouth shocks
Plymouth is in danger of being relegated to the third division and last month parted ways with manager Wayne Rooney. But it 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.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer