LONDON: Liverpool surrendered a two-goal lead as they were held to a 2-2 draw by third-tier Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday after second-half substitute Jason Cummins struck twice to inject some much-needed late magic into the competition.
The Shrews, 59 places below runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool, faced a seemingly impossible task when Donald Love’s own goal 28 seconds after halftime put Juergen Klopp’s much-changed side 2-0 up after Curtis Jones had opened the scoring.
Scottish striker Cummins began the comeback with a penalty after 65 minutes for a foul by Yasser Larouchi on Josh Laurent. Liverpool were rattled and the New Meadow stadium erupted when Cummins raced on to a long ball and fired past keeper Adrian.
In a nailbiting finale Klopp, who had made 11 changes to the side that beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday, even sent on Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but Laurent almost won it for Shrewsbury with an audacious attempt.
The final whistle provoked a good-natured pitch invasion as Shrewsbury’s ecstatic fans celebrated their side’s best Cup result since beating Everton in the 2002-03 season.
It will also have put a smile on the faces of neutrals pining for a return of the FA Cup’s glory days.
Liverpool’s lineup was not the familiar-looking one that has seen them waltz 16 points clear towards a first league title in 30 years. But it still contained the likes of Champions League final scorer Divock Origi, Fabinho, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren.
Klopp has never taken seven-time winners Liverpool past the fourth round but when 18-year-old Jones finished well after 15 minutes and then Love got his angles wrong when making a clearance and gifted Liverpool a second it seemed like job done. But Shrewsbury had shown an adventurous spirit all game and European champions Liverpool, for once, lacked discipline and focus and invited the hosts to have a go. The home fans were not disappointed with the response from their team.
Cummins was a livewire when he came on and wrote his name into Cup folklore with his second-half double.
City punish 10-man Fulham
Holders Manchester City served up an attacking masterclass as they thrashed 10-man Fulham 4-0 in the FA Cup fourth round, on Sunday, with Gabriel Jesus scoring twice within three second-half minutes.
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 for dragging down Jesus inside the box.
Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan converted the resulting penalty for his fifth 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 keeper Marek Rodak into the bottom right corner. City continued to carve open Fulham in the second half, with substitute Raheem Sterling striking the crossbar from close range on the hour mark.
Jesus eventually put the game to bed as he headed home a Joao Cancelo cross from the right wing.
The Brazilian striker made it four, 163 seconds later, when he pounced on a rebound after Foden’s initial attempt had forced a save from Rodak.
Manchester United smash Tranmere for six
Manchester United thrashed third-tier Tranmere Rovers 6-0 on Sunday to join Manchester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
A muddy and bobbly Prenton Park pitch looked the perfect stage for a shock but Tranmere were blown away as Harry Maguire’s early thunderbolt settled any United jitters.
Tranmere had knocked out Premier League 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 before 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, ending his own near six-year goal drought, before Anthony Martial added a fifth goal just before the break.
It was the first time since 2001 that United had scored five before halftime and they continued the onslaught after the break when Mason Greenwood converted a 56th-minute penalty. Agencies