LONDON: Manchester United and Liverpool set up an FA quarter-final showdown after they claimed narrow wins over Nottingham Forest and Southampton respectively.
United were heading for extra-time at the City Ground before Casemiro secured a precious victory for Erik ten Hag’s team in the 89th minute.
A free kick by Bruno Fernandes was flicked home by the Brazilian to break the deadlock with the goal eventually given after a lengthy VAR check, which deemed the offside Raphael Varane had not interfered with play.
It was Casemiro’s first goal since September and helped United bounce back from Saturday’s loss to Fulham to clinch a home tie in the last-eight against rivals Liverpool.
The FA Cup draw had been made prior to the evening’s four kick-offs and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool youngsters again made the most of their opportunity with an excellent 3-0 triumph over Southampton.
Liverpool, fresh from their Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea, boasted a number of academy graduates in their starting line-up and Lewis Koumas, son of former Wales international Jason, opened the scoring with a deflected effort in the 44th minute.
It was Koumas’ full debut and he marked it with a goal after he collected a pass from fellow youngster Bobby Clark before his low effort was deflected in off Jack Stephens.
Southampton had squandered a number of promising openings before that point and Klopp turned to his bench to seal the victory.
With no Mohamad Salah or Darwin Nunez, Jayden Danns got the nod and produced a superb two-goal cameo.
Danns’ first was a sumptuous chip after Harvey Elliott’s through ball with 17 minutes left before he wrapped up the victory when he tapped home after Conor Bradley had been denied.
Chelsea were desperate for a response after their Wembley disappointment and Pochettino’s team selection raised eyebrows with Cole Palmer and Gallagher dropped to the bench, but the latter was able to fire his team into the last eight with a last-gasp winner.
The night started disastrously for the hosts when Moises Caicedo lost possession inside his own area after Axel Disasi’s risky pass and young forward Mateo Joseph fired beyond Robert Sanchez with eight minutes played at Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino’s men were not behind for long with Caicedo releasing Nicolas Jackson, who fired into the bottom corner for his 10th goal of the season after quarter of an hour.
Mykhailo Mudryk completed the first-half turnaround with a smart finish after Raheem Sterling’s cut-back in the 37th minute but Leeds levelled soon after half-time.
Jaidon Anthony cut inside and his floated cross was headed home by Joseph prior to the hour mark to spark jubilant scenes in the away end.
It set up a grandstand finish with chances missed by both sides before Chelsea booked their place in the next round where they will host Leicester.
Wolves set up another all-Midlands tie in the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Brighton.
Mario Lemina slid home with only two minutes played after Jason Steele fumbled Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s cross to book Gary O’Neil’s side a quarter-final tie at home to Coventry. - Bernama, PA Media/dpa
