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Alex Mott·29 January 2024
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Alex Mott·29 January 2024
A memorable FA Cup fourth round weekend provided an historic shock, a plethora of brilliant goals and some shocking scenes at the Hawthorns.
Here’s what we made of it all.
João Pedro has been enjoying the season of his life at Brighton this term with the Brazilian forward netting 18 in all competitions for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
Three of those came this weekend as the Seagulls went to fellow Premier League outfit Sheffield United and blew the Blades away.
The game finished 5-2 to the visitors with João Pedro’s hat-trick goal the pick of the bunch.
After being used as something of a impact sub earlier in the campaign, João Pedro has now started five games on the bounce for the south coast club and has repaid his boss’s faith with a run of fine performances.
THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS 🤯 @NewportCounty's Bryn Morris has no right to score from there 🚀 #EmiratesFACup–
It was ultimately a losing endeavour for Newport but that hasn’t stopped Bryn Morris’s strike being named our Goal of the Weekend.
The Welsh minnows fought back from 2-0 down to go level with Manchester United just after the half-time whistle.
And it was this stunner from Morris that kick-started the fightback.
United’s class eventually told as goals from Antony and Rasmus Højlund secured a 4-2 victory but Morris’s stunner will live long in the memory at Rodney Parade.
THEY'VE DONE IT 💛 THE STONES HAVE DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE... THEY'RE INTO THE FIFTH ROUND #EmiratesFACup–
There really can only be one Result of the Weekend this time around.
Maidstone United became the first team since Blyth Spartans in 1977 to be playing outside the top five divisions in English football and reach the fifth round.
George Elokobi’s men went to Championship high-fliers Ipswich on Saturday and did a number on the Tractor Boys.
It was just about as backs’ to the wall as a win can get but it was even more beautiful as a result.
Two shots on target and two goals – this was history in the making and all 15 men who took to the pitch at Portman Road deserve their props.
A memorable occasion more for what happened off the pitch, than on it.
Wolves travelled to bitter rivals West Brom on Sunday for the first Black Country derby in front of supporters in over a decade.
And what ensued turned a feisty occasion into something violent.
Away fans were reportedly seen in the home end and play was suspended for 35 minutes after Wolves’ second goal, the referee opted to suspend action with police rushing on to the scene of increased fighting.
Fans then spilled on to the pitch with a number of them being escorted out of the Hawthorns.
Eventually play restarted and Wolves completed a 2-0 win for their first victory at the Baggies since 1996.
This was the weekend that Anfield could pay tribute to their outgoing manager after Jürgen Klopp’s announcement he would be leaving the club on Friday.
Klopp will remain un charge until the end of the season and it feels like every game between now and May will be a cup final for the Reds – especially at home.
The Merseyside outfit did their part on the pitch too as they beat Norwich 5-2 with Curtis Jones starring in midfield.
Jones, surely a lock for England’s Euro squad this summer, has now scored five goals in his last five games at home.
Klopp will have been delighted.
After Klopp’s shock exit announcement on Friday, Pep Guardiola became the first coach to be asked about the news in his own pre-match interview before Manchester City’s trip to Tottenham.
The Catalan coach was paid an emotional tribute to the man he called his “best rival”.
“I will sleep better [when Klopp goes],” Guardiola said.
“The games we play before against Liverpool were almost a nightmare. Of course he will be missed. It was a shock [to hear the news]. I felt when I heard it that a part of Man City … we will lose something. We cannot define our period here without him … without Liverpool. Impossible.
“They have been our biggest rivals. And personally he [Klopp] has been the best rival I ever had in my life – in Dortmund when I was in Bayern, then here. I think the Premier League are going to miss him – the charisma, the personality and especially the way his teams play.”
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