West Ham 0-1 West Brom
The Hammers were left looking like the blunt implement they are as West Bromwich Albion turned from Championship leaders to F.A. Cup spoilers by winning 1-0 at a stunned London Stadium.
It wasn’t so much that West Ham lost and West Brom won, after all, The Baggies are top of the Championship, just four places below their East End counterparts. It was the manner of the defeat that shocked the West Ham fans, many of whom left before the end of the game in disgust.
For the home side, only Michail Antonio looked the part, and he was a second half substitute coming on for the dismal Pablo Fornals. By then, The Baggies had taken a surprise lead through Conor Townsend, and David Moyes made not one but three half-tie substitutes. The ineptitude of his side was such that had he been able to take off all eleven members of his starting line-ups, he would surely have done so.
For former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic, the game will be more proof that side are on the up, literally, and might arrest the poor form that has seen them discard much of a 10-point lead over the play-off places in The Championship.
If West Brom can keep Filip Krovinovic fit and their front-line firing, then the Premier League surely beckons again for the yo-yo side. The opposite can be said for the hosts, as David Moyes now faces a battle to maintain West Ham’s topflight status. If he loses that battle, he and they may never recover.
Tranmere Rovers 0-6 Manchester United
Prenton Park was less of a pitch than a muddy puddle on Sunday afternoon, but for Manchester United, it was a walk in the park either way.
3-0 up after just 17 minutes, United were rampant in the first half, with first-ever United goals from Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot setting United on their way before Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones and Anthony Martial made sure the half-time chat was limited to small talk. A little more gloss was added with a Mason Greenwood penalty in the second half.
With Tranmere ‘keeper Scott Davies poking fun at United’s fall from grace before the game, United’s ruthless nature during the game was something manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer attributed in part to the comments. Davies, a lifelong Manchester City fan, was, however, gracious in defeat after the game on social media site Twitter.
https://twitter.com/scottydav1/status/1221494199876509697
Shrewsbury 2-2 Liverpool
A fantastic, topsy-turvy game took place at Montgomery Waters Meadow as Shrewsbury Town of League One came back from two goals down against the Champions of Europe, Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp made changes to the side he sent out against the third-tier stragglers, but initially, it looked to have taken no edge off the runaway Premier League leaders. Curtis Jones, who scored such a stunning goal to defeat Everton at Goodison Park, opened the scoring on 15 minutes and sent his side into the break 1-0 up and cruising.
The result looked to have been made certain when the unfortunate Donald Love scored a tragically precise own goal just seconds into the second half. However, the introduction of substitute Jason Cummings changed the game.
Cummings scored a penalty just after the hour, and ten minutes later, coolly slotted home the equalizer. While both sides had chances to win it, Liverpool failed to do so despite Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino being on the pitch. Shrewsbury will be looking forward to a day out at Anfield in the replay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3aLbm9NfVE
F.A. Cup 4th round results:
Northampton 0-0 Derby
Q.P.R. 1-2 Sheff Wed
Hull City 1-2 Chelsea
Burnley 1-2 Norwich
Coventry 0-0 Birmingham
Millwall 0-2 Sheff Utd
Newcastle 0-0 Oxford Utd
Portsmouth 4-2 Barnsley
Reading 1-1 Cardiff
Southampton 1-1 Spurs
West Ham 0-1 West Brom
Brentford 0-1 Leicester City
Man City 4-0 Fulham
Tranmere 0-6 Man Utd
Shrewsbury 2-2 Liverpool
