Tomas Rosicky scored twice and Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield on Saturday to knock the defending champions out of the FA Cup.
After the Czech midfielder had given the Gunners a 2-0 half-time lead with shots from outside the area, Dirk Kuyt replied for Liverpool in the 71st minute. But Thierry Henry dispossessed Jamie Carragher six minutes from the end and ran clear to add a third.
”When they came back to 2-1, I was worried because we had heavy legs,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is chasing his fifth FA Cup triumph with the Gunners. ”[If] they had a little bit more spark, they could have come back to 2-2.”
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said his team made too many defensive mistakes.
”We deserved more in the first half, but to win games you have to score goals and not concede,” he said. ”In the first half we controlled the game for 35 minutes, made two mistakes and conceded two goals. The third goal was another mistake, but when you are losing you keep attacking.”
Frank Lampard scored three goals and set up a fourth in Chelsea’s 6-1 victory over League Two strugglers Macclesfield to put the Blues into the fourth round.
On the day Premier League clubs Sheffield United and Charlton were upset by League One teams Swansea and Nottingham Forest, Lampard made sure there was no shock at Stamford Bridge.
Paul Ince’s Macclesfield, next to last in its division and 89 places behind Chelsea in the pyramid of English soccer’s leagues, were level at 1-1 five minutes before half-time.
But Lampard, having already scored Chelsea’s first goal, regained the lead within a minute of John Murphy’s equaliser. He also added a third from the penalty spot in the 52nd after Macclesfield goalkeeper Tommy Lee was sent off for bringing down Andriy Shevchenko.
Lampard then provided the final pass to set up Shaun Wright-Phillips for a fourth in the 68th minute before John Obi Mikel and Ricardo Carvalho added two more.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed that Lampard was not supposed to start. He was promoted to the bench because Lassana Diarra was dropped for arriving 40 minutes late for a team briefing.
”Frank Lampard should not have been playing today [Saturday],” Mourinho said. ”He should have been on the bench because I like to always have some ammunition on there in case things are not going very well. But Lassana Diarra was 40 minutes late for the team meeting, so I started with Lamps and in the first half he was absolutely crucial for us.”
Thomas Butler scored twice for Swansea in a 3-0 victory at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane after Blades manager Neil Warnock gambled wrongly by resting several of his regular starters.
Junior Agogo and Grant Holt hit first-half goals as Nottingham Forest upset Charlton 2-0 at the City Ground.
Charlton manager Alan Pardew was unhappy with his team’s performance.
”I’d like to think that one or two players will recognise the performance they put in today [Saturday] was not good enough for this club and certainly not good enough for the standards I like to set,” he said. ”They either respond or I am afraid they will not find themselves anywhere near the first team.”
Forest manager Colin Calderwood said he was more concerned with getting the former two-time European champions back into the top flight, which would require two promotions.
”The bigger picture is always the league,” he said. ”We’ll take no joy out of this victory in May if we’re not promoted.”
Other Premier League clubs were held by teams from the Championship.
Sebastian Larsson, on loan from Arsenal, scored four minutes from the end as League Championship leaders Birmingham held Newcastle 2-2 at home despite playing the second half with 10 men after the ejection of Radhi Jaidi.
Fulham were held 2-2 by Leicester despite leading 2-1 thanks to goals by United Sates striker Brian McBride and Moritz Volz, and Middlesbrough could only draw 1-1 with Hull, who are struggling near the foot of the Championship.
In a match-up of two Premier League sides, Portsmouth edged Wigan 2-1 thanks to a last-minute header by substitute Nwankwo Kanu.
But West Ham shrugged off their relegation worries by beating League One’s Brighton 3-0 with goals by Mark Noble, Carlton Cole and Hayden Mullins.
Watford, who are last in the Premier League, outplayed League Two Stockport 4-1 after two rare strikes by veteran Scottish defender Malky Mackay and Bolton won 4-0 at League One Doncaster, with Iranian international Andranik Teymourian scoring twice.
Reading’s game against Burnley was called off because its Madejski Stadium field was waterlogged.
Four more games are slated for Sunday: Manchester United vs Aston Villa; Cardiff vs Tottenham; Everton vs Blackburn; and Sheffield Wednesday vs Manchester City. — Sapa-AP