EPL, FA Cup round-up: Chelsea ride Kanté wave to beat United, City score 2-0 win

The weekend’s action in England was split over the FA Cup quarter-finals and Premier League Matchday 28. With five of the top six embroiled in Cup action, the focus of the League shifted to the battle at the bottom.

Niasse secures massive win for Hull, hat-trick King settles thriller

The rest of the bottom six were out of action, so Hull’s clash with Swansea took up even more significance. Both sides were recovering under new managers but Marco Silva’s Hull had seen their resurgence flickering – recent defeats at Leicester and Arsenal meant they were unable to climb out of 19th.

Swansea had the better of the hosts, but were dealt a double injury blow when Angel Rangel and then crucially, Fernando Llorente, scorer of so many vital goals of late, hobbled off in the first half. Boosted by this, the home side began to grow into the game but failed to unlock the Swans defence.

Silva took a gamble and through on on-loan Everton forward Oumar Niasse to make the shift to a 4-4-2 and it worked perfectly. Within moments of coming on, Niasse was played in by his strike partner Abel Hernandez to give the Tigers the lead with 20 minutes to go. The Senegalese target man was at it again, scoring his second soon after to put the game to bed.

Alfie Mawson got a late goal to make it 2-1 but Paul Clement’s side were beaten. They might have put daylight between themselves and the strugglers, but will now be looking nervously over their shoulders with 10 games to go.

Bournemouth hosted West Ham still looking for their first win in 2017.

Their poor form had them looking nervously at the sides below.

Things started poorly for the Cherries when top-scorer Joshua King, who scored from the penalty spot at Manchester United, fluffed his lines this time after they were awarded an early penalty. To make matters worse, Antonio scored soon after at the other end to give West Ham a 1-0 lead.

King made amends in spectacular fashion when he flicked the ball over Jose Fonte’s head and prodded home on the turn to equalize, before his side were awarded another penalty. King’s fellow forward Benik Afobe stepped up this time with an equally poor effort that was saved by the keeper.

The second half continued at the frantic pace set in the first, and Bournemouth went ahead courtesy of a King volley from close range after West Ham failed to deal with a ball in the box. With 7 minutes to go however, they somehow equalised when Andre Ayew, on as a substitute, slotted home after excellent play from Pedro Obiang.

But there was time to more. As the game got stretched towards the end, the home side poured forward from a slick passing exchange, and after Jack Wilshere had his shot saved, King was on hand to force home the rebound to complete his hat-trick and win the game for his side with seconds to go.

No surprises in Cup action

City kicked off Cup action with a straightforward 2-0 win at Middlesbrough. Pep Guardiola’s men dominated proceedings from start to end against one of the League’s strugglers.

After dropping into the relegation zone on the back of some dismal performances in 2017, Aitor Koranka’s side needed to rediscover some form in front of goal, even more so after David Silva put their opponents ahead just two minutes in.

Other than a few minor scares generated by the aerial threat of Rudy Gestede, Boro looked as toothless in attack as ever, this game being a harsh reminder that they will have to massively step up if they want to survive.

Arsenal disposed of non-League Lincoln City at a subdued Emirates Stadium. Walcott opened the scoring and Giroud, Gibbs, man of the match Sanchez and Ramsey followed suit to complete the rout that ended Lincoln’s cup fairytale.

As for Arsenal, the win won’t go very far in patching the wounds of the recent heavy defeats to Bayern Munich and Liverpool, as calls for Wenger to be dismissed remain loud as ever.

Tottenham, like their neighbours, ran riot over lower league opposition in Milwall. Mauricio Pochettino fielded an unexpectedly strong side in the 6-0 thrashing of Millwall, and paid the price when Harry Kane succumbed to injury and had to be withdrawn in the first half.

His replacement, Eriksen came on and combined with Heung-min Son, who bagged a hat-trick, and Dele Alli to devastating effect as Spurs secured an easy passage to the semis.

The game was marred by Millwall fans, famous for their hostility, directing racist chants towards Son and also by news that Kane may have played for the last time this season.

Chelsea ride Kanté wave to beat United

Stamford Bridge was the stage for the headline clash of the week – Chelsea vs United.

Two of England’s most successful sides of the modern era went to battle again. Jose Mourinho was desperate to avoid another woeful return to his old home like the 4-0 thrashing his side were subjected to in October, but without the services of Martial, Rooney and Ibrahimovic, was handicapped even before kick-off.

Imperious in the League this season, Chelsea found themselves on the back foot after a fast start from Untied.

It all went wrong in the 35th-minute when Ander Herrera picked up his second yellow for a foul on Hazard.

The League leaders made the numbers count and one of their standout players in an outstanding season, N’Golo Kanté broke the deadlock with a strike of geometric precision from distance. Depleted and beleaguered, United couldn’t recover in time to end their Cup defence.

These wins set up mouth-watering semi-finals at Wembley – Arsenal take on City, meanwhile Chelsea face Spurs, the only side to beat them under their changed shape.

A forgotten trophy in recent years, the world’s oldest cup competition has regained all of its magic.

Also read: Does an IPL trophy tour amuse you?