Football-‘Boro knocks out Spurs but Man City and Palace advance to FA Cup

Football – FA Cup 5th Round – Peterborough United vs Manchester City – Weston Homes Stadium, Peterborough, England – March 1, 2022 Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte action image via Reuters / John Sibley

March 2, 2022

(Reuters) -Tottenham Hotspur suffered an FA Cup upset at the hands of Championship Middlesbrough on Tuesday, losing 1-0 after extra time in the fifth round at Riverside Stadium to Chris Wilder’s side.

The two leading teams in the Premier League, Manchester City and Crystal Palace, both beat their lower-tier rivals to win tickets to the quarter-finals.

Josh Coburn scored the winning goal in the 107th minute as Middlesbrough followed up on their knock out of Manchester United in the previous round with another memorable night.

It was another setback for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who just last week questioned his future following a 1-0 Premier League defeat to Burnley.

Conte hit the field with full force, sticking to the starting XI that beat Leeds United 4-0 in the league on Saturday but Middlesbrough deserved to win.

“This defeat hurts me, my players and everyone who works at Tottenham,” said the Italian.

“I feel we have lost a great opportunity here. When playing against a team that has played in the Premier League, in a sporting way, you have to kill your opponent.

“When you don’t score, the chances you create, you give them confidence. They deserve to go through to the next round and praise goes to them,” he said.

Wilder, who are eighth in the Championship, credited the fans for creating a frenetic atmosphere.

“The supporters gave us the energy to put on a top performance,” he said.

“We are very happy to be in the next round, I would love to draw at home. A great bonus for everyone who follows this club.

“We want to create memories. We’ve got one at Old Trafford and I believe we’ve got one in our own stadium, which is fantastic.”

Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish were on target as Premier League leaders Manchester City beat Championship contenders Peterborough United 2-0.

City struggled to beat the bottom two until Mahrez put them ahead for an hour, cut across from the right and delivered a left-footed shot into the far corner.

Then, Pep Guardiola’s men doubled the lead with a quality goal – Phil Foden tackled the ball from deep to Grealish with a sublime touch before slamming in for the first goal. his first in the FA Cup.

“We got into the playoffs and in the end it was the quality of our players that made the difference,” said Guardiola, praising the strikers’ finish.

“Riyad always had this quality in the final third – he was the best we had. He scored a great goal. So proud of the game he played.

“The pass from Phil (for Grealish’s goal) was fantastic – great control from Jack. He was aggressive in the final third and came back from injury and played at a really good level,” added the Spaniard.

Crystal Palace also reached the last eight after Jairo Riedewald scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute at home against second-place Stoke City.

Stoke’s Josh Tymon canceled out Cheikhou Kouyate’s 53rd-minute opener for Palace before Riedewald scored.

(Reporting by Simon Evans, Editing by Toby Davis)