Chelsea vs Liverpool in FA Cup final; Arsenal, Tottenham give Man Utd. top-four hopes

London, April 18 (IANS): Chelsea will play Liverpool in the FA Cup final after a deserved 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on Sunday night.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s impressive 65th minute shot, which took a slight deflection on its way to goal, and Mason Mount’s effort following a pass from Timo Werner with 15 minutes left to play, were a fair reward for Thomas Tuchel’s side against a rival that tried to soak up the pressure to play on the break.

Liverpool booked their place with a 3-2 win against Manchester City, who paid for first-half mistakes on Saturday afternoon.

In the Premier League, Tottenham missed a chance to strengthen their grip on fourth place when Leandro Trossard’s last-minute goal condemned them to a 1-0 defeat at home to Brighton, who had last weekend won away to Arsenal.

Arsenal slipped to sixth in the table after Jan Bednarek’s 44th-minute goal and a series of excellent saves from Fraser Forster condemned them to a 1-0 defeat away to Southampton.

Manchester United leapfrog Arsenal thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick in a 3-2 win at home to bottom side Norwich City, Xinhua reports. Ronaldo opened the scoring in the seventh minute and doubled his side’s advantage just after the half-hour, but United still lacked cohesion and Kieran Dowell and Teemu Pukki drew Norwich level before Ronaldo struck a 76th minute free kick through their defensive wall.

Burnley’s first game since Sean Dyche’s surprise sacking on Friday ended in a 1-1 draw away to West Ham, which does little to help their battle against relegation.

Wout Weghorst’s second goal since joining in January put Burnley in front, and it should have been 2-0, only for Maxwel Cornet to miss the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot.

Tomas Soucek levelled for West Ham in the 74th minute and the home side would have gone on to claim all three points but for some excellent saves from Burnley keeper, Nick Pope.

The game will also be remembered for a horrible ankle injury suffered by Burnley midfielder Ashley Westwood, which saw the game stopped for several minutes before the break.

Bruno Guimaraes’ 95th-minute header sealed Newcastle’s fight-back after conceding an Ademola Lookman opener at home to Leicester City.

Guimaraes had levelled the score from close range in the 30th minute against a rival that rotated their side considerably after Thursday’s UEFA Conference League match.

Pontus Jansson’s 95th-minute winner gave Brentford a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road that secures their top-flight future, but is a hammer blow to Watford, who have lost their last 10 home matches.

Christian Norgaard put Brentford ahead in the 15th minute, and although Emilio Bonaventura equalised 10 minutes into the second half, Jansson decided an entertaining game for the visitors.