West Ham, Chelsea struggle; Man. Utd. only giant-killing victims in FA Cup

London, Feb. 6 (IANS): Frank Lampard enjoyed a winning return to management as Everton progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to a 4-1 win at home to Brentford.

Yerry Mina and Richarlison put Everton 2-0 up on Saturday and although Ivan Tomey’s penalty gave Brentford a lifeline, Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend sealed a morale-boosting win for Everton.

First-half goals from Marc Guehi and Michael Olise put Crystal Palace on the fast track to a comfortable 2-0 win at home to fourth-tier Hartlepool, Xinhua reports.

Manchester City conceded an early goal in their Cup tie at home to EFL Championship leaders, Fulham, when Liverpool target Fabio Carvalho put the visitors ahead in the fourth minute.

Pep Guardiola’s side reacted quickly with Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones turning the score around in just nine minutes before goals from Riyad Mahrez after 53 and 57 minutes resolved the game comfortably for City.

Kenny McLean’s goal in first-half injury time gave struggling Norwich a surprise 1-0 win away to Wolves in an all-Premier League affair.

Harry Kane was on target twice for Tottenham as his side beat Brighton 3-1. Kane opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Spurs doubled their lead thanks to a Solly Marsh own goal eight minutes later.

Yves Bissouma pulled a goal back for Brighton in the 63rd minute, but Kane’s second of the match three minutes later saw Spurs home win comfortably.

Middlesbrough produced the first surprise of the round as they knocked Manchester United out of the Cup 8-7 on penalties after their tie at Old Trafford ended 1-1 after extra time, with Matt Crooks’s 64th-minute goal cancelling out Jadon Sancho’s opener for the home side.

There was controversy over the equaliser as the ball clearly hit a Boro hand in the build-up, but United had themselves to blame after missing a hatful of chances, including a first-half penalty by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kidderminster Harriers from the sixth tier of the English game were seconds away from a stunning 1-0 win at home to West Ham, before Declan Rice scored an injury-time goal to cancel out Alex Penny’s 19th-minute goal for the home side.

The game then looked to be going to penalties only for Jarrod Bowen to score a winner with 120 minutes already completed.

Chelsea also needed extra time to defeat League One’s Plymouth Argyle who took an eighth-minute lead at Stamford Bridge through Macaulay Gillesphey after eight minutes.

Cesar Azpilicueta equalized a couple of minutes before halftime, but it wasn’t until the 105th minute that Marcos Alonso finally swung the game Chelsea’s way.

Southampton were another top-flight team needing extra time to get past lower league opposition, with Stuart Armstrong and Kyle Walker-Peters scoring to get the ‘Saints’ past Coventry City, who had taken a first-half lead through Viktor Gyokeres

In ties not involving Premier League clubs, Huddersfield Town won a Yorkshire derby 1-0 at home to Barnsley, Peterborough United beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 to qualify for the fifth round for the first time since 1986, while Stoke City defeated Wigan 2-0 and Luton won 3-0 away to Cambridge United.