Tottenham stroll past Marine in FA Cup third round
There were no surprises in Tottenham’s 5-0 FA Cup win against non-league Marine. A gap of 160 places between the two sides in the English football pyramid — the largest distance between two teams in the competition’s history — was evident as Carlos Vinicius scored a 13-minute hat-trick to put Spurs in control.
Lucas Moura added to the tally before 16-year-old Alfie Devine also managed a debut goal.
Elsewhere, Manchester City comfortably beat Birmingham City 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium. City raced to an unassailable lead in the first-half courtesy of a Bernardo Silva double and a Phil Foden strike.
Similarly, last-year’s beaten finalists, Chelsea, sailed past League Two side Morecambe 4-0. Goals from Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz gave manager Frank Lampard something to smile about following a difficult run of results for the club.
Leeds shocked by League Two Crawley and knocked out of FA Cup
Crawley knocked Leeds United out of the FA Cup in the third round with a shock 3-0 win.
The League Two side scored twice shortly after half-time before Jordan Tunnicliffe’s 70th minute strike sealed the win for the hosts.
Mark Wright, the former star of reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex, was also sent on in added-time to make his debut for Crawley.
Rangers extend Scottish Premiership lead to 22 points
Rangers are now 22 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after Alfredo Morelos’ double proved enough to beat 10-man Aberdeen 2-1 at Pittodrie.
Steven Gerrard’s side made it 15 league wins in a row as they bid to win a first top-flight title since 2011 and deny Celtic 10 championships in a row.
James Tavernier missed a penalty after Ryan Hedges was sent off, then Morelos scored either side of half-time.
Inter unable to close gap on AC Milan in Serie A
Roma scored a late equaliser to draw 2-2 with Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico.
Gianluca Mancini glanced home a header from Gonzalo Villar’s cross to earn Roma a point four minutes from full-time.
The result leaves Inter three points adrift of leaders AC Milan at the top of Serie A, while Roma remain in third place.
FA investigate Eberechi Eze attending Kiyan Prince Foundation Staidum
Eberechi Eze’s attendance at his former club QPR’s FA Cup game against Fulham is being looked into by the FA.
The Crystal Palace midfielder was spotted at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Saturday watching his former side as they lost 2-0 to be knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round.
The Athletic understands the FA are investigating the circumstances around his attendance.
Celtic player tests positive for COVID-19
A Celtic player has tested positive for COVID-19, just days after their return from a trip to Dubai.
Celtic faced significant criticism for the mid-season break to Dubai, which saw them depart on Saturday, January 2 and return on Friday.
The club are scheduled to host Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Monday.
For a detailed explainer on Celtic’s trip to Dubai and its potential implications, Go Deeper with Kieran Devlin below.
(Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images, Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images, Mark Runnacles – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images, Tess Derry/PA Images via Getty Images)
