The FA Cup quarter-final round did not produce any surprises as all the major favourites — Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City — safely made it through to the final four.
The two city rivals were then kept away from one another in the semi-final draw to set up two London vs Manchester clashes: Arsenal vs City and Chelsea vs United.
Those two mouth-watering encounters at Wembley are scheduled for the 18th and 19th of July, and the final set for the 1st of August.
But before looking that far ahead, SBOBET is here to take a look back at all the FA Cup action that went down in the quarter-final round.
Maguire’s extra-time winner sends Man United past Norwich
Manchester United have made it back to the last four of the FA Cup after outlasting Norwich City 2-1 in extra-time at Carrow Road.
Captain Harry Maguire’s goal in the 118th minute saw the Red Devils reach their third FA Cup semi-final for the third time in five years.
Odion Ighalo, who got the start up front over Anthony Martial, gave the away side the lead on 51 minutes. But Norwich pulled level on 75 minutes through a fine strike from Todd Cantwell.
Norwich held on to send the tie to extra-time, but they had to play the last 30 minutes down to 10 men after centre-back Timm Klose was sent off right before full-time.
Norwich were just two minutes away from forcing penalties, but Maguire had other plans. The United skipper, who stayed up inside the penalty area, reacted quickest to a loose ball and swept it in to send United through in trademark dramatic fashion.
Arsenal’s Dani Ceballos breaks Blades’ hearts
Not to be outdone, the next quarter-final between Arsenal and Sheffield United also featured some late drama.
The Blades thought they went ahead after just eight minutes when defender John Lundstram bundled the ball into the net. But the goal was correctly waved off by VAR for offside.
And to make matters worse for the hosts, Arsenal went ahead on 25 minutes. Alexandre Lacazette was clumsily brought down in the penalty area, and Nicolas Pepe stepped up to smash home from the spot.
Sheffield United battled for an equaliser, and it eventually came three minutes from time. After Arsenal failed to clear a long throw, the ball fell to David McGoldrick, who smashed the ball past Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez.
But the Blades’ elation would soon turn to heartbreak as the Gunners would grab a late winner in stoppage time. Substitute Dani Ceballos was cool as a cucumber as he dribbled towards Dean Henderson then slotted the ball past the Blades keeper.
Barkley strike leads Chelsea over struggling Leicester
Fresh off their fine win over Manchester City in the Premier League, Chelsea continued their impressive form by knocking out Champions League hopefuls Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
Substitute Ross Barkley’s 63rd-minute strike was enough to see the Blues through to their third FA Cup semi-final in four years. They had reached back-to-back finals in 2017 and 2018.
Brendan Rodgers’ side started out the brighter of the two, but they could not create many clear-cut FA Cup 2020 highlights throughout the match.
Scoring goals has been a serious concern for Leicester in recent matches. Excluding a 4-0 win over Aston Villa just before the suspension of play, they’ve now scored just two goals in their last seven matches.
The Foxes will have to rediscover their form in the league, with Chelsea just one point behind and the likes of Wolves and Manchester United also still in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
Manchester City cruise past Newcastle
And last but not least, the most one-sided tie of the quarter-final round was Manchester City’s dominant 2-0 victory over Newcastle United.
The FA Cup 2020 odds had City as massive favourites, and they showed why right from the off. They had over 80 per cent of possession and had 15 of their 20 total shots in the first half. However, they were unable to get most of those shots on target.
They were only able to go up after Newcastle conceded a penalty for a foul on Gabriel Jesus. Kevin de Bruyne stepped up to score from the spot.
City were well in control and could afford to put their foot off the gas in the second half, especially after they sealed the win with their second goal on 68 minutes.
Raheem Sterling cut inside into his favoured right foot and uncorked a curling strike which went beyond the reach of Newcastle keeper Karl Darlow.
City now set up a rematch with Arsenal, whom they just thrashed 3-0 in the league with help from Gunners defender David Luiz.
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