MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City routed fourth-division Salford City 8-0 in the FA Cup as Premier League teams flexed their muscles against lower league opposition on Saturday.
Shocks were in short supply as Liverpool and Chelsea booked their place in the next round with heavy wins. Brighton, Bournemouth and Leicester also romped to victories. Those six clubs scored a combined 32 goals.
The third round is traditionally one of the most anticipated weekends in English soccer as top flight clubs enter the competition with the prospect of upsets. But it was a day when the might of the Premier League was underlined, with high-flying Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton also going through.
The biggest shock was Brentford's 1-0 loss to the bottom team in division two, Plymouth.
United greats humbled
City showed no mercy against neighbor Salford, which is co-owned by Manchester United icons David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Nicky Butt.
Despite resting a number of star players, Pep Guardiola’s four-time defending Premier League champion was rampant at Etihad Stadium, with rising talent James McAtee hitting a second half hat trick. City prospects Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also made the score sheet.
Giggs, who is also Salford’s director of football, was on the touchline to watch the action and had to endure taunts from the home fans. Scholes and Butt, meanwhile, looked glum when television cameras focused on them in the executive seats.
Quad chasing
Liverpool’s bid to win an unprecedented quadruple is still on after a 4-0 victory over Accrington Stanley.
The Premier League and Champions League leader is also into the semifinals of the English League Cup.
Fourth-division Accrington was never expected to prevent Arne Slot’s team from advancing to the fourth round and Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jayden Danns and Federico Chiesa scored for Liverpool at Anfield.
Rio Ngumoha, aged 16, became Liverpool’s second youngest debutant.
Big wins
Chelsea won 5-0 against fourth-division Morecambe at Stamford Bridge. Tosin Adarabioyo and Joao Felix scored two goals each for the eight-time winner.
Leicester was fighting relegation but thrashed second-tier Queens Park Rangers 6-2 for only its second win under manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutch coach hadn’t won since his first game in charge at the start of December against West Ham.
James Justin scored twice and Jamie Vardy converted a second-half penalty.
Georginio Rutter scored twice in Brighton’s 4-0 win at Norwich. Norwich’s American striker Josh Sargent went on as a 79th-minute substitute after recovering from groin surgery that had sidelined him since Oct. 27.
Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara struck a double in a 5-1 victory against West Brom.
Forest advances
Sitting third in the Premier League, Forest notched its seventh straight win by beating Luton 2-0. Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa scored.
Wolverhampton advanced 2-1 at second-division Bristol City.
Plymouth shocks
At the bottom of the second division, Plymouth is in danger of being relegated to the third tier and last month parted ways with manager Wayne Rooney. But it turned giant-killer with a late winner against Brentford.
Morgan Whittaker’s 82nd-minute strike ended Plymouth’s 11-game winless run and secured a famous Cup upset.
Former Manchester United prospect Demetri Mitchell scored twice to help third-division Exeter beat second-division Oxford 3-1 and reach the fourth round for the first time in 44 years.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Robson, The Associated Press
