sortiwa
Sean Dyche dismissed speculation that Joe Hart will join Aston Villa during the transfer window after the former England goalkeeper made just his second Burnley appearance since December 2018 in the 4-2 win over Peterborough.
The 32-year-old had been linked with Villa following the season-ending injury suffered by Tom Heaton last week, but Dyche said the move was “highly unlikely … Joe’s a good pro and good round the squad.”
Dyche made eight changes, and Burnley were 3-0 up inside 25 minutes through Jay Rodriguez, Erik Pieters and Jeff Hendrick. Ivan Toney pulled one back before half-time but Rodriguez’s second, on 52 minutes, effectively killed the contest – though Ricky-Jade Jones scored a second for the visitors.
Bournemouth cruised to a morale-boosting 4-0 win over Luton with two goals from Philip Billing, one from Callum Wilson and one from Dominic Solanke – scoring his first goal in his 31st Bournemouth appearance in all competitions.
Norwich teenager Adam Idah is targeting more Premier League action after his hat-trick put his side into the fourth round with a 4-2 win over Preston at Deepdale. Idah, on his second Norwich start, belied his lack of experience with a well-taken hat-trick, having also played a role in Onel Hernández’s strike. Billy Bodin and Josh Harrop scored for Preston. “It’s a great start to the year for me, I’m over the moon,” Idah said. “Even just to start the game was unbelievable.”
Two teenagers helped to send Southampton into the next round with a victory over Huddersfield at St Mary’s. Making his debut, 19-year-old William Smallbone gave the hosts the lead in the 47th minute before Jake Vokins, also 19, scored in only his second game to wrap things up in the 87th minute.
Jeremie Bela spared the blushes of team-mate Ivan Sunjic as 10-man Birmingham grabbed a late winner to beat Blackburn 2-1.
Bela punished a goalkeeping mistake by Jayson Leutwiler to score a breakaway goal in the last minute after Sunjic had been sent off less than two minutes after coming off the bench.
Grant McCann praised striker Tom Eaves after his hat-trick in a 3-2 win at 10-man Rotherham sent Hull through to the fourth round. Eaves ensured a replay was avoided with a stoppage-time header – though the goal of the game was scored by Kyle Vassell for the home side from the edge of the box. “Eaves is getting better and better,” said McCann. “He’s a big lump and he can finish.”
Millwall’s assistant manager, Callum Davidson, hailed Connor Mahoney after a routine 3-0 win over Newport County. The winger, signed from Bournemouth last summer, broke a 20-game goalscoring drought on New Year’s Day against Luton and scored a second in four days as County were outclassed. “He’s had a slow start here but he’s one of the most talented players we’ve got.”
Dave Challinor was proud of his Hartlepool team despite the National League side going down 4-1 at League One Oxford. Hartlepool led for nearly three-quarters of an hour after Mark Kitching scored in the ninth minute, but after Rob Hall levelled seven minutes into the second half, it was all Oxford. “Of course you dream when you are leading,” said Challinor. “I’m disappointed but unbelievably proud.”
Thomas Frank praised his young Brentford side as they beat an experienced Stoke lineup 1-0. The Bees named one regular first-team player but won via Emiliano Marcondes’s first-half set-piece. “That was fantastic,” said Frank. “We had an average age of 20.1 years and theirs was 24.5. They had a total of 9,000 Championship minutes – we had 2,000.”
Portsmouth secured a 2-1 win at Fleetwood, with goals from James Bolton and Marcus Harness, while League One Shrewsbury secured a richly deserved replay in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Ashton Gate. City took a 30th-minute lead against the run of play from Famara Diedhiou, but Shrewsbury were back in it three minutes after the interval, Sean Goss placing his shot perfectly from the edge of the box.
Cardiff fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw and a replay with Carlisle. Jack Bridge and Harry McKirdy stunned the Championship side with first-half headers, but Callum Paterson and Gavin Whyte clawed it back at the start of the second half.
A weakened Reading side had to settle for a 2-2 draw with League One Blackpool at the Madejski. Armand Gnanduillet wasted a golden chance for a Blackpool victory when his attempt at a Panenka penalty struck the crossbar.
Source link
