Middlesbrough Shock Tottenham, Manchester City Ease In FA Cup Quarterfinals

Middlesbrough produced another FA Cup upset to extend Tottenham’s long wait for the silver medal with a 1-0 win after extra time at Riverside on Tuesday, while Manchester City cruised into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win at Peterborough. Boro eliminated Manchester United at Old Trafford in the fourth round and the Championship side were worthy winners to condemn Spurs to another trophyless season. Tottenham have not lifted a trophy since winning the League Cup in 2008 and another hugely disappointing defeat raises further questions about the future of manager Antonio Conte. The Italian only took over in November but has already hinted that he could leave after a run of four defeats in the last six Premier League games.

“We have to give our best for the rest of the season, then we will see what our position is and the evaluation of our season,” Conte said. “It’s early to say anything about it.”

Teenager Josh Coburn came off the bench to score the only goal with a hard-hitting shot over Hugo Lloris in the 107th minute.

“Between the win at Manchester United and here they turned us around at Barnsley. Football is a ridiculous game,” Boro manager Chris Wilder said.

“The fans gave us the energy to produce superior performance.”

Harry Kane had the ball in the net for Tottenham in the second half only to be flagged for offside.

But the England captain may also be considering his future again as he hopes to win the first major honor of his career.

Middlesbrough were by far the brighter side in extra time and got their reward when Coburn finished off Lloris from Crooks’ pass.

Zinchenko leads City

Earlier, Oleksandr Zinchenko captained City as classy strikes from Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish dispatched the English champions.

Ukraine international Zinchenko took the bracelet in his first appearance since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Fernandinho had initially been included as City captain for the tie, but the Brazilian, who signed from Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, offered the role to Zinchenko in a show of solidarity.

“It’s not an easy period for Oleks, his family, his country, but playing football is the best thing for him at the moment,” City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Zinchenko and Peterborough captain Frankie Kent held a Ukrainian flag together as they led the teams at the start of the match.

Once the action started, Guardiola’s men took the time to make the breakthrough against a team sitting bottom of the Championship.

Mahrez took his tally for the season to an impressive 19 goals in just 32 appearances when the Algerian deftly guided the ball into the far corner from a tight angle at the hour mark.

Grealish has had a far less productive season since moving from Aston Villa for £100m ($134m).

But he marked his return from injury with a sublime touch to control Phil Foden’s long pass before dribbling past Steven Benda for his fourth City goal.

“While we were on the bus on the way to the match, I was sitting next to Phil and we were watching videos of (Lionel) Messi,” Grealish said.

“After I scored, he came up to me and said it was like we were watching.”

promoted

Crystal Palace also booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Stoke.

Cheikhou Kouyate and Jairo Riedewald scored for the Eagles on either side of Josh Tymon’s equalizer.