Underdogs

BRIGHTON — Brighton & Hove Albion winger Solly March netted twice early in the second half and set up another goal in a 3-0 home win over a sluggish Liverpool on Saturday that lifts them above the Reds to seventh in the Premier League standings.

The victory was Brighton's first over Liverpool in the top flight and they deserved to take all three points once March helped them convert their dominance in possession into goals.

SOUTHAMPTON — Defending Premier League champions Manchester City crashed out of the League Cup after suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at struggling Southampton in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Southampton, bottom of the Premier League table, scored twice in the first half through Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo and City never seriously threatened to get back into the match.

It'd been 18 long years since Newcastle United had advanced to the semifinals in one of England's cup competitions, but their supporters can once again dream of breaking a major trophy curse that's lasted since 1955 after beating Leicester City 2-0 in the League Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday night at St James' Park.

With Leeds United just two points above the Premier League relegation zone nearing the campaign's halfway point, an FA Cup exit to EFL Championship side Cardiff City on Sunday would've certainly left Jesse Marsch's job security on the brink.

It looked pretty hopeless at halftime after Jaden Philogene and Sheyi Ojo scored to give Cardiff a 2-0 advantage while the 6,000 Leeds supporters who'd made their way to Wales booed their players and manager off the pitch.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s hit show Welcome to Wrexham is going to have quite the episode after fifth-tier Wrexham AFC defeated EFL Championship outfit Coventry City 4-3 in Round 3 of the FA Cup on Saturday.

If you want to talk about a game that had everything: this was the game to watch. Wrexham nearly blew a 4-1 lead, there was an insane goal, a red card and drama right to the end.

Coventry City was the host of match, but you wouldn’t have known it from the massive traveling support for the Welsh underdogs.

Already out of the Champions League, Barcelona's season almost took another turn for the worse on Wednesday when third-tier Intercity (founded 2017 in the Valencian Community) forced them into extra-time in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 with a 3-3 scoreline after 90 minutes.   

After another memorable performance in Qatar for Mr. World Cup (stonewalling Robert Lewandowski from the penalty spot), Guillermo Ochoa made his Serie A debut with Salernitana on Wednesday against defending champions AC Milan.

Salernitana hosted at Stadio Arechi, but the gap between the two sides was evident with Milan putting 11 shots on target to just one for the hosts.

LONDON - Brentford pulled off their latest Premier League shock by beating Liverpool 3-1 at home on Monday, bringing Jürgen Klopp's side's four-game winning streak to an end and rattling their top-four ambitions.

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté knocked the ball into his own net in the 19th minute while Yoane Wissa doubled Brentford's advantage before halftime after his side had two goals disallowed following VAR reviews in a frantic opening 45 minutes.

West Brom's incredible renaissance under Spanish manager Carlos Corberán continued Monday with a 1-0 victory over Reading courtesy of Daryl Dike's goal in the 60th minute.

After missing a large portion of the start of the season with a thigh injury, the 22-year-old American striker enjoyed his longest outing of the Championship season (66 minutes) and scored his second goal in eight games.

⚽️ West Bromwich 1-0 Reading FC

GOAL | 60' Darly Dike ⚽️

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TOKYO - Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu will remain in charge of the Asian team for another World Cup cycle, the country's football association announced on Thursday, with the aim of breaking new ground after a number of near misses.

That Moriyasu would continue in the role came as little surprise after he led Japan to victories over former World Cup winners Germany and Spain during the finals in Qatar en route to topping what was considered the most difficult group at the tournament.