Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup in stunning fashion today when a last-minute goal by captain Brian Howard gave Championship Barnsley a 2-1 victory at Anfield.
Liverpool led through Dirk Kuyt but a Stephen Foster equaliser and brilliant goalkeeping by debutant Luke Steele kept Barnsley in the game before Howard drove in the winner.
The showpiece game of the round turned into a one-sided anti-climax as Wayne Rooney-inspired Manchester United thrashed a woeful Arsenal 4-0 at Old Trafford.
Frank Lampard scored twice as holders Chelsea progressed with a 3-1 home win over League One Huddersfield Town while League Two Bristol Rovers upset League One Southampton 1-0 with a late goal by Rickie Lambert.
In two all-Championship ties, West Bromwich Albion thrashed Coventry City 5-0 away and Cardiff City beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0.
After today’s six ties, only two Premier League teams are into Monday’s quarter-final draw and the remaining two in the competition, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough, face tough games at Preston North End and Sheffield United respectively on Sunday.
Liverpool, who struggled to get past Luton and minor league Havant & Waterlooville in previous rounds, again fielded a weakened side but fans can hardly blame coach Rafa Benitez as his team created untold chances.
They went ahead after 32 minutes with a Kuyt tap-in but Barnsley levelled after 57 with Foster’s header.
Yossi Benayoun and Lucas both hit the bar for Liverpool while Steele, the 23-year-old on loan from West Brom, saved superbly to deny Benayoun, Peter Crouch and Harry Kewell.
Just as they seemed set to celebrate the draw, Barnsley went one better when Howard cut in on the edge of the box to shoot home the winner.
“It’s fantastic … from the first minute we worked very, very hard and got the rewards,” Barnsley manager Simon Davey told Sky Sports News.
“It’s a fairy tale. To score a last-minute winner at the Kop end, that will live with the players all their lives.”
Howard, a Liverpool fan as a boy, said he was busy “whingeing at the ref” over a penalty claim when the ball came back to him.
“I was that tired, I thought I’d just kick it and if it goes in the stand it’ll waste time,” he said.
“I’m still away with the fairies at the moment, I might be able to describe the feeling on Monday.”
The evening game at Old Trafford failed to live up to expectation as Arsenal were brushed aside.
Rooney, Darren Fletcher and Nani all scored in the opening 40 minutes as United were full of running and Arsenal short of motivation.
Arsenal had Emmanuel Eboue sent off for a wild challenge on Patrice Evra five minutes after the restart and Fletcher completed the rout with his second header after 74 minutes.
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