Two FA Cup third round matches were played last night. Both games were truly interesting.
One of them was the always heated Liverpool derby, which was won by the hosts at Anfield stadium. Although they controlled the match and had more opportunities, the "Toffees" put up a serious fight.
In the first half, James Milner put the "Reds" ahead from the penalty spot, but Gylfi Sigurdsson equalized from the edge of the penalty area in the middle of the second half.
Then the hero role fell to Liverpool substitute defender Virgil van Dijk, who scored the winning goal from a corner kick set up by his teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
In the other match, Manchester United defeated second-tier Championship side Derby County after a tough battle.
Almost the entire game was played in one goal, but the majority of the match the scoreboard showed zeros, as the second tier team defended well, and the "Red Devils" failed to capitalize on their chances.
In the 84th minute, the visitors finally broke the deadlock with a fantastic long-range strike by Jesse Lingard into the top corner of the net.
After that episode, as is often the case in such matches, Man United managed to double their lead and Romelu Lukaku scored just before the final whistle.
Interestingly, it was expected that the Belgian would miss several upcoming matches, but he ended up playing only one Premier League game and now appeared as a substitute.
Results:
Liverpool 2 - 1 Everton
[1-0] 35' James Milner (from a penalty kick)
[1-1] 67' Gylfi Sigurdsson
[2-1] 84' Virgil van Dijk
Manchester United 2 - 0 Derby County
[1-0] 84' Jesse Lingard
[2-0] 90' Romelu Lukaku
