Manchester City put a smile back on Pep Guardiola's face as they swaggered into the FA Cup fourth round with a 5-0 demolition of West Ham on Friday.
Guardiola showed signs of feeling the strain of City's inconsistent season when he snapped at reporters during a series of tetchy interviews following Monday's win against Burnley.
The Spaniard was also forced to backtrack this week after appearing to suggest he wouldn't be in management much longer and seeming to admit City weren't as big a club as rivals Manchester United.
But the City manager's image issues looked a lot less problematic after his team destroyed West Ham with a three-goal blitz in the space of 10 minutes at the London Stadium.
Yaya Toure's penalty opened the floodgates before Havard Nordtveit's own goal and a David Silva strike effectively finished the third round tie before half-time.
Man-U 4-0 Reading
Juan Mata's cross found Rooney, who dangled his right leg at the ball and nudged it home off his right knee for goal number 249.
Anthony Martial put Manchester United two up with just 15 minutes gone, shaping a right-footed shot low around the Reading defenders and into the corner of the net.
Marcus Rashford should have added a third, but he somehow missed the goal after rounding the goalkeeper.
And the England international was let down by his finishing again later in the half, when Ali Al-Habsi blocked his shot.
Rooney almost scored his 250th United goal after the break, but Al-Habsi was able to block the strikers shot from six yards out.
The youngster then added his second of the afternoon when he fired into an empty net after Al-Habsi lost the ball in his six yard box
Watford 2-0 Burton
Walter Mazzarri’s New Year celebrations came late. as he celebrated Watford's first win since early last December.
Christian Kabasele gave the Hornets the lead after 21 minutes after tapping in from Brandon Mason’s cross.
And Jerome Sinclair grabbed his first goal for Watford since signing from Liverpool in the summer to ensure his side’s place in the fourth round draw.
Preston 1-2 Arsenal
Preston 1 - Arsenal 2: Ramsey and Giroud score to complete comeback win at Deepdale
OLIVIER GIROUD rescued Arsenal with a late winner as Simon Grayson’s battling Preston pushed their Premier League opponents all the way with a full-blooded braveheart performance here last night.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has never lost a third-round tie in his illustrious career on English soil but boy did the French maestro come agonisingly close with victory snatched in the dying minutes.
Wenger and Arsenal were stunned by Preston’s quick-fire opener through Callum Robinson before Aaron Ramsey brought the teams level early in the second half.
Preston looked to be heading for a deserved replay but Giroud squeezed in the winner in the 89th minute after being fed by Lucas Perez – and Preston hearts were broken.
Tom Ince had the final say in the battle of the mercurial playmakers to fire Derby past Premier League high-fliers West Brom.
When the inspirational, in-form Albion ace Matt Phillips grabbed his fifth goal in his last 11 appearances before the break, Tony Pulis’ men seemed to be cruising into the fourth round for a third straight year.
But that was before Darren Bent rocketed Championship Derby level – and then Ince sealed a most unlikely knockout blow with a stunning free-kick.
A quick-fire brace from substitute Ahmed Musa saw Leicester come from behind to win 2-1 at Everton and book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.
What had been a lacklustre third-round tie very much came to life just after the hour mark, with Romelu Lukaku's close-range finish in the 63rd minute cancelled out three minutes later by one from Musa.
Four minutes later, the Nigeria forward scored the winner with a cool strike as Everton - last season's semi-finalists - were sent crashing out.
Abel Hernandez and local boy Josh Tymon struck second-half goals to give Hull's new head coach Marco Silva a winning start against Swansea in the third round of the FA Cup.
Substitute Hernandez marked his first appearance since being sidelined by a hamstring injury in early November with a 78th-minute opener and teenager Tymon clinched a 2-0 win by scoring his first senior goal with virtually the last kick, a minute after stepping off the bench.
Former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiacos head coach Silva, appointed as Mike Phelan's replacement on Thursday, was rewarded by three of his substitutes - Shaun Maloney assisted both goals - while Paul Clement's first game in charge of Swansea ended in defeat.
ONLY giant-killing here was if Bournemouth had won.
They poured scorn on the FA Cup as Millwall over-turned two divisions and a lot of money to deservedly march into the fourth round.
Steve Morison scored one and made another as Millwall fed off Bournemouth’s appalling approach to the world’s oldest cup competition and now further glories hopefully wait.
They even had the luxury of sub Shane Ferguson adding a third in the the fourth minute of added time.
See full results of FA cup results:-
Wenger and Arsenal were stunned by Preston’s quick-fire opener through Callum Robinson before Aaron Ramsey brought the teams level early in the second half.
Preston looked to be heading for a deserved replay but Giroud squeezed in the winner in the 89th minute after being fed by Lucas Perez – and Preston hearts were broken.
West Brom 1-2 Derby
Tom Ince had the final say in the battle of the mercurial playmakers to fire Derby past Premier League high-fliers West Brom.
When the inspirational, in-form Albion ace Matt Phillips grabbed his fifth goal in his last 11 appearances before the break, Tony Pulis’ men seemed to be cruising into the fourth round for a third straight year.
But that was before Darren Bent rocketed Championship Derby level – and then Ince sealed a most unlikely knockout blow with a stunning free-kick.
Everton 1-2 Leicester
A quick-fire brace from substitute Ahmed Musa saw Leicester come from behind to win 2-1 at Everton and book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.
What had been a lacklustre third-round tie very much came to life just after the hour mark, with Romelu Lukaku's close-range finish in the 63rd minute cancelled out three minutes later by one from Musa.
Four minutes later, the Nigeria forward scored the winner with a cool strike as Everton - last season's semi-finalists - were sent crashing out.
Hull 2-0 Swansea
Abel Hernandez and local boy Josh Tymon struck second-half goals to give Hull's new head coach Marco Silva a winning start against Swansea in the third round of the FA Cup.
Substitute Hernandez marked his first appearance since being sidelined by a hamstring injury in early November with a 78th-minute opener and teenager Tymon clinched a 2-0 win by scoring his first senior goal with virtually the last kick, a minute after stepping off the bench.
Former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiacos head coach Silva, appointed as Mike Phelan's replacement on Thursday, was rewarded by three of his substitutes - Shaun Maloney assisted both goals - while Paul Clement's first game in charge of Swansea ended in defeat.
Millwall 3-0 Bournemouth
ONLY giant-killing here was if Bournemouth had won.
They poured scorn on the FA Cup as Millwall over-turned two divisions and a lot of money to deservedly march into the fourth round.
Steve Morison scored one and made another as Millwall fed off Bournemouth’s appalling approach to the world’s oldest cup competition and now further glories hopefully wait.
They even had the luxury of sub Shane Ferguson adding a third in the the fourth minute of added time.
See full results of FA cup results:-
FA Cup Results
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