Liverpool vs Norwich LIVE: FA Cup result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action from the FA Cup fifth round as the Reds hosted the Canaries at Anfield
Cup specialist Takumi Minamino kept Liverpool’s quest for an unprecedented quadruple on track with both goals in a 2-1 win over Norwich as Jurgen Klopp reached his first FA Cup quarter-final.
The Japan international has made the majority of his starts in knockout competitions and in a team registering 10 changes from the one which won the Carabao Cup at Wembley on Sunday his was an influential one.
Minamino now has seven goals and one assist in eight cup games this season and since the start of 2020 the 27-year-old has scored more than twice as many goals in domestic cup competitions (nine) than any other Liverpool player.
Lukas Rupp’s goal 14 minutes from time gave the visitors a lifeline but even a second-string Liverpool team were too experienced to succumb to late pressure as they booked their place in the sixth round for the first time since 2015.
FA Cup fifth round fixtures: Which games are on TV this week and how to watch them
The FA Cup fifth round takes place this week and the dream of a Wembley appearance will move ever closer for the winners, who will book their place in the quarter-finals.
All eight ties are live on TV - across the BBC and ITV - and the feast of football will include nine Premier League sides, six Championship teams as well as Boreham Wood flying the non-league flag after their brilliant win over Bournemouth in the previous round.
Which FA Cup games are on TV this week and how to watch them
Everything you need to know ahead of the FA Cup fifth round - including where to watch each fixture on TV
Liverpool vs Norwich: Recent results
Liverpool are unbeaten since the start of the year – a run of 13 games – across all competitions. They’ve scored 10 goals in their last three Premier League games including six against Leeds a week ago. More recently the Reds won the Carabao Cup final on Sunday after a goalless draw with Chelsea over 120 minutes took the game to a penalty shootout. 22 spot kicks were taken before Liverpool were finally declared the winners after Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga blasted his effort over the crossbar.
Norwich have not won since they defeated Wolves in the last round of the FA Cup. They’ve played four Premier League matches, draw once – 1-1 against Crystal Palace – and lost their last three games including one to Liverpool at Anfield in the league. Dean Smith’s men took the lead in that game but a double substitution from Jurgen Klopp just after the hour mark saw Sadio Mane and Mo Salah score within three minutes of each other before Luis Diaz netted Liverpool’s third 10 minutes from the end to give them a comfortable 3-1 victory.
Liverpool vs Norwich: Henderson delighted for Kelleher
More from Jordan Henderson now who singled out Liverpool back-up goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher for his influential display in the League Cup final.
Pre-match there had been calls for Kelleher to be replaced with Alisson for the final despite the 23-year-old having played in most of the previous games but Jurgen Klopp trusted his number two and was rewarded when Kelleher netted the winning penalty.
Henderson wrote:
I mention trust because I think it was the crucial factor. From the gaffer trusting Caoimhin Kelleher to us trusting one another when the game went to penalties, every bit of faith paid off. It was the same with the fans, who never once wavered and helped push us over the line by keeping on believing in us and backing us all the way.
“It was a club win because everyone played his or her part, but I would like to single out Caoimhin and not just because he was the match-winning hero either. I think the way he has conducted himself since being given the opportunity to start regularly in the Carabao Cup is an example to all young professionals and all squad players. He literally couldn’t have done any better.
“He deserves much of the credit for this of course, but a share must also go to the other ’keepers at Liverpool, particularly Alisson, who is never anything other than generous and supportive of his teammates, because they have created a competitive culture which helps bring out the best in all of them.
“The same goes for the manager and the coaching staff for believing in Caoimhin and giving him chances to develop and prove himself. So too the coaches at the Academy who brought him along, investing time, effort and energy into his progress until he was good enough to take the next step.
“It really is a brilliant story and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer lad. Seeing him with the trophy at Wembley was a massive highlight for all of us, right up there with the lads dancing to Dua Lipa with our fans. Those scenes will live with me forever.”
Southampton vs West Ham: Recent cup runs
Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men reached the semi-final stage of this competition in the 2020-21 season but were knocked out when they lost to eventual winners Leicester City. West Ham also reached the fifth round of the competition last season, but suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford to deny them a quarter-final place. Can they go one better this year?
Southampton vs West Ham: Line-ups
Southampton XI: Cabellero, Perraud, Valery, Stephens, Walker-Peters, Diallo, Djenepo, Ward-Prowse, Smallbone, Long, A. Armstrong.
Only James Ward-Prowse and Kyle Walker-Peters remain in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s starting line-up from the team that faced Norwich in the Premier League last time out.
West Ham XI: Areola, Dawson, Zouma, Diop, Johnson, Soucek, Rice, Fornals, Bowen, Lanzini, Antonio
Two changes for David Moyes’ Hammers. Alphonse Areola replaces Lukasz Fabianksi in goal and Issa Diop joins the back three in place of Aaron Cresswell.
FA Cup fifth round: Roman Abramovich confirms intention to sell Chelsea
Roman Abramovich has confirmed his intention to sell Chelsea Football Club.
In a statement released by Chelsea, Abramovich said: “I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC.
“As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart.
“In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club’s sponsors and partners.”
Roman Abramovich confirms intention to sell Chelsea
Roman Abramovich has confirmed his intention to sell Chelsea Football Club.
FA Cup fifth round: Liverpool vs Norwich
For Liverpool this week is all about the domestic cups. They defeated Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and tonight take on Norwich for a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Liverpool captain, Jordan Henderson, wrote all about the Reds successful trip to Wembley in this evening’s matchday programme saying:
There’s only one place for me to start and that’s Wembley. As a club and as a group of players we don’t like to dwell on past victories because the challenge is always to secure new ones, but there are also times when you have to make an exception and this is definitely one of them.
“Where to begin, though? How do you put into words what happened? I’m no wordsmith and there will be plenty who will say it and write it much better than I ever could, but for me everything that took place from start to finish captured Liverpool Football Club at its very best.
“There were moments when we suffered. Periods of the game when Chelsea were on top and we had to roll with the punches. At times, our football could have been better and at others we felt the kind of stresses that only come when two top sides are giving as good as they get with the stakes as high as they can be.
“That’s what makes the outcome so special, though. Cups aren’t given out, they have to be earned and on Sunday every single player in red – those who got onto the pitch and those who didn’t – every member of the backroom staff and every supporter did their bit. If ever a victory was earned by togetherness and trust, it was this one.”
FA Cup fifth round: Liverpool vs Norwich
Injuries and absentees:
Norwich’s Brandon Williams and Max Aarons both picked up knocks in training and are likely to miss tonight’s game. Ozan Kabak is struggling with a shoulder problem and is a doubt whilst Andre Omobamidele and Adam Idah are long-term absentees.
Grant Hanley is suspended for the fixture.
Liverpool are without Thiago Alcantara who suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up to the Carabao Cup final and Roberto Firmino is also a doubt having missed the last three matches due to a muscle issue.
Caoimhin Kelleher has started in both of Liverpool’s FA Cup game sthis season but sits out tonight after his heroics on Sunday with Alisson Becker coming back in goal.
FA Cup fifth round: Southampton vs West Ham
David Moyes says that Southampton are in great form and will prove to be testing opponents this evening as his West Ham side like to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals. He said:
I think Southampton’s recent form has been very good, they were excellent against Tottenham the other week. I think they are in a good vein of form.”
FA Cup fifth round: Southampton vs West Ham
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenuttl admits he has found it hard to focus on football given the events in Ukraine over the past week and says his players have all been affected by the news. In his pre-game press conference yesterday he said:
Nobody around is not talking about it because it affects us all. It is a catastrophe what happens there. The players are affected, we have Lyanco’s sister who was in Ukraine who made it now back to Brazil.
“You can see what it does with players and with everybody. I have been really struggling to concentrate on my job, to concentrate on the meticulous football in the moment and this is what I struggle with.
“The only good thing is you have two or three hours during a game where you aren’t thinking about it but the rest of the day is affected by worrying about children, women, people dying in a needless war.”
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