Torres breaks goalscoring duck; Liverpool join Chelsea in last eight of FA Cup while in Premier League five-star United go four points clear

In the FA Cup, Chelsea hammered Leicester at Stamford Bridge with Fernando Torres grabbing two goals to send Chelsea through. A beautifully flighted Juan Mata corner was met by Gary Cahill to open the scoring for Chelsea. A Salomon Kalou strike made it two before the break.

Just after the hour mark, it finally happened. I have checked every website on the internet to clarify it happened; they all say the same thing, so it must be true – TORRES SCORES A GOAL FOR CHELSEA! Not a pretty finish though. Moments later Jermaine Beckford made it 3-1 with a strike from close range.

Moments later, El Nino increased the lead with a classy finish. Late goals from Ben Marshall (a crackerjack) and Raul Meireles saw the tie end 5-2 in favour of the west London outfit.

Goals in each half from Luis Suarez and Stewart Downing helped Liverpool see off Stoke in a low quality FA Cup tie at Anfield. Luis Suarez got this tie moving with an early goal; a sharp one-two with Maxi Rodriguez was finished off with a wonderfully placed finish to send the home crowd delirious.

The gangly figure of Peter Crouch levelled the tie for Stoke; the ex-Liverpool striker headed home from six yards. After the break, Stewart Downing turned the tie in favour of Liverpool with a tidy finish. Stoke tried desperately to keep the tie alive, but the hosts finished the game well and denied the visitors any real opportunities.

A five-star performance from Manchester United proved to be far too strong for a struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers side yesterday lunchtime.

The breakthrough came after 20 minutes; a deep Wayne Rooney corner was headed square by Michael Carrick, allowing Jonny Evans to smash home the opening goal from close range. After the sending off of Ronald Zubar (two daft cautions), United quickly killed the game.

Two goals in quick succession from Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck all but ended this contest. Javier Hernandez chipped in with a quick double after the break to make it five. Wolves are in big trouble and look like they are heading for the 2012/2013 season in The Championship.

In the League’s afternoon game, Newcastle grabbed all three points against Norwich in a largely dull encounter at St James’ Park. Papiss Demba Cisse scored the only goal after 11 minutes, with a sublime first time strike. Norwich must have some shrewd fans judging on the attendance, as not many of them bothered to make the arduous journey from East Anglia.

Matthew O’Brien