Manchester City defender Nathan Ake struck in the second half to earn a hard-fought 1-0 victory over visitors Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday.

The top two teams in the Premier League cancelled each other out in the first half, with Erling Haaland twice going close for City while pacesetters Arsenal forced home goalkeeper Stefan Ortega into two fine saves to keep them at bay.

City’s Pep Guardiola brought Julian Alvarez off the bench early in the second half, with the Argentina striker playing a big part in the winner, firing against the post before Ake slotted home from the follow up in the 64th minute.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min returned to form with two goals in his side’s 3-0 defeat of second-tier Preston North End in the FA Cup fourth round and Casemiro also grabbed a brace in Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Reading on Saturday.

Fellow Premier League sides Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton also reached round five on a shock-less day.

Top flight Fulham were held to a 1-1 home draw by second-tier Sunderland at Craven Cottage.

South Korean Son has endured a lean season but made the difference with two superb goals after the break as the visitors moved comfortably through to the next round.

Five minutes into the second half, the ball was played to Son outside the penalty area and he struck an unstoppable drive low into the corner of the net.

It was only his second goal since mid-October but 19 minutes later he struck again, turning smoothly on the edge of the box and firing past Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

Apart from a brief spell in between Tottenham’s goals, Preston rarely troubled the away side who did not even need to bring leading scorer Harry Kane off the bench.

Dutch forward Arnaut Danjuma, who signed for Spurs on loan from Spanish club Villarreal this week, came off the bench to score his side’s third with a close-range finish late on.

Reading were riding their luck at Old Trafford until Casemiro scored twice in the space of four minutes early in the second half to pave the way for United’s win.

His first was a delightful dinked finish from Antony’s pass and he then drilled in a low shot to double the lead.

Fred made it 3-0 before Andy Carroll was sent off for Reading after picking up a second yellow card.

Amadou Salif Mbengue pulled a goal back for Reading who are managed by former United midfielder Paul Ince.

Kelechi Iheanacho spared Leicester City a potential giant-killing as his second-half goal ensured the Foxes beat fourth-tier Walsall 1-0.

It took 30 minutes for Leicester to get a shot on target and a frustrating afternoon was made worse as Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans struck a penalty against the post after Patson Daka was fouled inside the box.

Second-half substitute Iheanacho unlocked Walsall when his effort from the edge of the box deflected off the back of home defender Brandon Comley and beyond keeper Owen Evans.

Leeds advanced to the fifth round for the first time since 2016 with a 3-1 win at third-tier Accrington Stanley.

Jack Harrison put Leeds ahead with a spectacular long-range strike after 23 minutes before Junior Firpo and Luis Sinisterra scored within two minutes of each other midway through the second half to put Jesse Marsch’s men on course for victory.

Leslie Adekoya, 18, pulled one back for Accrington in the 81st with his first senior goal seconds after coming on.

Southampton put their Premier League woes aside to beat Championship strugglers Blackpool 2-1 while Bristol City eased to a 3-0 win over fellow second-tier side West Bromwich Albion.

Holders Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday as Kaoru Mitoma struck a late winner, before fifth-tier Wrexham were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by 10-man Sheffield United.

In Brighton, Harvey Elliott put Liverpool ahead, Lewis Dunk equalised before halftime and the score stayed at 1-1 until Mitoma found the net in the 92nd minute with a fine finish.

John Egan’s stoppage-time goal rescued Sheffield United against non-league Wrexham in a frenetic FA Cup fourth-round tie.

Oli McBurnie headed home Tommy Doyle’s corner to give United an early lead.

Goals from James Jones and Tom O’Connor put the Welsh side ahead before Oliver Norwood equalised for the Blades, who had Daniel Jebbison sent off.

Paul Mullin’s goal four minutes from time looked to have secured a shock, but captain Egan levelled late.

Egan’s injury-time strike proved to be the final twist of an enthralling game which pitted the National League leaders against the team second in the Championship.

Wrexham co-owner, Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, was at the Racecourse to see his side put in a tremendous display in their first fourth-round appearance since 1997.

Josh Laurent’s brilliant goal helped Stoke City end Stevenage’s FA Cup run and progress to the fifth round.

The League Two side, who knocked out Aston Villa, hit back through Jamie Reid’s equaliser after Jacob Brown had given Stoke an early lead.

But Laurent put the Championship team back in front when he cut in from the right and sent an unstoppable left-footed strike into the far corner.

Lewis Baker sealed Stoke’s victory with a penalty.

The spot-kick was controversially awarded by referee David Webb after what seemed a perfectly fair challenge on Brown by Jonathan Tomkinson.

Stoke looked comfortable after an unmarked Brown had time to control the ball at the far post and fire home after Bersant Celina’s third-minute corner had been flicked on by Ben Wilmot.

They almost doubled their lead before the interval when ex-Stevenage defender Wilmot’s header from another Celina corner was cleared off the line by Max Clark, and when keeper Taye Ashby-Hammond produced a fine save to deny Will Smallbone.

Stevenage rallied in the second half and Reid forced a save from keeper Jack Bonham shortly before the visitors appealed in vain for a penalty when the ball struck Laurent’s arm.

The underdogs levelled when Reid, who also equalised in the third-round triumph at Villa, took advantage of some slack Stoke defending.

Wilmot failed to deal with Ashby-Hammond’s goal-kick and was then unable to prevent the ball crossing the line after Reid had nipped in and lobbed Bonham.

However, Laurent netted in emphatic fashion three minutes later and Stevenage’s hopes of another comeback were crushed by the penalty decision.

Fifth-round draw in full

Southampton vs Luton/Grimsby

Leicester vs Blackburn/Birmingham

Stoke vs Brighton

Wrexham/Sheffield United vs Tottenham

Fulham/Sunderland vs Leeds

Bristol City vs Manchester City

Manchester United vs Derby/West Ham

Ipswich/Burnley vs Sheffield Wednesday/Fleetwood

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