United safely through

Manchester United FC are safely through to the last 16 of the FA Cup in England after defeating minnows Northampton Town FC 3-0 in their fourth-round tie at Road on Sunday.

Missed penalty
United rested several key players for the trip to face the Third Division side and early nerves showed when Diego Forlán missed a fourth-minute penalty for the Premiership champions, watching Lee Harper save his spot-kick after Christiano Ronaldo had been shoved in the back.

Own goal
The Portuguese winger continued to cause Northampton problems and it was his 34th-minute shot, which Harper could only parry, that presented Mikaël Silvestre with the chance to scramble in the opening goal. The lower-leagues side nonetheless held out until half-time to the delight of their capacity crowd but it took just two minutes of the second half for United to double their lead when Chris Hargreaves accidentally stabbed the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Monday draw
Forlán made up for his penalty miss by adding a third goal to ensure Sir Alex Ferguson's side of a place in Monday's draw. Local rivals Manchester City FC will also feature in the draw, but they still face a replay after drawing their fourth-round game 1-1 with visitors Tottenham Hotspur FC. Nicolas Anelka put City ahead in the tenth minute but Gary Doherty's second-half header gave David Pleat's London side a share of the spoils.

Jeffers joy
Fulham FC fans thought a solitary Sean Davis goal was going to be enough to put their side into the last 16 until Francis Jeffers pounced in added time to salvage a draw for Everton FC at Goodison Park. Davis edged the visitors ahead four minutes after the break but, with seconds left to play, Jeffers steered in his first goal since returning to Everton from Arsenal FC to make it 1-1.

Wolves whimper
In the day's other game, Premiership new boys Wolverhampton Wanderers FC saw their FA Cup hopes dashed by West Ham United FC, one of three sides relegated from the top flight last season. Brian Deane and Marlon Harewood put the Premiership side 2-0 down inside 21 minutes and although Wolves found a quick reply through Viorel Ganea, a blistering strike from David Connolly gave the London club a 3-1 victory.