PRESTON, England — 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 with debutant Arnaut Danjuma also on target at Deepdale.
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham was joined in the fifth round by fellow Premier League sides Manchester United, Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton on a day lacking any major surprises.
Top flight Fulham was 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, Reuters reported.
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 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.
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.
Manchester United’s Brazil midfielder Casemiro scored twice as they beat second-tier Reading 3-1 to reach the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday but Marcus Rashford was denied a record.
Visitors Reading were riding their luck and holding on until Casemiro opened the scoring in the 54th minute, cleverly dinking the ball over goalkeeper Joe Lumley from Antony’s pass.
The former Real Madrid player extended United’s lead four minutes later with a fizzing shot from 25 metres.
Fred made it 3-0 with a backheel before Reading had former Liverpool and England striker Andy Carroll sent off for a second yellow card earned for a sliding tackle on Casemiro.
Reading, managed by former title-winning United midfielder Paul Ince, scored a consolation through Amadou Salif Mbengue.
Rashford thought he had become the first United player to score in 10 successive matches at Old Trafford when he netted in the first half but his effort was ruled out for offside by VAR.
Reading had almost taken the lead against the run of play just before the interval when Junior Hoilett had a great chance but his close-range shot was well saved by David de Gea.
There was some criticism when five-times Champions League winner Casemiro joined United in August with several pundits describing the move as a panic buy.
But he has proved instrumental for United this season and was given a standing ovation after being substituted.
