After last week's draw at Anfield there was plenty on the line between Manchester United and Liverpool yesterday and it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side who came out on top to move into the FA Cup fifth round and compound Jürgen Klopp's woes. In an entertaining cup match at Old Trafford, Bruno Fernandes came off the bench to score the decisive goal from a free-kick and seal a 3-2 victory for United which Solskjaer says is very much a "statement win" against the defending Premier League champions. United will now face West Ham in the next round while Klopp did his best to take the positives as Liverpool did, at least, manage to find the net for the first time in 2021. Meanwhile, the long drawn-out Mesut Ozil saga at Arsenal finally came to an end last week as he moved to Fenerbache and this morning Ken Early writes that the playmaker was far more a symptom than a cause of Arsenal's stagnation.
On to rugby and Munster were facing some déjà vu this weekend as they picked the bones out of another defeat to Leinster on Saturday night. This morning Gerry Thornley writes that Johann van Graan's side will have plenty of regrets after their fierce rivals struck late at Thomond Park. For Leinster and Ireland there was some worry in Johnny Sexton coming off injured but the news appears to be encouraging with Leo Cullen putting it down to just a precaution. Yesterday, Connacht slumped to a fourth consecutive loss in Galway as Ospreys got the better of Andy Friend's side.
In racing, the news last week of Charles Byrnes' ban for being "seriously negligent" when one of his horses was "nobbled" with a sedative at Tramore in 2018 has raised many questions around the sport although it has largely gone under the radar in a lot of ways. While the Irish trainer is waiting for his appeal to be heard he can saddle runners and this morning Malachy Clerkin writes that racing people need to stand up for their sport and talk this out in public to avoid any ideas that doping and similar offences are broadly accepted and ignored.
Finally to American football and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will become the first team ever to play for a Super Bowl on their home ground next month after they saw off the Green Bay Packers last night with 42-year-old Tom Brady again at the centre of affairs. The Bucs will now face the Kansas City Chiefs after they got the better of the Buffalo Bills.
