The result may have been routine, but it was the late senior debut for Karna Solskjær that stole the spotlight in Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat of Bridgwater United.
Having sold out Fairfax Park for the visit of the Women’s Super League side, it was a horrible start for the tier-three side who conceded in the 17th minute through Charlotte Buxton’s own goal, with Hayley Ladd putting her under pressure.
However, it would take until the 82nd minute for the team that sits second in the WSL to extend their lead through Ella Toone.
With victory all but assured, Solskjær was sent into the fray in the 87th minute, with her parents, the former Manchester United striker and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his wife Silje, watching on from the stands.
The 19-year-old forward has impressed for her club’s under-21 side and scored in the team’s midweek 5-0 cup defeat of Aston Villa, which her father also attended, to take her tally to 13 goals in 12 games.
Third-tier Southampton delivered the upset of the round. Ella Morris scored in extra time and Bristol City’s Jessica Wooley missed a penalty to send the Championship side out.
Coventry United survived a scare, beating Billericay Town on penalties after the game ended 1-1 after extra time. Leicester earned a 3-1 win over fellow WSL side Tottenham with Sophie Howard and Esmee de Graaf scoring in extra time.
Reading threw away a 2-0 lead at Brighton before going on to win 3-2. Birmingham earned an extra-time win over Sunderland, a goal from Vivianne Miedema helped Arsenal to a 1-0 win over Championship side London City Lionesses, West Ham saw off Sheffield United 4-1 and Everton beat Huddersfield 4-0.
Durham 3-1 Blackburn
Plymouth Argyle 0-6 Charlton
Liverpool 6-0 Lincoln City
Newcastle 0-1 Ipswich
West Brom 0-0 Exeter City (West Brom won 4-2 on pens)
In the 51st minute in several of the day’s fourth-round games attention turned to the bigger picture and “no ifs, no buts, we want an equal FA Cup” echoed around the grounds.
The planned protests, with the time chosen to represent the 51-year ban on women’s football, went ahead despite the announcement from the FA on Friday that there would be a “significant increase” in prize money for the women’s FA Cup.
