Second-half goals from Joselu, Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo saw Real Madrid into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 win over fourth-tier Arandina.

Although the final score looked comfortable, Madrid had to be patient against their lowly opponents, who were able to celebrate getting on the scoresheet with a late own goal from Nacho.

Unsurprisingly, Madrid dominated in every department but they had to wait for a 54th-minute penalty from Joselu to break the deadlock, with Diaz adding another just a minute later as Arandina’s resistance finally cracked.

Rodrygo then added a third in the first minute of stoppage time, but Madrid then blotted their copy book with the own goal allowing the hosts to celebrate before the end.

It was pretty much one-way traffic at El Montecillo throughout the night as Madrid enjoyed 78 per cent possession and had 15 attempts on goal to Arandina’s two.

But the hosts should still take credit for how difficult they made it for their illustrious opponents to score as they defended in numbers and made a series of blocks.

Arda Guler had already been the first to draw a save from Adrian Alvarez before then hitting a post with a free-kick in the 18th minute, but more often than not it was the Arandina defenders who got a foot in before Madrid’s attempts could find their way to goal.

But things changed eight minutes into the second half when Zazu fouled Diaz in the box, giving Joselu an opportunity from the spot that he did not pass up.

Arandina barely had time to gather their thoughts before Diaz doubled the lead, but it did not signal the opening of the floodgates.

A string of substitutions interrupted the flow of the game and allowed Arandina to regroup.

Madrid did have chances to add to their lead, but young Vinicius Tobias had a shot saved before Alvaro Rodriguez headed over from close range.

Having won the penalty and scored the second, Diaz then added an assist to his night’s achievements as he set up Rodrygo’s stoppage-time strike.

Arandina responded by going close through Kevin Manzano before Nacho put through his own net at the death.

Inter Milan extended their lead at the top of Serie A to five points after Davide Frattesi sealed a dramatic late 2-1 win over Verona at the San Siro.

Inter looked set to have to settle for a draw after an early strike from Lautaro Martinez was cancelled out by Thomas Henry in the 74th minute.

But in a wild finish, Frattesi netted in the third minute of added time with a goal Verona claimed should have been disallowed for an earlier foul by Alessandro Bastoni.

Verona’s Darko Lazovic was sent off for protesting to the referee, but there was still time for the visitors to win a penalty in the 10th minute of added time, which Henry duly fired against a post.

In an equally action-packed clash at Frosinone, Monza ended a run of three games without a win as they clung on for a 3-2 victory over the hosts, who fought back from three goals down but had Pierluigi Frattali sent off in the 75th minute.

Fiorentina’s run of three straight wins came to a jolting end at Sassuolo, for whom Andrea Pinamonti’s ninth minute strike proved enough to end a run of six league games without a victory.

Cagliari remain rooted in the relegation zone despite Gaetano Oristanio’s 68th-minute effort salvaging a point in a 1-1 draw at Lecce, who led through Valentin Gendrey’s first-half opener.

Real Madrid had to be patient before seeing off fourth-tier Arandina in the last 32 of the Copa del Rey, with Joselu, Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo all scoring in the second half.

The hosts grabbed a late consolation through a Nacho own goal to make the final score 3-1 in a game that was also notable for the long-awaited debut of Real’s 18-year-old Arda Guler.

Two goals in the last half hour from Memphis Depay spared Atletico Madrid’s blushes as they edged to a 3-1 win at third-tier Lugo.

The hosts had briefly threatened to cause an upset when Leandro Antonelli cancelled out Angel Correa’s early strike for the visitors.

Goals from Daley Blind and Yan Couto saw Girona emerge unscathed with a 2-0 win at Segunda Division side Elche, while there were also wins for Getafe, Alaves and Real Vallecano.

Golden Lion’s 8,000-mile round trip to face Ligue 1 Lille turned sour as they were mauled 12-0 in the Coupe de France.

The Martinique champions, one of a number of teams from overseas territories eligible to play in the competition, were swept aside with both Jonathan David and Edon Zhegova scoring hat-tricks.

Third tier Sochaux pulled off a shock 2-1 win over Ligue 1 strugglers Lorient thanks to an added time penalty from Issouf Macalou.

Nice needed penalties to see off second-tier Auxerre after a goalless draw, while Brest edged past Angers and there were wins for Montpellier and Strasbourg over lower-tier opposition.

Pep Guardiola has raised the tantalising prospect of unleashing Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne together in the centre of Manchester City’s attack.

Foden has hit a rich vein of form in recent weeks playing in the central attacking midfield role that De Bruyne had previously made his own.

That has raised the question of how the pair will be deployed once the inspirational De Bruyne returns from the hamstring injury that has sidelined him since August.

City manager Guardiola said: “They are different players but it’s true that in the final third, in the decisive moments, both are incredible. The impact in goals, in passes is a lot.

“Phil is playing unbelievably lately in that position, in the threats, and he feels comfortable.

“In certain games, of course we can play both together in that position, in the pocket, in the middle, close to the box.

“In certain other games for the stability, maybe not. So we have to see day by day.”

The issue may not need to be resolved just yet with Guardiola not intending to rush De Bruyne back into action.

The Belgian was an unused substitute for last week’s Premier League victory over Sheffield United and any return to action is likely to be incremental.

“Right now I don’t ask to Kevin to play his best level,” said Guardiola, whose side host Sky Bet Championship club Huddersfield in the FA Cup third round on Sunday,

“We cannot force a player with a long injury in this kind of situation. From my experience as a football player, it happened quite similar. I was one year with hamstring problems. When you come back you need time.

“It’s not, ‘OK play, it’s the best Kevin’. You have to be relaxed, enjoy the minutes he’s going to play, try to win the games.

“Kevin maybe in 20 minutes can help us more right now than 90 minutes. After that his body will dictate how many minutes more he can get.”

City are the holders of the FA Cup and Guardiola has no intention of giving up the trophy lightly, even as they pursue further glory in the Premier League and Champions League.

Guardiola, twice a winner of the cup, has a strong affinity with the competition and does not want to see it marginalised as other events grow in importance.

He said: “Since day one here I’ve been asked about but it is not going to happen, reduced competition. Accept it.

“It is really, really important. It’s not friendly games here. We train every day for Huddersfield. We prepare incredibly well.

“The FA Cup is the FA Cup. You will not find one person in this club, in the locker room, who doesn’t love it.”

England have yet to finalise the details of their ‘hybrid contracts’ but Steve Borthwick has revealed that setting players’ workload when on club duty will not be among his powers.

Up to 25 of the contracts will be given to leading squad members chosen by Borthwick with the deals worth £150,000 per year and ranging in duration from one to three years.

By providing a guaranteed annual sum in advance rather than paying match fees, it is hoped that England’s stars will be persuaded to stay in the Gallagher Premiership instead of pursuing the greater riches on offer in France’s Top 14.

The contracts will also give Borthwick more say in their conditioning and medical programmes when on club duty, but there are clear limitations to an arrangement which is expected to be approved in the Spring.

“The details are still being worked out but there will be no control of player game time,” said head coach Borthwick, who will also be unable to influence what position an England international fills when in action in the Premiership.

“Clearly there is the integrity of the league and we need to make sure the players are available for that. But there is also the understanding that England have the best players available when they are needed.

“We have got to make sure we find a system that works and we all want to see the best players playing for both club and country.

“We have outlined positions where we don’t have huge depth and we want to see the best players for club and country in those positions.

“The clubs want the best players playing and if you look at the minutes and compare them to teams such as Ireland, who have a different system, then since the World Cup the England players have played a lot of minutes.

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“How we get this system right is still being worked out but this is definitely a step in the right direction as we find the right solution.”

Borthwick names his squad for the Six Nations on January 17 and will be looking for a better performance than last year’s championship when England managed only two victories and finished fourth.

For the Red Rose boss it feeds into a bigger picture of underachievement in the competition.

“This is a special tournament. Now we’ve got some way to go. England in the last six years in the Six Nations have won 50 per cent of the games,” Borthwick said

“In four of those six years, England only won two games in the Six Nations. What England have done in recent Six Nations hasn’t been good enough so we’ve got work to do.

“I love this tournament and I want England competing again at the end of it for being at the top of the table.”

Mauricio Pochettino praised Armando Broja as one of the most promising young strikers in Europe after his goal helped Chelsea to a 4-0 FA Cup third-round win over Preston.

The 22-year-old started in place of Nicolas Jackson, who is away at the Africa Cup of Nations, and netted his team’s opening goal early in the second half at Stamford Bridge.

Preston had done a fine job in the first period of containing Chelsea, who lacked cutting edge to go with their domination of the ball, but Broja’s strike was the first of three in an 11-minute spell in the second half.

Will Keane was hounded off the ball inside his own box by Mykhailo Mudryk, who laid it back for Malo Gusto to cross and Broja headed in.

Thiago Silva then nodded in a second before Raheem Sterling quickly lashed a free-kick beyond goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

Enzo Fernandez knocked in a fourth near the end as the gulf to Ryan Lowe’s side – 14th in the Championship – finally showed.

Pochettino praised the contribution of Broja, who returned to fitness in September after nine months out with an ACL injury, and hinted there is more to come from the Albanian striker.

“It was really important for him,” he said. “I need to be honest, he needs to use this type of game to score and to feel the net and to improve. Improve not only in his fitness but his body language also. He needs to step up and to go forward and to move. He needs to smile more and be more positive.

“The potential is amazing. We’re talking about one of the young strikers in England and in Europe with most potential. But the problem now is he needs to push himself, and we’re going to try to help him to realise that never it is enough.

“He was nearly one year away (injured) and of course now he needs time. It’s not easy for him to perform and to be at the level we expect. Our expectation is massive and we really believe in him. We’re going to push him to improve every day.

“I said to him smile. Always we joke about how he needs to smile, to laugh, to put inside himself more good energy and be more happy, a happy boy.”

Preston boss Lowe reflected on a game that got away from his side in the second half after a promising start.

“The three goals in (11) minutes really hurt us,” he said. “I think for large parts of that game, before the 58th minute when they scored, we were fantastic.

“It is disappointing to lose and I don’t think the result reflects the performance, but the fact is they have good quality players who can put the ball in the back of the net.

“I thought our lads were excellent. They gave it their all and that’s the biggest thing I am pleased about.”

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl was grateful to Cameron Dawson after the goalkeeper’s penalty-saving heroics helped seal a 4-0 FA Cup win against Cardiff.

Dawson kept out quickfire spot-kicks from Cardiff skipper Ryan Wintle and Callum Robinson inside the opening seven minutes after Josh Windass had given Wednesday a second-minute lead.

The Owls keeper was in inspired form for his hometown club, pulling off a string of further saves to keep Cardiff at bay, while Romaine Sawyers’ own goal and Liam Palmer’s stunning volley put the Owls 3-0 up at half-time.

Cardiff were made to pay for a long list of squandered chances in either half and Owls substitute Mallik Wilks completed the scoring in added time.

Rohl said: “Cameron has shown in the past that he is there. Today he has saved two penalties, it was great.

“I always protect my players and in the past when there were some mistakes – I think today he showed he is ready.

“It was a performance everyone will speak about, but we won’t speak about individuals, it was just the team. The team did the job we have to do and that’s it.”

The Owls are enjoying a mini-revival under Rohl, who became the English Football League’s youngest manager when appointed as Xisco Munoz’s replacement in October.

This latest win was their sixth in nine games in all competitions and the 34-year-old German, who left out Barry Bannan and Bailey Cadamarteri, was delighted his side maintained their momentum.

“For sure, it was for me clear,” he said. “You always think after this tough period maybe some players need a rest.

“For me, it was about whether there was a risk and if there was we wouldn’t risk to play with some players.

“But my team did well for the result. It was OK, next round. Now it’s about keeping going, recovery and I’ve always spoken about the momentum. I want to keep this.”

Cardiff made six changes following their 2-1 win at QPR on New Year’s Day and in the absence of manager Erol Bulut, who had stayed at home due to illness, assistant Nikolaos Karydas was philosophical in defeat.

“Disappointed I cannot say because the result sometimes does not reflect the performance of the team,” Karydas said.

“We saw many positive things, especially in the second half. I cannot say as an excuse we missed a lot of players.”

On his side’s two missed penalties and a glut of other spurned chances, he added: “In football, you can expect anything. Even this is a part of the game.

“Maybe if we had scored the result would be opposite, but we have to accept it now and look forward to the next game.

“In football if you don’t score, you lose the game. You have to score. But we’ll say we are satisfied by the pictures that the players showed.”

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery hailed his side’s mentality as they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 in their third-round FA Cup clash at the Riverside.

The Premier League high-flyers reached the fourth round thanks to Matty Cash’s deflected winner in the 87th minute.

Villa had chances in the first half from Jhon Duran and Leander Dendoncker before threatening in the first 15 minutes of the second half as John McGinn, Ezri Konsa and Alex Moreno all came close from a succession of corners.

Cash eventually sent them through to the next round from a short corner in the final stages and Emery praised the maturity in his team to push for the winner.

“We played big passions, being mature, I think we are growing up our mentality in matches like that,” Emery said.

“At the beginning we were favourite to win, but difficult to face each match.

“They prepared and tactically they played a very good match and even when they were keeping more possession on the transition they threatened us.

“We were always in control of the game and even the 15 minute, 20 minutes in the second half they were in that moment in control of the game better than us, after we had the three chances in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“We were being passionate and trying to keep in our mind our gameplan and after that moment we reacted again, we pushed in the last minute because we took two or three chances and we scored one of them.”

Villa were dumped out of the FA Cup by Stevenage in the third round last season, and Emery revealed his side had spoken about their history of the competition ahead of the Boro clash.

“We were speaking before the match about the FA Cup, a very historic cup competition, maybe the best cup competition in the world,” Emery added.

“We’re speaking about our players, how much they were successful in this competition – not a lot! Only Emiliano (Martinez) and Calum Chambers won with Arsenal.

“A long time Aston Villa was successful in this competition with seven titles.

“Of course we are here trying to do another step ahead in this club, trying to play facing different competition and trying to be contending to get something.”

Carabao Cup semi-finalists Middlesbrough missed out on another cup run, but still had their opportunities in the game as Alex Bangura created some good chances and Morgan Rogers tested Martinez.

Cash’s late strike came as a cruel blow to Michael Carrick’s side, who had defended well throughout, but the Boro boss was “so proud” of their performance.

He said: “I thought the whole game, to be honest, was good. Really happy with them at half-time.

“They had a little bit more of the game in some ways second half, but I thought in general in the circumstances against the team we were playing against, I thought they were fantastic, the lads, I’m so proud of them.

“Tactically they were spot on in terms of their discipline, concentration, we played some good football at times to play that pressure and we probably had more opportunities to create chances than actually the chances themselves but we definitely looked dangerous enough in the game.

“Disappointed not to get anything from it really.”

New Swansea manager Luke Williams was satisfied with his side’s 2-0 FA Cup third round win against Morecambe.

Second-half goals from Charlie Patino and Jerry Yates saw the Sky Bet Championship club into the fourth round despite a somewhat laboured performance.

Williams was only unveiled two days ago, joining from League Two Notts County after the Swans hierarchy took more than a month to appoint a successor to sacked Michael Duff.

Williams said: “There were some positives with things that I saw from the short amount of time I have worked with the players.

“There were also some things that I saw they struggled to implement, not because anyone isn’t good enough, just because there are a lot of small changes that take time.

“We will look at the game back and show the players what we want.

“We created enough chances to have scored a few more and the clean sheet was not an accident because we prevented the opposition from having a shot on target.”

Williams heaped praise on assistant Alan Sheehan for his work as caretaker boss since Duff’s departure.

He added: “I had conversation with Alan and asked him where he was at with the preparation.

“He suggested a very sensible team in terms of giving the correct amount of minutes to certain players.

“Alan has been incredible. He put the team in a great place when it could have been in a terrible place when I arrived.

“But I came in and he had got everybody in a good place and had a grasp on everything. I am very fortunate he did so much. He is a great guy.”

Williams, 42, who began his career in coaching at Swindon, appeared relieved to have come through the assignment against a side 49 places below Swansea in the Football League.

“They are competitive in League Two, they are strong and have experienced players,” he said.

“Looking at the statistics of the game, it looks like the way I want to play. We dominated the game, put the ball into the box a lot and created chances.

“Can we now do that cleaner, better, sharper, more accurately in league games? I hope so.”

Goalscorer Patino, meanwhile, was singled out for praise by his new boss.

“I said to Charlie at half-time he is an attacking midfielder and he has to create and score goals, not just be in the middle of the pitch,” said Williams.

“In the final third, an attacking midfielder is a killer. The longer it went with us not scoring, the more vulnerable we were.

“He then went back out and did exactly what I wanted by scoring the goal.

“After that we moved the ball correctly and saw the game out.”

Swansea eased their way into the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 win against Sky Bet League Two strugglers Morecambe.

Second-half goals from midfielders Charlie Patino and Jerry Yates saw the Sky Bet Championship side safely into the hat and secured victory in new manager Luke Williams’ opening match in charge.

While Swansea were never seriously troubled, they were laboured at times and made harder work of the win than Williams would have liked.

But the 42-year-old, who had a spell at Swansea as assistant under former boss Russell Martin before leaving to guide Notts County back into the Football League, will be relieved there was no cup slip-up.

Williams, brought in as replacement for the sacked Michael Duff after a recruitment process that dragged on over a month, was introduced to the crowd before kick-off.

There was warmth and tangible optimism in the reception he received but Williams has a considerable revival job on his hands, with the Swans well off the Championship play-offs pace in 16th position.

He opted to make 11 changes to the side which began the last league outing – a 1-0 win against West Brom.

But with the likes of captain Joe Allen, defenders Nathan Wood and Kyle Naughton and midfielders Charlie Patino and Ollie Cooper, there was no shortage of recognised first-choice players in the starting line-up.

It was no surprise the Swans monopolised possession from the first whistle, but their failure to seriously threaten the Morecambe goal frustrated home fans.

A deflected effort from midfielder Azeem Abdulai that fizzed just wide in the sixth minute looked like a sign of things to come.

Arsenal-loanee Patino forced Shrimps goalkeeper Adam Smith to tip his header over the crossbar in the 14th minute after left wiger Yannick Bolassie nodded across goal.

The impressive Bolasie went close eight minutes before the interval when his fierce effort from range narrowly cleared the bar.

But Swansea were thwarted for long spells by a well-drilled and disciplined Morecambe side content to limit their ambition to sporadic counter-attacks.

The pattern did not last long after the interval.

Just two minutes after the restart Patino made the breakthrough, ghosting in at the far post unmarked to side-foot volley a cross by Sam Parker underneath the body of Smith for the opener.

Morecambe did exert some pressure as the match entered its closing stages, but failed to create a single clearcut chance to equalise.

Their challenge was extinguished in the 87th minute when Yates found space on the edge of the 18-yard box and sent a low left-footed shot into the bottom corner of Smith’s net.

Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Cameron Dawson saved two penalties inside the opening seven minutes in his side’s 4-0 FA Cup win against Cardiff.

Josh Windass fired the Owls ahead in the second minute in a whirlwind start to this third-round tie at Hillsborough before Dawson kept out quickfire spot-kicks from Ryan Wintle and Callum Robinson.

The 28-year-old keeper was in inspired form for his hometown club, pulling off a string of further saves to keep Cardiff at bay, while Romaine Sawyers’ own goal and Liam Palmer’s stunning volley put the Owls 3-0 up at half-time.

Cardiff squandered a long list of second-half chances and Owls substitute Mallik Wilks completed the scoring in added time.

The Owls, still in the bottom three, but enjoying a mini-revival after winning five of their last eight league matches, took the lead in the second minute.

Windass received a pass from Palmer outside the penalty area and arrowed a superb shot into Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick’s bottom right-hand corner.

Within the space of the next five minutes, Cardiff twice squandered chances to draw level from the spot to the delight of the home fans in a sparse 10,955-crowd.

Dawson saved Wintle’s fourth-minute penalty with an outstretched hand after Anthony Musaba’s foul on Andy Rinomhota.

The Bluebirds were then awarded another penalty by referee Thomas Kirk three minutes later when Kion Etete went down under Michael Ihiekwe’s challenge and this time Dawson flung himself to the left to keep out Robinson’s effort.

Cardiff spurned further first-half chances as Josh Bowler fired narrowly wide and Rubin Colwill had two efforts saved by Cameron and another blocked.

Wednesday doubled their lead in the 38th minute when Ihiekwe beat Alnwick to a corner and his thumping header was deflected in off Sawyers.

The Owls appeared to have put the tie to bed two minutes later with their third goal as Palmer chested down Ollie Tanner’s poor clearance on the edge of the box and dispatched a fine volley inside the far post.

In an end-to-end first half, there was still time for Wednesday’s Momo Diaby to crash a 30-yard shot inches wide and for Dawson to deny Robinson and Etete with two more impressive saves in quick succession.

Cardiff continued to create chances after the break, with Rubin Colwill, Robinson and Tanner narrowly missing the target.

Wilks forced Alnwick to save before further missed Cardiff chances from Robinson, substitute Cian Ashford and Perry Ng summed up the visitors’ evening.

Dawson spilled Bowler’s shot, only for the ball to spin back into the goalkeeper’s arms off the goal-line before Wilks raced clear to score the Owls’ fourth in the closing stages.

Matty Cash’s late winner saw Aston Villa progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup as they beat Middlesbrough 1-0.

Carabao Cup semi-finalists Boro were denied another cup run when Cash’s deflected strike found the bottom corner in the 87th minute.

The Premier League side had threatened from corners in the second half and a set-piece ultimately proved to be Boro’s undoing as Unai Emery’s side prevailed.

The first chance of the contest fell to Villa when Boubacar Kamara flicked the ball to Jhon Duran, who cut in from the left and fired towards the bottom corner but goalkeeper Tom Glover stuck out a leg to turn the ball behind.

The visitors grew into the game and Alex Moreno caused problems with some dangerous crosses, one finding Cash who smashed the ball into the crowded Boro box.

Alex Bangura tried to catch Villa on the break with some good balls through to Josh Coburn and posed a threat after latching on to a great cross-field ball, but Villa were able to clear.

The game suddenly sprung into life in the 32nd minute when Jacob Ramsey’s powerful shot was deflected over the bar and Leander Dendoncker narrowly headed over from the resulting corner.

Duran then forced a great save from Glover and Boro raced up the other end of the pitch as Dan Barlaser threaded the ball to Morgan Rogers, but Emiliano Martinez managed to palm it away for a corner.

The hosts had a great chance just on the cusp of half-time as Bangura fired a dangerous cross across the box, but neither Coburn nor Isaiah Jones could stab home.

A frenetic opening to the second half saw Glover make a fantastic save just four minutes in as a short corner allowed John McGinn to unleash a powerful strike on the edge of the box, but the goalkeeper tipped the ball over the crossbar.

Villa threatened again from corners in the 52nd minute as Ezri Konsa’s header smashed off the inside of the far post and another set-piece one minute later saw Moreno blast the ball over the bar from close range.

They had a penalty shout waved away when Moreno went down in the box and Boro began to threaten at the other end as Clement Lenglet made a fantastic slide to deny Jones’ cross.

The Villa defence were forced to clear a number of balls fired into the box and manager Emery responded with a quadruple change in the 70th minute, bringing on Ollie Watkins, Moussa Diaby, Douglas Luiz and Nicolo Zaniolo.

Emmanuel Latte Lath did well to flick Douglas Luiz’s free-kick behind and the Boro forward was soon involved at the other end of the pitch as Martinez smothered his run from the left.

Diaby had a great chance in the Boro box but scuffed his shot before Martinez was called into action again to hold Rogers’ cross.

Villa struck in the 87th minute as another short corner fell to Cash outside the box and his effort took a deflection off Latte Lath to beat Glover and send Villa through.