Women’s FA Cup: Liverpool, Man City and Manchester United qualify for the fifth round

Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all qualified for the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup with 55 goals scored in 12 matches on Sunday.

League One strugglers Liverpool have rid themselves of their goalscoring woes by putting six players past the fourth-tier London Bees, with five separate players on the scoresheet including new arrivals Denis O’Sullivan and Martha Thomas.

City, leaders of the Women’s Premier League, achieved a crushing 6-0 victory over third-tier Bournemouth after Khadija Shaw opened the scoring with a header in the 19th minute.

Three more goals – one from Lauren Hemp and a brace from Laura Coombs – decided the game before half-time, with substitute Viviane Miedema scoring twice after the break as City extended their unbeaten run to 16 matches in all competitions.

Their Manchester United rivals also made a small effort in their match against third-tier Burnley with a 5-0 win.

Captain Maya Le Tissier put Mark Skinner’s side ahead after two minutes, with new signing Leah Schuler and 16-year-old academy graduate Leila Drury also on target.

In the only encounter of the WSL round, 14-time champions Arsenal battled back to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, with captain Kim Little scoring a goal and an assist.

“She’s unbelievable. She does everything 100%. She can really perform at this level,” Arsenal manager Rene Sligers told Channel 4.

Second-tier Nottingham Forest pushed Brighton – without coach Dario Vidosic, who was absent for personal reasons – at Broadfield Stadium.

Brighton went ahead through Maddison Haley’s penalty on the stroke of half-time before Jelena Kankovic’s header sealed the win late on.

WSL 2 leaders Charlton Athletic were the top scorers at the weekend, netting 10 unanswered goals in an emphatic display against Swindon Town.

Bristol City edged out fellow WSL 2 side Southampton in the only draw to require extra time. The Robins equalized late in the second half to force an extra 30 minutes, before Emily Sim completed the conversion in the 118th minute.

Meanwhile, the second division clubs, Birmingham City and Sheffield United, qualified after winning 6-2 and 2-1 over Hull City and Ipswich, and Oxford United also beat Middlesbrough 3-1 in the only match between the third division teams.

National League side York City were the lowest-seeded team in the competition, but their historic run to the fourth round ended with a 3-0 loss to Chatham Town.