LONDON: Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool fans an instant reminder of what they’ll be missing next season.

Playing in his first game since announcing he will leave the club this summer, Gerrard scored twice to rescue Liverpool from FA Cup embarrassment and lead them into the fourth round after a tricky 2-1 win at fourth tier AFC Wimbledon on Monday.

Liverpool’s long-time captain curled in a trademark free kick in the 62nd minute at the 4,850-capacity Kingsmeadow stadium in south-west London to secure the win against a tenacious and ambitious Wimbledon side to earn Brendan Rodgers’ side a home tie with Bolton Wanderers in round four.

Gerrard had put his team ahead with a header in the 12th minute, but Adebayo Akinfenwa gave the hosts a deserved equaliser in the 36th by tapping in after goalkeeper Simon Mignolet failed to clear a corner.

In the night’s other Cup match, Premier League strugglers Burnley fought back from a goal down at Turf Moor to draw 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur and force a replay to decide who then takes on Leicester City.

Burnley’s match against in-form Spurs brought back memories of the 1962 final, won by Tottenham, but there was little glamour in a dire first half. Spurs took the lead through a Nacer Chadli strike from close range in the 52nd minute but Sam Vokes side-footed in an equaliser in the 73rd.

In other match-ups after Monday’s draw for the fourth round, fourth-tier Cambridge United, the lowest ranked team left in the FA Cup, will host 11-times winners Manchester United.

The match will be United’s second in a row against lowly opponents after Louis van Gaal’s team beat famed League One giant-killers Yeovil Town 2-0 in the third round on Sunday.

Most top Premier League teams were drawn against lower-tier opposition, with Manchester City hosting Middlesbrough after coming from behind to win 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday, another second tier team, on Sunday and holders Arsenal, 2-0 winners against last season’s beaten finalists Hull City in the third round on Sunday, travelling to Brighton.

Chelsea will play the winner between Millwall and Bradford, who face a replay. Sheffield United’s reward for their shock 3-0 win over QPR on Sunday is a trip to fellow third tier side Preston.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2015

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