Football: Soccer-Tottenham, Fulham advance to fourth round of FA Cup with 1-0 victories

LONDON (Reuters) – Pedro Porro scored his first goal of the season to put Tottenham Hotspur through to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Burnley on Friday, while Fulham eased their way through with a 1-0 win over Rotherham United.

Ten-man Wolverhampton Wanderers came from behind to draw 1-1 at Brentford and force a replay, despite having Joao Gomes sent off in the ninth minute.

Eight-time FA Cup winners Spurs and Burnley looked destined for a replay before Porro broke the deadlock in the 78th minute of a drab game when he intercepted goalkeeper Arijanet Muric’s throw, firing a rocket from long range into the top far corner.

The victory was relief for Ange Postecoglou’s team, who were missing several key players to injury and international duty, including South Korea captain Son Heung-min at the Asian Cup, and Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma, who are both at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Burnley’s best chance came in the first half when Zeki Amdouni received a clever flick just outside the six-yard box but took a poor first touch and launched the ball over the bar. They rarely threatened as Spurs found a way to grind out the win.

Championship (second tier) side Rotherham, who haven’t made it through to the fourth round of the competition since 2001-02, kept their composure early on as Fulham controlled the play.

But Bobby De Cordova-Reid made the breakthrough in the 24th minute, smashing the ball into the top left corner from outside the area as the visitors became overstretched, much to the delight of the foot-stamping fans rattling the century-old Johnny Haynes stand.

Jordan Hugill thought he had levelled the score for Rotherham just moments later, but his effort was ruled out for offside, and ultimately the Yorkshire side were sent home without registering a single shot on target.

Depleted Wolves fell behind to a Neal Maupay goal four minutes before the break but the visitors found the equaliser in the 64th minute when Tommy Doyle hit a stunning strike from outside the area, and will be happy to take Brentford back to Molineux.

There are 27 games scheduled for Sunday, while Wigan Athletic host Manchester United on Monday. Everton and Crystal Palace clash in a replay on Jan. 17 to wrap up the third round.

The fourth round is scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 27.

(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Additional reporting by Hugh Lawson and Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge)