FA Cup quarter-finals: 10 talking points from the men’s and women’s weekend ties | FA Cup

Securing their Premier League status for another year remains a priority for West Ham and Leeds this season, so the eight changes Nuno Espírito Santo and Daniel Farke made between them for this tie, which developed into a drama-drenched classic, was understandable to a degree. Still, in Ao Tanaka, Leeds have a gem of a fringe player, who looked eager to make something of his opportunity. The Japanese international has not started in the league since 14 December, but Leeds fans have consistently called for him to have more involvement and he showed why with a tremendous opener at the London Stadium, which was all of his own making. In stark contrast to Tanaka’s performance was that of Max Kilman, who has not been trusted to start for West Ham since 3 January when they were beaten 3-0 by the bottom club, Wolves. The centre-back looked rusty and gave away a clear penalty with a poor challenge on Anton Stach – he was even booed by his own fans at points in the game. Dominic Booth

Men’s match report: West Ham 2-2 Leeds (2-4 pens)

Rayan Cherki enhanced his status as Manchester City’s new maverick with two box office moments in Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final hammering of Liverpool. First, a sublime trap with his left foot then instant pass with his right to Antoine Sememyo, the winger crossing for Erling Haaland’s headed second goal. Then, when replaced on 71 minutes, he momentarily wore the shirt of his friend and opposition player, Hugo Ekitike. Of Cherki, Semenyo said: “He’s one of the world’s best. He can do anything with the ball, he makes my life easy. I know he’s going to drop in and find me in behind or drop it into my feet so he makes things easy. When you train with him every day you get a gist of what he is so when he gets on the ball I know where to make my runs. I remember my first day in training; some of the skills he was pulling off I was thinking what kind of player is he?” Jamie Jackson

Men’s match report: Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool

Brighton made a terrific start to their Women’s FA Cup quarter-final at Arsenal, but when they failed to capitalise on their early dominance, you feared for them. Sure enough, the European champions gradually took over and ought to have taken the lead towards the end of the first half, Chiamaka Nnadozie saving superbly from Smilla Holmberg. After the break, though, Brighton again asserted themselves – inspired by Fran Kirby, who delivered yet another performance of craft and class, leadership and tenacity. Both goals came from her passes, the first one in behind and the second a corner to the back post, but there was much more to her display than that. She snapped into tackles and passed cunningly, setting a level of intensity that inspired her teammates. At no stage were Brighton hanging on, seeing out a deserved victory with comfort and composure. We can be certain a winner such as Kirby will not be satisfied with a mere semi-final appearance. Daniel Harris

Getting over one ACL injury is hard enough. Getting over two while you are still a teenager is extremely rare, but that is what the 18-year-old Liverpool midfielder Zara Shaw has managed and she was rewarded for her graft in the treatment room when she scored the winning goal in their Women’s FA Cup quarter-final in extra time at Charlton, shortly after coming on as a substitute for her first competitive football in a year. The Liverpool academy product says it is a moment she “will never forget”, adding: “I’m all over the place, I’m absolutely buzzing.” The Liverpool head coach, Gareth Taylor, praising the youngster’s resilience, added: “Anyone who has worked with Zara will tell you, she’s an absolute coach’s dream, she’s been a physio’s dream, a [strength and conditioning] coach’s dream, because she literally does what she’s told to do, she works so hard, she gives everything. It was great, today. It was perfect for Zara and really nice when those moments happen.” Tom Garry

Women’s FA Cup: Liverpool edge out Charlton, Brighton stun Arsenal

From the first whistle at St Mary’s it was abundantly clear Southampton would attack Arsenal. They lived their on-loan goalkeeper Daniel Peretz’s pre-match missive: Saints would respect but not fear the Premier League leaders. Tonda Eckert succeeded where so many have failed, his side becoming only the fifth team in 51 games to beat Arsenal this season. Now Arsenal travel to Lisbon for a quarter-final at Sporting, another team also chasing a domestic title, and perhaps the bad news for Mikel Arteta is their next league opponents, Bournemouth, are famed for taking the game to opponents. For Andoni Iraola, attack is always the best form of defence and the Basque was an interested onlooker in the stands on Saturday, doing his homework on Arteta’s side. Arsenal hoped the international break would provide some respite after losing the Carabao Cup final but now there is unlikely to be any let up. Ben Fisher

Men’s match report: Southampton 2-1 Arsenal

It is fun to imagine how Cole Palmer reacted when Liam Rosenior told him he would captain Chelsea for the first time in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale. What pleased Rosenior the most was how the 23-year-old reacted on the pitch. The manager was without the club captain, Reece James, because of injury, and the vice-captain, Enzo Fernández, for well-documented reasons, also resting Marc Cucurella and Moisés Caicedo. He could have given the armband to Tosin Adarabioyo or João Pedro but picked Palmer because he saw it as a logical and “natural step” for the midfielder. Palmer led with his feet rather than his mouth in the 7-0 win, setting an example with his bravery on the ball and his hard running without it. Plenty has been said about the youth and inexperience of this Chelsea squad; Rosenior believes Palmer can develop into one of the solutions. David Hytner

Men’s match report: Chelsea 7-0 Port Vale

Monday’s Women’s FA Cup fixtures: Chelsea at Tottenham and Birmingham City at Manchester City.