David Brooks’ classy display was the catalyst for Bournemouth thrashing Swansea 5-0 to become the first team to book their place in the FA Cup fifth round.
Wales international Brooks scored one goal and provided two assists as the Cherries racked up their biggest FA Cup win against an EFL side since beating Bristol Rovers 6-1 in 1927-28.
Both teams made five changes from their weekend line-ups but that did not stop Bournemouth making light work of their Championship visitors to move into the last 16 for only the third time since 1989.
Andoni Iraola’s Premier League side stormed into a 3-0 lead with less than a quarter of an hour gone as Swansea’s defence completely capitulated on the south coast.
Lloyd Kelly began the scoring in the seventh minute
The Cherries took the lead in the seventh minute when defender Lloyd Kelly came up from the back to find himself unmarked to hook Brooks’ free-kick into the roof of the net.
Three minutes later Brooks broke free down the right before pulling the ball back for Alex Scott to make it 2-0.
Kyle Naughton hit the post for the visitors before Luis Sinisterra scored Bournemouth’s third goal with a confident finish into the far corner after Swansea goalkeeper Andrew Fisher had passed the ball straight to Scott.
The irrepressible Brooks had to wait until 10 minutes before half-time to get the goal he fully deserved after keeping himself onside to latch onto Dominic Solanke’s pass before side-footing beyond the helpless Fisher.
Top-scorer Solanke, who had already fired wide from another Brooks free-kick, grabbed the home side’s fifth a minute before half-time after more dreadful defending from the visitors.
Sinisterra played in a teasing low cross from the left wing and Solanke was left with the freedom of the penalty area to side-foot his 14th goal of the season from 10 yards out.
It was the first time the Cherries had been 5-0 up at the interval since beating non-league Margate 11-0 in an FA Cup first round tie in 1971.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola (right) and Dominic Sadi celebrate after the final whistle
Iraola rested Solanke for the second half but his replacement Kieffer Moore could have made it 6-0 within seconds of coming on after narrowly failing to get on the end of James Hill’s floated cross.
Moore came close again 15 minutes from time when his effort from midway inside the Swansea penalty area was deflected behind for a corner, while Milos Kerkez also slotted wide as the hosts failed to add to their tally.
Tottenham host holders Manchester City and Aston Villa face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge among the other fourth-round clashes on Friday.
Williams: A horrible night – I got it wrong
Swansea boss Luke Williams, speaking to S4C: “It was a horrible night for us. I apologised to the players because I tried to set the team up to give a problem to the opposition. It is a cup game and we have to try to find a way to win.
“But I got the balance wrong, with too many players in advanced positions and then in the turnover there is not enough bodies to stem the flow of the attack, and the opposition were very good.
“I don’t want to single anybody out or talk about individual errors. We are playing against an outstanding team, who we are probably always going to lose against because there is a big gap in the quality of the two teams at this moment in time.”
What’s next?
Bournemouth return to Premier League duty on February 1 when travelling to West Ham, kick-off 7.30pm, while Swansea face Championship leaders Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on January 30, kick-off 7.45pm.