Barnsley's Stephen Foster (right) celebrates scoring as Liverpool's Xabi Alonso reacts during their English FA Cup fifth-round match at Anfield yesterday. Barnsley stunned Liverpool 2-1.

LONDON (AP):

SEVEN-TIME champions Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup in a shock 2-1 fifth-round loss to lower-league team Barnsley yesterday.

Brian Howard scored the winner in the 90th minute in front of Liverpool's most fervent supporters at Anfield. Dirk Kuyt had put the Reds ahead, before Stephen Foster equalised for Barnsley, who are mid-table in the second-tier League Championship.

"It's a fairy tale, it's what dreams are made of - he's scored the winner in an FA Cup tie at the Kop end," Barnsley manager Simon Davey said.

Manchester United easily defeated Arsenal 4-0 at Old Trafford, with the Gunners finishing with 10 men after Emmanuel Eboue was sent off in the 49th minute.

Darren Fletcher scored twice, with Wayne Rooney and Luis Nani adding a goal each.

"We showed great verve and tenacity," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "The passing was terrific and the players should be proud of themselves ... it was a marvellous performance."

Arsenal lead Man United by five points in the Premier League and manager Arsene Wenger was disappointed with his side's performance.

"It's difficult to find some positives in our game today, the only one I can see is that we haven't got more injuries than we had before the game," Wenger said.

Chelsea, Bristol Rovers, Cardiff and West Bromwich Albion also booked quarter-final berths.

Chelsea, the defending champions, beat League One club Huddersfield 3-1, with Frank Lampard scoring in the 18th and 60th minutes and Salomon Kalou adding the other goal in the 70th.

Bristol Rovers reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 50 years by upsetting Southampton 1-0. Roman Bednar scored twice for West Brom in a 5-0 win over Coventry and Cardiff beat Wolves 2-0 in another all-League Champion-ship match-up.

Today, Sheffield United host Middlesbrough and Portsmouth travel to Preston.

Kuyt scored for the first time for the Reds in 13 matches in all competitions in the 32nd minute, after receiving a pass from Ryan Babel. But Barnsley levelled in the 57th through Foster, whose powerful header beat Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje.

quick response

Liverpool responded quickly, with Yossi Benayoun and Peter Crouch having shots cleared off the line.

The Reds brought on England midfielder Steven Gerrard but couldn't score largely due to a standout performance from goalkeeper Luke Steele, who was making his debut for Barnsley after moving this week from West Brom on a month's loan.

"It's been a couple of months since I played last, so obviously I was just so happy to be out there and at Anfield," said Steele, who admitted he didn't know the names of all his teammates.

Liverpool are now out of both Cup competitions and out of contention for the English title. Their only chance of a trophy is the Champions League - they host Inter Milan in the round of 16 on Tuesday - but manager Rafa Benitez is still trying to work out what went wrong yesterday.

"Frankly, I am stunned and bitterly frustrated," Benitez said. "The team is very upset.

"We had a lot of chances but it was the same situation as in other games, we cannot take our chances to finish games," Benitez added. "I am really, really disappointed. It is difficult to explain, but it is the reality."

Barnsley have won the FA Cup once - in 1912 - and were runners-up two years before that.

At Stamford Bridge, Lampard was the key to Chelsea's win in just his second game since returning from six weeks out with a thigh injury.

He scored his first goal with a low shot after taking a cross from Scott Sinclair. He then notched his 101st goal for Chelsea, scoring on a rebound after his initial shot was stopped by goalkeeper Matthew Glennon before setting up Kalou.

Huddersfield, who play two divisions below Chelsea in League One, levelled in the 45th through Michael Collins, who slipped the ball underneath goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

Lampard was the only player remaining from the team which drew 0-0 with Liverpool in the Premier League last week. The Blues welcomed back captain John Terry, who played for the first time since December 16 after recovering from a foot injury.

Bristol Rovers striker Richard Lambert scored with a deflected free kick in the 84th minute to equal their best-ever FA Cup performances, in 1951 and '58.