Captain Steven Gerrard scored twice to save Liverpool from FA Cup embarrassment and steer them into the fourth round after a tricky 2-1 win at fourth tier AFC Wimbledon last night.

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.

Liverpool will, as expected, play second tier Bolton Wanderers in the next round but only after a night of living dangerously with determined League Two opponents.

Gerrard, in his first match since announcing his departure for the United States at the end of the season, headed the opener in the 12th minute as Liverpool looked set for a comfortable win.

But the match at Kingsmeadow, reviving memories of 1988 when the old Wimbledon ‘Crazy Gang’ beat Liverpool in a hard-tackling final, refused to follow the script.

Lifelong Liverpool fan Adebayo Akinfenwa, a stocky striker nicknamed ‘The Beast’, had the home fans dreaming when he poked in a 36th minute equaliser after some woeful defending by the Mersey-siders.

With a major upset looking possible, and Wimbledon missing several clear chances, Gerrard then came to the rescue with a curling free kick into the top corner in the 62nd minute.

At Turf Moor, Sam Vokes put nine months of injury hell behind him with the equaliser as Burnley held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw in the third round of the FA Cup at Turf Moor.

Vokes’ last goal came in a 2-0 Championship win over Doncaster on March 25, four days before he ruptured his cruciate ligament.

Making only his second substitute appearance since, the striker produced a confident finish in the 73rd minute to cancel out Nacer Chadli’s 56th-minute opener and force a replay.

Summaries

Wimbledon 1
Akinfewa 36;
Liverpool 2
Gerrard 12, 62;

HT: 1-1. Att: 4,784.

Burnley 1
Vokes 73;
Tottenham 1
Chadli 56;

HT: 0-0. Att: 9,348.

Playing today
Everton vs West Ham - 20.45
Scunthorpe vs Chesterfield - 20.45

Fourth round draw

Southampton/Ipswich vs C. Palace; Cambridge vs Man. United; Blackburn vs Swansea; Chelsea vs Millwall/Bradford; Derby vs Scunthorpe/Chesterfield; Preston vs Sheffield United; Birmingham vs West Brom; Aston Villa vs Bournemouth; Cardiff vs Reading; Liverpool vs Bolton; Burnley/Tottenham vs Leicester City; Brighton vs Arsenal; Rochdale vs Stoke; Sunderland vs Fulham/Wolves; Doncaster/Bristol City vs Everton/West Ham; Man. City vs Middlesbrough.

Matches to be played on Jan. 24/25.

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