The Premier League's FIFA 20 tournament, the ePL Invitational, continued Wednesday with four more single-elimination matches.
Some of the competition's marquee participants, including Raheem Sterling and Trent Alexander-Arnold, showcased their skills for the first time.
Here's how the day's events unfolded:
Round of 16
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) vs. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Manchester City star Sterling opened Wednesday's proceedings with an exciting 5-4 victory over Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. The winning goal, scored in the 61st minute after a slick turn and strike, came courtesy of none other than Sterling himself. The players are making a habit of that so far.
This contest was all about the postmatch banter, though, with Zaha calling out the "disgusting" antics Sterling employed during the match.
Tom Grennan (Manchester United) vs. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
The standout goal of the day was scored by Alexander-Arnold, whose cheeky chip - courtesy of Sadio Mane - helped the Liverpool right-back crush musician Tom Grennan, who was representing Manchester United. Mane's delightful dink powered Alexander-Arnold to a comfortable 5-1 win.
Conventional wisdom suggests one of the younger participants should be favored to win the whole tournament, and the English full-back, 21, looks like a solid bet right now.
Reece James (Chelsea) vs. Andre Gomes (Everton)
Everton midfielder Andre Gomes obliterated Chelsea defender Reece James in Thursday's most one-sided affair, scoring at will en route to an 8-0 triumph. It got to the point where you felt bad for the 20-year-old full-back.
After the match, Gomes claimed he was a FIFA novice who only started playing the game one week ago. Seems unlikely, Andre. James, like the rest of us, was skeptical.
Gomes should get a much sterner test on Friday, when he takes on Sterling in the quarterfinals.
Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham) vs. Christian Atsu (Newcastle)
In the day's final match, Newcastle winger Christian Atsu got an 89th-minute goal to sink Moussa Sissoko of Tottenham. The Frenchman, who used to play for the Magpies, was keen to get one over on his former club, but succumbed to a last-gasp header from Jonjo Shelvey. What Shelvey was doing that deep inside the opposition penalty area, we'll never know.
Atsu's reward is a quarterfinal tilt with Alexander-Arnold on Friday.
What's next?
The round of 16 wraps up with four matches on Thursday. The action is slated to begin at 7 a.m. ET, and the schedule looks like this:
- Diogo Jota (Wolves) vs. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City)
- Todd Cantwell (Norwich) vs. Lys Mousset (Sheffield United)
- Neal Maupay (Brighton) vs. Philip Billing (Bournemouth)
- Josh Franceschi (Arsenal) vs. Dwight McNeil (Burnley)
The four winners will then join today's triumphant quartet in Friday's quarterfinal stage. Both the semifinals and final will be played on Saturday.