Sheffield United, Rochdale, Macclesfield and, to a lesser extent, Swansea caused the main upsets of the Fa Cup third round this weekend. Sheffield United have pulled off a superb 2-1 away win against a dull Aston Villa, whose disastrous home performance has reached a new low. Elsewhere, Rochdale stunned Leeds United, who are two divisions above the league’s second-placed side, while Macclesfield Town Conference Premier held champions Sheffield Wednesday to a 1-1 draw.
In the last game of the weekend, Swansea stunned Utd at Old Trafford after Wilfred Bony scored a last-gasp winning goal to impose themselves on the Welsh team and put pressure on Red Devils boss David Moyes. It was only the second time in 30 years that United have lost at this stage of the competition, and more worryingly, they have now suffered four defeats in the last six games at Old Trafford in all competitions. Things didn’t get any better at Sunderland on Tuesday either, when United were overcome again, this time in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final against Sunderland.
When the panic button was pressed at Old Trafford, serious doubts were raised about whether Moyes is the long-term solution to replace Sir Alex Ferguson.
Other honourable mentions in the FA Cup are for Nottingham Forest, Southend and Blackburn. Rovers admirably held Man City to a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park, while Forest beat West Ham 5-0 and Southend beat Millwall 4-1.
Three wins for Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool
Although one may have crushed Man Utd, the other “big boys” of the Premier League have gone through to the fourth round, although seemingly comfortable results are not the whole story. While Arsenal simply outplayed fierce rival Tottenham, it wasn’t the same for Chelsea and Liverpool, who were forced to work hard to get their wins over lower-tier opponents. The Blues had to wait until the 66th minute. the Reds struggled at home against Oldham, a first division side, with a disappointing performance from the hosts, which they eventually won 2-0.
Everton last won the FA Cup in 1995, and their last appearance in the Final led to a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in 2009. However, under new manager Roberto Martinez, they have had a great start to the season, and on Saturday they exploded out of the FA Cup blocks with a great 4-0 win over championship A-listers QPR.
The Toffees should eliminate the Stevenage challenge in the fourth round, and after that they have their chances to go all the way. Martinez’s confident troops in form can currently count on the support of a decent 9/1 to end the drought and win the famous trophy for the sixth time in their history, and although a challenge in the top four of La Liga may be a priority, the Spaniard will not wait to start his tenure on Merseyside with a goal of
The draw for the fourth round turned out to be a real disappointment, with little reason to worry ahead of the weekend matches on the 25th. Arsenal have won a home game against Coventry, with Chelsea taking on Stoke, while Liverpool travel to Bournemouth/Burton Albion. Otherwise, if we beat City Blackburn, they will host Bristol City or Watford.
A potentially fiery match reunites Phil Brown, now at Southend United, along with former club Hull City, while Sunderland, Cardiff, Everton, Crystal Palace, Swansea and Southampton face lower-tier teams.