FA Cup Third Round Recap
The third round of the FA Cup concluded on Tuesday which included a re-match of last year’s final and a lot of teams that could not hold onto a lead. The shock score line of the round occurred in London as QPR was smacked at home by League 1 side Sheffield United by a score of 3-0. The Blades deserved every bit of their win against a very un-inspired QPR team.
All other Premier League clubs facing lower level competition were able to avoid a loss, but it was far from easy for many of them including Manchester City. They found themselves having to claw their way back after going into the dressing room at halftime a goal down to Sheffield Wednesday. James Milner scored two second half goals to avoid the upset. Liverpool was given a battle from AFC Wimbledon with Steven Gerrard’s two goals earning a 2-1 win, and Ipswich forced a replay with a 1-1 draw at Southampton.
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The tiny ground of Croft Park hosted a match between the non-league Blyth Spartans and Birmingham City. The Spartans found themselves 2-0 up at halftime which provided wild scenes that only the FA Cup is capable of. Robbie Dale, who works as a bartender in his mother’s pub, was the scorer of both goals. However, Birmingham came out too fast in the second half and ended up winning 3-2. Separated by 120 league positions, this would have certainly been an upset for the ages had Blyth been able to hold on. I was most surprised by the antics put on by Birmingham fans in the away end who taunted the Blyth goalkeeper for a long period in the second half. Shouldn’t they have been a bit embarrassed?
Despite a dismal year in League 1, Yeovil fans would have been pleased to see their side put up a strong battle against Manchester United in a game where they really should have struck first with Kieffer Moore missing a great opportunity in the opening moments of the second half. The Red Devils found second half goals from Herrera and Di Maria to finish with a 2-0 win.
League 2 Cambridge United’s win over Luton Town puts them through to the fourth round for the first time in 15 years. Southport were seconds away from forcing a replay against Derby until they conceded a late stoppage time penalty kick which was put away by Chris Martin, but the underdogs can’t say they didn’t have their chances to win it. New West Brom manager Tony Pulis watched his team put seven past non-league Gateshead, as Saido Berahino netted four.
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Seven fixtures failed to give us a winner with the most notable being the six goal thriller between Bradford and Millwall. The match between Fulham and Wolves at Craven Cottage was the only fixture that ended scoreless. Replays will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week as the teams will look to book their trip to the fourth round on Saturday, January 24th.
Full list of results:
Dover 0-4 Crystal Palace
QPR 0-3 Sheffield Utd.
Sunderland 1-0 Leeds Utd.
Aston Villa 1-0 Blackpool
Manchester City 2-1 Sheffield Wed.
Southampton 1-1 Ipswich
Stoke 3-1 Wrexham
Yeovil 0-2 Manchester Utd.
Chelsea 3-0 Watford
Arsenal 2-0 Hull
Barnsley 0-2 Middlesbrough
Blyth Spartans 2-3 Birmingham
Bolton 1-0 Wigan
Bentford 0-2 Brighton
Cambridge 2-1 Luton
Charlton 1-2 Blackburn
Derby 1-0 Southport
Doncaster 1-1 Bristol City
Fulham 0-0 Wolves
Huddersfield 0-1 Reading
Leicester 1-0 Newcastle
Millwall 3-3 Bradford
Preston 2-0 Norwich
Rochdale 1-0 Nottm Forest
Rotherham 1-5 Bournemouth
Tranmere 2-6 Swansea
West Brom 7-0 Gateshead
Burnley 1-1 Tottenham
Wimbledon 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 1-1 West Ham
Scunthorpe 2-2 Chesterfield
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