Sheffield United, Rochdale, Macclesfield and to a lesser extent Swansea delivered the main shocks in the THIRD round of the Fa Cup this weekend. Sheffield United scored a stunning 2-1 away win against a boring Aston Villa, whose disastrous home performance reached a new low. Elsewhere, Rochdale toppled Leeds United, who are two divisions above the league’s second team, while Macclesfield Town Conference Premier held Sheffield Wednesday’s championship team to a 1-1 draw.
In the last game of the weekend, Swansea man Utd surprised at Old Trafford after Wilfred Bony scored one last winning goal to defeat the Welsh team while putting pressure on Red Devils BOSS David Moyes. This was only the second time in 30 years that United have lost in the competition at this stage, and what is even more worrying is that they have suffered four defeats in their last six games at Old Trafford in all competitions. Things didn’t get any better at Sunderland either on Tuesday when United were defeated again, this time by Sunderland’s hands in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final.
When the panic button was triggered at Old Trafford, serious questions are being raised as to whether Moyes is the long-term solution to replace Sir Alex Ferguson.
Other honorable mentions in the FA Cup go to Nottingham Forest, Southend and Blackburn. Rovers held man City admirably in a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park, while Forest beat West Ham 5-0 and Southend beat Millwall 4-1.
Three-time wins for Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool
While Man Utd may have crashed, the other “big guns” of the Premier League have all reached the fourth round, although the seemingly comfortable results are not the whole story. While Arsenal simply outperformed their fierce rival Tottenham, it was not the same for Chelsea and Liverpool, who were forced to work hard for their victories over lower league opponents. The blues had to wait until the 66th minute. the Reds struggled at home against Oldham, a League One team, in a disappointing performance by the hosts, who eventually won 2-0.
Everton won the FA Cup for the last time in 1995, his last appearance in the final led to a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in 2009. However, under the new boss Roberto Martinez, they had an excellent start to the current season, exploding out of the FA Cup blocks on Saturday with a complete 4-0 victory over the highest in the QPR championship.
The Toffees should eliminate Stevenage’s challenge in the fourth round, and after that they have their chances to make it to the end. Martinez’s confident troops in form can currently be supported with a decent 9/1 to end the drought and win the famous trophy for the sixth time in their history, and although a challenge among the top four in the league may be a priority, the Spaniard will not wait to start his tenure in Merseyside with the silver.
The fourth round draw proved to be a real disappointment, with little cause for concern, before the weekend games of the 25th Arsenal won a home game against Coventry, Chelsea meets Stoke, while Liverpool moves to Bournemouth/Burton Albion. Otherwise, if Man City beat Blackburn, they will host Bristol City or Watford.
A potentially fiery match unites Phil Brown, now with Southend United, with former club Hull City, while Sunderland, Cardiff, Everton, Crystal Palace, Swansea and Southampton all face lower league teams.