The third round of the FA Cup is in full swing, and after Wrexham took out Nottingham Forest to defeat the Premier League side, non-league Macclesfield knocked out the reigning champions of the competition in Crystal Palace. The third round has had a bit of everything so far, with four games going to penalties to determine a winner, and plenty of matches have seen goals galore. Let’s take a look at what has happened in the FA Cup so far:
FA Cup third round scores
- MK Dons 1, Oxford United 1 (Oxford United advance 4-3 on penalties)
- Preston North End 0, Wigan Athletic 1
- Wrexham 3, Nottingham Forest 3 (Wrexham advance 4-3 on penalties)
- Port Vale 1, Fleetwood Town 0
- Macclesfield 2, Crystal Palace 1
- Everton 1, Sunderland 1 (Sunderland Advance 3-0 on penalties)
- Wolverhampton 6, Shrewsbury Town 1
- Cheltenham 0, Leicester City 2
- Doncaster Rovers 2, Southampton 3
- Stoke City 1, Coventry City 0
- Sheffield Wednesday 0, Brentford 2
- Newcastle United 3, Bournemouth 3 (Newcastle advance 7-6 on penalties)
- Fulham 3, Middlesbrough 1
- Ipswich Town 2, Blackpool 1
- Manchester City 10, Exeter City 1
- Burnley 5, Millwall 1
- Boreham Wood 0, Burton Albion 5
- Cambridge United 2, Birmingham City 3
- Tottenham 1, Aston Villa 2
- Grimbsby Town 3, Weston-super-Mare 2
- Bristol City 5, Watford 1
- Charlton 1, Chelsea 5
A cupset for the ages
The magic of the FA Cup is always in full swing, but Saturday brought something special even by FA Cup standards. Non-league Macclesfield, who are 117 places below Crystal Palace, became the first non-league team to knock out the FA Cup holders since Palace did it themselves, knocking out Wolverhampton in the 1908-09 first round. Macclesfield are led by John Rooney, the younger brother of Wayne Rooney, and they took control of the match, scoring twice by the 60th minute of play. It’s one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history as Macclesfield will now go into the fourth round of play to see if they can keep this run going. Wayne Rooney was there doing coverage for the BBC and could be seen on the verge of tears seeing his brother accomplish history, and they shared an embrace following the match.
Man City reach double digit goals
Facing Exeter City at home, Manchester City were expected to roll, but no one expected the show that came to the Etihad. Young defender Max Alleyne was just recalled from a loan to Watford due to an injury to Ruben Dias, and he only needed 12 minutes to find the back of the net for the first of many goals to come for Manchester City. They’d score four just in the first half alone before Antoine Semenyo scored the first goal of his City career in the second half of play. Rico Lewis netted a brace, and somehow, despite Erling Haaland starting the match, he didn’t register a goal involvement. Looking at outfielders to start for Pep Guardiola’s side, only three didn’t have goal involvements during the match, as nearly everyone was involved in this FA Cup domination made an impact.
Tottenham’s woes continue
Thomas Frank is under pressure in his first season as manager of Tottenham, and getting knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa won’t do much to ease that. Tottenham have now failed to win in four consecutive matches, and extending things further, they’ve only won three matches out of their last 10 in all competitions. With Mohammed Kudus being the latest star sidelined for the club, it’s becoming even harder for the attack to make things happen. Dominic Solanke’s return to the squad could be a help to Frank’s side, but they need more from the transfer market as the midfield is not good enough to keep up with a side marching toward the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Liam Rosenior’s first Chelsea win
Facing a Championship side, it was expected for Chelsea to roll, and they did just that, defeating Charlton 5-1 on Saturday. It was the first game on the bench for new coach Liam Rosenior, and while they were playing a side a division below them, Chelsea controlled things from start to finish, only allowing six shots, with two of those being on target. The Blues held 74 percent of the possession, and Jorrel Hato opened the scoring in stoppage time of the first half before Chelsea scored four in the second half. With an EFL Cup semifinal on the horizon against Arsenal on Wednesday, this is a good chance for Rosenior to get that win out of the way before the level of difficulty increases for his side quickly in upcoming matches.
Sunday’s schedule
All times Eastern
Derby vs. Leeds, 7 a.m.
Portsmouth vs. Arsenal, 9 a.m.
Swansea City vs. West Brom, 9:30 a.m.
West Ham vs. QPR, 9:30 a.m.
Sheffield United vs.Mansfield Town, 9:30 a.m.
Norwich vs. Walsall, 9:30 a.m.
Hull vs. Blackburn, 9:30 a.m.
Man United vs. Brighton, 11:30 a.m.
