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First up on the Friday, Liverpool played host to an ambitious, yet unfortunate Oldham side. Simpson gave the visitors the lead after 28 minutes, and an upset was (temporarily) on the cards. Two minutes later (30’) Craig Bellamy equalised, followed by a stoppage time (45+1’) penalty from skipper Steven Gerrard to put The Reds 2-1 up at half time. Midway through the second half (68’) Jonjo Shelvey turned in Bellamy’s low cross, widening the gap to 3-1. The rout was completed after Carroll and Downing scored on 89 and 90+5 minutes respectively.West Brom were at home to Cardiff, and the hosts beat the Welsh side 4-2, including a hattrick from Irishman Simon Cox. Watford also won 4-2 at home, both games were 2-1 at half time. Cheltenham were well beaten by Tottenham at White Hart Lane, the game seemed over after 45 minutes as the home side led 2-0 at half time.
Swindon played hosts to Wigan and looked good to cause an upset as they entered half time at 1-1. Then, after 76 minutes, Paul Benson put the home side 2-1 up, and as a result, Wigan are out. Elsewhere, Sheffield United beat Salisbury 3-1 at Bramall Lane. Reading were the victims of an upset on their own ground, as they were beaten 1-0 by Stevenage, Darius Charles’ 21st minute goal helped the League One side on their way.
Nottingham Forest v Leicester, Dagenham & Redbridge v Millwall, and Birmingham v Wolves all ended in 0-0 draws. Newly-promoted Norwich smashed four past Burnley as they won 4-1 at Carrow Road. Meanwhile up north, Newcastle beat Blackburn 2-1 at the Sports Direct Arena, a 95th minute winner from Jonas Gutierrez put the Toon into the fourth round. QPR were away to MK Dons and narrowly avoided an upset after being 1-0 down until the 89th minute when Helguson saved the day and earned QPR a replay at Loftus Road.
Middlesbrough took on Shrewsbury at the Riverside, a 40th minute goal from Emnes was the difference, as the home side beat The Shrews 1-0. Macclesfield hosted Bolton and earned themselves a replay at the Reebok with a 2-2 draw, a 77th minute equaliser from Wheater meant Bolton narrowly avoided an upset. Hull were the hosts of a 3-1 win against Ipswich, whereas Gillingham hosted a 3-1 defeat to Stoke, Danny Kedwell with the only goal for the home side.
Fleetwood Town were thrashed 5-1 at home by Blackpool, Matty Phillips with a hattrick for the Tangerines. Charlton were also the victims of a thrashing, 4-0 to Fulham at Craven Cottage, Clint Dempsey with a hattrick, Duff completed the scoring an 87th minute goal. Meanwhile, Everton hosted Conference National side Tamworth, beating them 2-0, Heitinga (5’) and Baines (pen 79’) with the goals. Notts County won 2-0 away to Doncaster, Jeff Hughes with both the goals in that game. Derby County beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Pride Park, Robinson with the only goal after nine minutes. Bristol City were the victims of an upset as they lost 1-0 away to Crawley, a neat finish from Matt Tubbs on 73’ was the difference.
After going 1-0 down to Coventry after 5 minutes, Southampton came from behind to win 2-1, Ward-Prose (64’) and Martin (82’) making the difference for The Saints. Aston Villa were away to Bristol Rovers, and McLeish’s side had no trouble putting three goals past The Pirates, final score 3-1.
17-year-old Jake Forster-Caskey showed glimpses of his potential after putting Brighton ahead at the Amex after 48 minutes, however Cieslewicz equalised for Wrexham on 62’. The game ended 1-1 and Wrexham will be more than happy with a replay.
Barnsley were the hosts of a six goal thriller, even though the Yorkshire side ended up losing 4-2 to Swansea. Ricardo Vaz Te opened the scoring on 29 minutes, only to have Rangel to score for Swansea a minute later. Barnsley pushed for an equaliser and it was within reach as the score was at 3-2, only to have their hopes of a replay crushed by Danny Graham in the 89th minute. The game ended 4-2 to the Swans.
Sheffield Wednesday upset the odds when they hosted West Ham and beat them 1-0. O’Grady put the home side up late into the game (88’) but the hosts had to withstand West Ham for another thirteen minutes as there were ELEVEN minutes added on for stoppages.
Seb Larsson was the difference as Sunderland beat Peterborough 2-0 at London Road. The Swede scored the first from an in-swinging free kick that managed to wonder all the way in. The second goal was also a set-piece, this time Larsson was the provider: his corner met by the head of Irish starlet James McClean.
Portsmouth’s positive performance at Stamford Bridge counted for nothing as Mata (48’), Ramires (85, 87’) and Frank Lampard (90+3’) put four past Michael Appleton’s side. The scoreline in this one did not reflect the performance and Pompey will feel hard done by. Villas-Boas will wonder how his side managed to score four against a team that seemed a lot more convincing than them
The Etihad Stadium was the place to be this weekend, as Man City were beaten 3-2 by Man United in an enthralling Manchester Derby. Rooney put the Red Devils up after 10 minutes; however, the biggest game changer came 2 minutes later when Chris Foy, controversially, sent off Vincent Kompany, Wayne Rooney playing a big part in that too. After half an hour Danny Welbeck doubled United’s lead with a fantastically taken goal. Things got from bad to worse for City as United were awarded a penalty, the initial shot was saved by Costel Pantilimon, but the on-loan Romanian was helpless as Rooney headed in the rebound (40’). Half-time came around and City looked well beaten, but that was far from the truth. A fantastic free kick from Kolarov pulled one back for City on 48’. Sergio Agüero knocked a second past Lindegaard (65’) and it was game on. Unfortunately for the home side, Man United resisted City’s efforts for the remainder of the game. Full-time: 3-2 to United, whose second half performance was anything but convincing.
A special, special night at The Emirates saw a dominant, yet average Arsenal side beat Leeds United 1-0. The game was 0-0 at half time, then, eleven minutes from time, club legend Thierry Henry put the Gunners ahead with a composed and well taken finish. Not a bad way to mark your return.
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