[imagebrowser ID=67]
The third round of the FA Cup gave us one huge shocker with Sheffield United beating Aston Villa in Birmingham, making them the only Premier League team to lose to a club from a lower division, but three more clubs from the top tier – Tottenham, Newcastle and West Brom lost to clubs from the same level, ending their Cup experience for the season.
There were quite a few Championship sides that lost to clubs from lower divisions, like Barnsley, Millwall, Leeds and Doncaster. Blackburn were also in charge of a big surprise – drawing 1-1 with Manchester City, earning themselves a replay at the Etihad.
Aston Villa 1 Sheffield United 2: The biggest stunner of the FA Cup third round as Aston Villa, 11th in the Premier League, played awfully at home against the 18th placed team in League One, Sheffield United. The visitors took the lead through Jamie Murphy. Aston Villa actually started playing better for a few minutes after conceding, but went back to their depressing and uninspired form. Nicklas Helenius equalized for the home side in the 75th minute, but Ryan Flynn scored a fantastic winner, giving the visitors a deserved victory.
Blackburn 1 Manchester City 1: Blackburn have been struggling since being relegated, so no one really expected them to give Manchester City too much trouble at Ewood Park. City did use some “second-stringers”, but their names happen to be Edin Dzeko and Javi Garcia among others. Alvaro Negredo scored right before half time but a fiery Rovers side early in the second half pegged one goal back, getting themselves a replay and another shot at sensation with a goal from Scott Dann.
Barnsley 1 Coventry 2: Not that much of a stunner considering Barnsley are 24th, dead last in the Championship, but Coventry, 10th in League One, aren’t exactly a special side. James O’Brien opened things well for Barnsley, but a fantastic 10-minute finish from the visitors got them goals from Franck Moussa and a 90th minute winner from Leon Clarke.
Doncaster 2 Stevenage 3: Doncaster are another struggling Championship side, but things shouldn’t be that bad – losing to a team that’s in last place of League one. However, Francois Zoko and Peter Hartley stunned the fans at the Keepmoat stadium with two second half goals. Harry Forrester brought back Doncaster to the game, but an injury time goal from Darius Charles kept the sensation vibe on, with Liam Wakefield’s late goal made no difference.
Rochdale 2 Leeds 0: League two Rochdale stunned a team that’s not too far from making it to the Premier League next season. Leeds players were outplayed by the home side, enjoying goals from Scott Hogan right before half time and the final nail in the coffin came from Ian Henderson with six minutes left in the match.
Southend 4 Millwall 1: Only 4th in League two, but good enough to kick Millwall out of the FA Cup. Barry Corr, Will Atkinson and Michael Timlin made sure before the hour passed that the visitors will be heading back home without anything to be proud of. Martyn Woolford did get one back for Millwall, but Ryan Leonard completed the humiliation in the final minutes.