FA Cup Third Round [2016]

It's that time of year again when all the teams around the country are pulled together into one competition to form some of the best entertainment a football fan can find. This is the competition where form doesn't come into consideration and even the least likely winners can come forward. And so, as the Premier League and Championship teams joined in, the fun commenced...

The first game of the weekend saw League Two Exeter City face Premier League Liverpool at their home ground, and it was a game that Liverpool would be expected to win. However, it wasn't quite the game many expected. Exeter gave Liverpool a very tough time in the game and two goals from Tom Nichols and a brilliant one scored from a corner by Lee Holmes on either side of a goal by Jerome Sinclair put some real pressure Jurgen Klopp's side. 

Brad Smith managed to pull one back for Liverpool to earn a replay, but the outcome could have been very different if Exeter had managed to convert some of their chances when they were 2-1 up. 

Tom Nichols applauding the fans after his great performance against Liverpool
Image from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35155398

The shock of the round actually happened today though. Oxford United of League Two welcomed Swansea City and the away side seemed to get off to a brilliant start as a superb goal from Jefferson Montero took them into the lead. Oxford rallied brilliantly though. A debatable penalty was awarded and scored by the home side on the stroke of half time and switched into another gear when they came out for the second half. 

Kemar Roofe was the player to truly rub the salt into Swansea's wounds as he scored two wonderful goals and gave his team some breathing space. Bafetimbi Gomis did pull one back for Swansea, but it was a little too late meaning that they exited the competition. 

Oxford players celebrate a brilliant win against Swansea City
Image from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35216450

Cardiff City were another team that were beaten by a lower league team and had to exit the competition. Andy Mangan of Shrewsbury Town headed the visitors into the lead on the hour mark and the League One side held onto their lead as Cardiff wasted many chances that could possibly have earned them a replay. 

It wasn't the exit to a lower league side that would have been embarrassing for Cardiff, but the fact that less than 5,000 people attended the game in total to watch the game. So all-in-all, not a great day for the home side. 

There was a lot of late drama in the game between Tottenham and Leicester. Christian Eriksen drew first blood early in the first half after the keeper parried Nacer Chadli's shot back into the penalty, but Leicester soon fought back. Marcin Wasilewski and Shinji Okazaki pulled the game back for the away side and Spurs were handed a lifeline. 

The ball hit Nathan Dyer's hand in the penalty area as he tried to tackle Danny Rose and the ref awarded a penalty which Harry Kane converted to earn the replay. However, it is debatable as to whether it was actually a penalty or not as the handball didn't seem deliberate, but I'm sure the Spurs team will be happy they get another chance to get to the fourth round. 

Harry Kane converts a late penalty to earn Spurs a replay at the King Power Stadium
Image from: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/fa-cup-third-round-live-oxford-vs-swansea-chelsea-vs-scunthorpe-and-tottenham-vs-leicester-city-a6804636.html

For West Bromwich Albion, it was almost a shock exit as well. They took the lead halfway through the second half through Saido Berahino, but Bristol City managed to flip the game in their favour when Jonathan Kodija scored from close range and minutes later Kieran Agard added a second. 

It looked like they might just come away with the win, until James Morrison pulled a goal back in the dying minutes of added time in the second half to earn his team a replay and stop any celebrations from the Bristol City faithful.

There were, of course, the results that everybody expected in this round. Manchester City played well away against Norwich and Sergio Aguero started off the flurry of goals in the 3-0 result. 

Last season's winners Arsenal also pulled together to win 3-1 after they went behind to a Jeremain Lens goal for Sunderland. 

Chelsea didn't have the smoothest of games, but they still managed to overcome Scunthorpe with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Diego Costa and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Manchester United were another team that struggled against lower league opposition as Sheffield United put on a brilliant and resilient defensive display at Old Trafford. However, the visitors suffered heartbreak in the third minute of added time as a penalty was given away and converted by Wayne Rooney. 

And so comes the end to another FA Cup weekend. The replays will be played in just over a week and it will be interesting to see if any teams who almost pulled off a great shock in this round will be able to finish off what they almost started. For the fans of those teams that did make it through to the next round, the draw will happen tomorrow and the next round of predictions about possible upsets will make their appearance pretty soon after. 

The only question left is whether or not any of the underdogs will cause the upsets so many fans crave during that round. 

Premier League: Opening Weekend

The new Premier League season was kicked off with a big fixture as Manchester United faced off against Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs were particularly dominant in the opening exchanges of the match, and had two chances from Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane to prove this. However, they didn't make the most of this period and they came to regret it after a sloppy piece of play by Nabil Bentaleb which gave the ball to Juan Mata. He played the ball across to Matteo Darmian on the right, and he put a brilliant cross into Wayne Rooney in the six yard box. He hesitated to take the chance, and Kyle Walker tried to clear the ball out from behind, but instead saw the ball nestle neatly into the corner of his own net. United grew in confidence following this, but didn't create any more clear cut chances until the second half. Spurs did have the chance to possibly snatch a late goal, but their pressure came too late, and United secured all three points thanks to debutant goalkeeper, Sergio Romero. 

Leicester seemed to pick up exactly where they left off. Even though Sunderland had the better chances early on, it was the home side that recorded the first goal through Jamie Vardy after he flicked the ball in off the inside of the post from a free kick. Riyad Mahrez followed this with two goals in quite quick succession. The first was a header flicked into the side netting from a Marc Albrighton cross and the second was from the spot after Lee Cattermole gave away the penalty kick. He sent the keeper the wrong way and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner. Sunderland had a reply though; Adam Johnson slipped the ball into the box where Jermain Defoe was in place to slot the ball under the keeper. Leicester weren't done yet though. After a number of failed attempts, Albrighton eventually managed to deflect his shot off Younes Kaboul which took it past the keeper. Steven Fletcher added another goal for Sunderland, but it came too late for them to mount a successful comeback.

Another team to pick up where they left off was Crystal Palace. Early in the first half, Wilfried Zaha had already put his team ahead. Jason Puncheon came down the right and put a brilliant cross into the box, which missed all the other players and landed to Zaha, in space, who turned the ball into the goal off the keeper. Damien Delaney followed this up from a Palace corner. Pape Souare made a last second run into the box, so wasn't picked up and headed it to Delaney on the post who calmly nudged it over the line. Norwich had a lot of chances in the game, but they didn't take any of them until the second half. Nathan Redmond managed to create something out of nothing as he took on the shot from outside the box and caught the keeper of guard as it hit the net. Cameron Jerome also had a great volleyed goal wrongly disallowed, as the referee pulled play back for a high boot. Yohan Cabaye rounded it all off for Palace though as he timed his run perfectly before he tucked the ball under the keeper.

On paper, it looked like new boys Watford would have a tough game against Everton as their first, but they made quick work of the match. They settled into Premier League life relatively quickly, and looked confident on the ball. Miguel Layun was in the right place on the penalty spot to lift the ball up and over the keeper to settle in the goal when Everton failed to clear their lines. Everton didn't have many good chances until midway through the second half. Seamus Coleman crossed the ball into Arouna Kone on the edge of the box, who had his back to goal, so he teed up Ross Barkley who put some power behind his shot and watched it pinball through the players before it flew over the keeper. Watford took the lead again though when Odion Ighalo took the ball past John Stones and curled the ball around the defender and the keeper. However, it was Kone who had the last say in the match when he converted his late goal from a tight angle on the right side of the box. 

Bournemouth also looked comfortable in their first half against Aston Villa, and they created a lot of chances that would have allowed them to take a foothold in the game. Villa did well to defend against these chances though and came out for the second half looking like a different team. It was new boy Rudy Gestede who proved to be the difference between the two sides. From a Villa corner, he rose above everyone else in the box and powered his header past the keeper and into the back of the net. Bournemouth just couldn't get past the defence though, and they learnt the hard way that they need to take their chances to go further in the Premier League. 

The defending champions faced off against Swansea as they mounted their challenge to retain their trophy. Swansea came closest to scoring at the beginning of the match, but it was Oscar who put his name on the score-sheet. A free kick taken from outside the left side of the box was whipped across the front of the crowd of players and settled into the side netting. Swansea had a reply for this shortly after though. Swansea had a number of chances before Andre Ayew eventually slotted the ball under Thibaut Courtois following this. They weren't level for long however, after Willian went up the other end and crossed the ball into the box, but it looped off Federico Fernandez and over his keeper. However, the game was flipped on its head when Courtois saw red and gave away a penalty for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity. Gomis sent the keeper the wrong way and the goal gave Swansea a new sense of confidence. Chelsea did rally towards the end, but it was too late to get anything. 

Arsenal were looking confident at the beginning of their match after last week's Community Shield win over Chelsea. They had a particularly good spell at the beginning of the half, one in which they didn't take their chances, which allowed West Ham to really come into the game. Both teams had half chances in the lead up to half time, but this was when West Ham found their breakthrough. A free kick is looped into the box and Petr Cech came flying out of his goal to punch the ball away, but Cheikhou Kouyate beat him to it and powered his header into the empty net. Arsenal looked clumsy and laboured after this goal, and it carried on into the second half. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain couldn't clear his lines and was dispossessed by Mauro Zarate on the edge of the box. He turned and fired the shot into the bottom corner past a wrong-footed Cech. Although Arsenal had more chances towards the edge of the game, West Ham did well to defend their lead. 

Newcastle under their new manager in this game looked a completely different side to the one that finished last season. They made a bright start to the match and confidence flowed through them as they registered the better chances of the two teams. Against the run of play though, it was Graziano Pelle that put the visitors ahead. Cedric Soares put a brilliant ball into the box and Pelle got up well and had no trouble powering his header past the defenders and Tim Krul. Just before half time, Newcastle fought back. Massadio Haidara's cross looped up off Sadio Mane and Papisse Cisse simply had to chest the ball over the line from close range. Newcastle took the lead through a counter-attacking goal when Gabriel Obertan whipped his cross into the box where Georginio Wijnaldum guided the ball into the net past the stranded keeper. Shane Long finished the game off with another perfectly placed header when he beat his defender to the ball at the far post.

Fans had high hopes for the match between Stoke City and Liverpool after Stoke recorded a 6-1 thrashing over their visitors. This match couldn't have been more of an opposite from that one though. The beginning of the game was extremely cagey and very lacklustre compared to that game when Stoke were 5-0 ahead by half time. The home team did have the better of the first half chances though, the best of which came from ex-Liverpool defender Glen Johnson when he hit the ball over the crossbar. The second half saw Liverpool grow into the game though, but Stoke were still managing to contain them and turn away the chances. Late in the game, Liverpool picked the ball up midway through the Stoke half and Philippe Coutinho turned past Steve Sidwell and sent his long-range strike into the top of the net and over Jack Butland. Stoke had a few late chances, but were ultimately unlucky not to get anything out of the game. 

The opening weekend ended at the Hawthorns with a first half that was dominated by City, and although Tony Pulis set his team up in a defensive set-up, it just didn't work. Yaya Toure got two goals within a short period in the first half. His first is a slight doubt between him and David Silva. Toure scuffed his initial shot and it took a deflection off Silva and Craig Dawson before nestling into the bottom of the net. The second certainly had no doubt over it though. From the edge of the box, he found the top of the net with a brilliantly struck shot that just cemented City's dominance in the game. West Brom were a lot better at the beginning of the second half, and managed to create a few chances which the City defence turned away. It was all over from a Silva corner though. Vincent Kompany made a run towards the near post and ended up turning the ball into the net using a mixture of his head and his shoulder. Even though it seemed like the visitor eased off after their third goal, West Brom just couldn't get past their defence to get their goal. 

Premier League Review: 6-10

Crystal Palace - 10th (48 points)

After Tony Pulis, the man who turned Palace's season around last year, decided to leave the club only 48 hours before the opening game, a lot of people wrote them off. When Neil Warnock started his second stint in charge of the club, people still didn't know what was going to happen. 

In their first four games, they picked up two wins and two draws. It was starting to look up, but all too soon, things turned around. In this period of poor form they did pull together for a memorable win over Liverpool at Selhurst Park in late November, but that was the only bright spark at this time. They went their next 6 games without a win. By the time the club came to the decision to sack Warnock at the end of December, he had a dismal record of only 1 win in 12 games which had landed his team in the bottom three.

This was the point in the season where everything turned around again, but this time for the better. Alan Pardew was installed as manager and he injected some new life into his squad. He brought the best out of many of the players, including Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha, Jason Puncheon and Glenn Murray among others. His first match in charge saw him lead them to a 4-0 win against Dover in the FA Cup, and he followed this up with a 2-1 win over Spurs in the Premier League. After winning 10 games out of Pardew's first 15, Palace started their move up the table. Other highlights of their season was their 2-1 win over Manchester City and a Bolasie hat-trick that helped to seal a 4-1 win away at Sunderland. 

However, they did have a small slip up towards the end of the season and went on a run of four consecutive defeats after the win at Sunderland. These losses included very narrow defeats to both Chelsea and Manchester United, but they bounced back in brilliant style. Three of the players that had been invigorated under Pardew helped their team to come from a goal down to ruin Steven Gerrard's final farewell at Anfield. Taking all of this into consideration, the future for Palace looks extremely bright.

Stoke City - 9th (54 points)
This was a brilliant season for Stoke in many ways; they've never won as many games or accumulated as many points in a Premier League season before. However, many fans, along with Mark Hughes, will be left wondering just how different things would have been if they had found some much needed consistency. 

It took Stoke until the third weekend to register their first win of the campaign, and they did it in style. A 1-0 win over Manchester City at the Etihad looked like it would propel them onto a good run, but this wasn't the case. It took another 3 games for Stoke to register their next win. 

The home fans also had to wait until the end of September for their team's first win at the Brittania, and other losses to Burnley, Manchester United and Liverpool left them just 3 points above the drop at the beginning of December.

In the game against Arsenal at this point in the season, they put in a remarkable first half performance which saw them take a 3-0 lead at the break, and then hold on for a 3-2 win. This result kick-started a strong mid-season for the team and they only lost 3 of their next 14 games. In this period, Jonathan Walters became the first Stoke player to score a Premier League hat-trick to earn his team a win over QPR, and late goals against Newcastle, Aston Villa and Everton secured the points to lift their team up the eighth. 

Consecutive defeats following this to West Brom, Crystal Palace and Chelsea - despite a wonder strike from Charlie Adam from inside his own half - stopped their brilliant progress. However, they were further boosted again after recording impressive wins over West Ham, Southampton and Spurs. They saved the best until last though when they rounded off the season in style with a 6-1 thrashing of Liverpool at the Brittania Stadium. 

Two three-game losing streaks was as bad as it got for Stoke throughout the season and after registering wins over Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and doing the double over Spurs, they can have a lot of hope and confidence going into the new season.

Swansea City - 8th (56 points)
In Garry Monk's first full season in charge, he led the club to its highest Premier League finish and passed a previous top points tally with games to spare, making this one a very successful season. He also made some great signings in the shape of Federico Fernandez, Jefferson Montero, Lukasz Fabianski and Gylfi Sigurdsson who helped lift Swansea to this position. 

They started the season with three consecutive wins, including an opening day 2-1 win over Manchester United. However, they then followed this up with a 3 match losing streak, which left a lot of people questioning the manager. Swansea did find their form again though for a short time following this which left them in and around the Europa League spots. Monk did suffer through some difficulties such as injuries, suspensions and the big money departure of Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in the January transfer window. This didn't dampen their team spirit in any way though. 

The festive season and into the New Year wasn't exactly great for Swansea, but they still managed to pick up a lot of points from their many draws. The first match of their FA Cup campaign ended in a brilliant 6-2 away victory to boost morale, but it was quickly over for them in the fourth round after defeat to Blackburn. 

Bafetimbi Gomis found his form after Bony left the club, which boosted them and led them to more victories and draws due to his goals. They also managed to do the double over both Manchester United and Arsenal which sent out a strong message to the rest of their opposition. 

Leading towards the final weekend it was looking up for Swansea, especially after a hard fought win in the Arsenal game, but it didn't end in the best way. It looks like Swansea will be in for another good season under Monk if they can recreate even some of the performances from this one. 

Southampton - 7th (60 points)
It's safe to say that Southampton defied all expectations this season. After losing many of their star players - Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers - and their manager, many had them tipped for relegation. Instead, Ronald Koeman recruited wisely and had the critics eating their words just a few weeks into the season.

Summer signings Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic surprised many and took the Premier League by storm along with helping Southampton to 11 wins out of their first 14 games. This included a superb display in their 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland at St Mary's and a 2-1 win away at Arsenal in the Capital One Cup. A few hiccups along the way simply remained just that, as the brilliance of the team took them away with another great performance a week later. 

They also recorded another win over Arsenal on New Year's Day which saw Southampton sitting in fourth place with a 2 point advantage over Spurs and their former manager, Mauricio Pochettino. Then, in their next Premier League game, they rallied for a great 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. These performances looked to have cemented them in their challenge for a Champions League spot. 

However, they couldn't quite recreate their consistency from the first half of the season. Their challenge for a Champions League spot faded over the remainder of the season, but the fans were still left with plenty to cheer about. 

Their challenge for a Europa League place remained alive until the end. Southampton may have had a rocky second half to their season, but they certainly ended it in style. Their last match at home ended in a brilliant 6-1 win over Aston Villa, and Saido Mane scored the fastest Premier League hat-trick in history. Due to Arsenal winning the FA Cup as well, Southampton's seventh place finish earned them a well-earned place in next season's Europa League. 

Liverpool - 6th (62 points)
Last season was an absolute high for Liverpool and for a long time towards the end of the season, it looked like they would be crowned the champions. However, one terrible moment prevented that from happening. Many fans still believed that their momentum would carry them forward into the new season, but everything came crashing down around them instead. They lost both of their main strikers; Luis Suarez made the summer move to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge was out for the majority of the season with a host of different injuries. 

They did win their first game of the season, but from then, their form was incredibly inconsistent. By the end of November, they found themselves out of the title race due to losing 6 games out of their opening 12, which left them 18 points behind Chelsea. That run included losses to Aston Villa, West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace. At this point, they has also been eliminated from the Champions League after a poor run during the group stages. It was clear to everyone watching just how much they missed the presence and fire power of Suarez and Sturridge. 

The festive period was a turning point for Liverpool though and they seemed to find some much needed form. From the end of December, they went on a 12 match unbeaten run. The return of Sturridge in this period also helped to boost morale and it looked like they would be in with the chance of claiming an unlikely top-four finish and possibly a first trophy win under Brendan Rodgers as well. 

However, semi-final defeats in both domestic cup competitions, by Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively, ended hopes of a trophy. Also, with the knowledge that the final games of the season would mark Steven Gerrard's last games for the club, everyone was hoping for a bright end to the season. They only won once in their last six games though and two of the losses were devastating for them. Gerrard lost his last game at Anfield to Crystal Palace and got thrashed 6-1 by Stoke in his last game in the Premier League. Overall, this is probably a season many Liverpool fans will want to forget in a hurry, but they'll also be in for a rough summer as the transfer saga surrounding Raheem Sterling goes on. 

MATCH REPORT: Swansea City vs Manchester United

It's that weekend in the Premier League where all of the fixtures played on the first weekend are repeated. On that day, Manchester United hosted Swansea City and saw their first loss under Louis van Gaal in the new era of the club. The reverse fixture was now giving Swansea a chance to finally do the league double over United, but would first have to overcome a side that have only lost 1 match in 19. 

In the opening minutes of the game, United were pressing Swansea high up when they had the ball in the hopes that they could stop them from playing their usual passing game. However, it still seemed to be Swansea who had the best luck at the beginning of the game. Marcos Rojo gives the ball away to Bafétimbi Gomis, but managed to get back in time to cover his mistake. The resulting corner was played well by Swansea with Gomis being found in the centre of the 6 yard box. He directed his header towards the far post, but could only see his shot cleared off the goal line by Ander Herrera.

United started to press forward slowly but surely after this. Angel Di Maria got his cross into the box and found Wayne Rooney who just managed to get the ball under control, but his shot bounced which took it straight over the crossbar. Swansea set pieces seemed to be the best chances in the match though. Another Swansea corner saw Gomis get his head onto the ball once again, but this time he couldn't keep the shot down and it sailed over the crossbar. 

United's build up play was extremely patient during the game. They didn't rush into attacks, instead choosing to pass their way down field, especially using their left side with Luke Shaw and Di Maria. On 16 minutes, Di Maria's delivery from a free kick seemed to cause Fabianski a lot of problems. The ball eventually found its way out to Robin van Persie who was at the far end of the 6 yard box, but the angle was too tight and the ball went out for a throw in. Through a counter attack, Swansea found their first chance from open play. The United players didn't close down their opposition and the ball ended up at the feet of Wayne Routledge who turned and took the shot, but saw David de Gea collect it comfortably.

Van Persie didn't have a particularly good game, and found it difficult to get his shots on target, never mind find the back of the net. This was proved once again when he was played in by Di Maria and he sliced the shot with his right foot which caused the ball to curl away from the net. Not even a minute later, United were ahead. The build up play once again was very patient and Di Maria plays the ball to Herrera who curls his shot towards the goal. It takes a slight deflection of Ashley Williams, but could still have been heading in without it.

It didn't take long for Swansea to reply. Not even 2 minutes later, Ki Sung-yeung had found the back of the net for the hosts, leaving the United team wondering what went wrong, but that was simple. All of the Swansea players were allowed a lot of time and space with the ball allowing them to build up the attack. The ball came out to Jonjo Shelvey on the left wing and even with two United defenders around him, he was given the space to cross the ball into Ki in the centre of the box. This only left him with the job of directing the ball into the back of the net and past de Gea which he did with ease. 

The first half contained a lot of sloppy passing and some scrappy play by both teams, as neither of them wanted the other to have time on the ball. This caused some of the moves to be played out slowly and there wasn't the smoothness to the passing which both teams are associated with. United were able to create more chances following the goal, with van Persie having most of them. Marouane Fellaini left the ball for him, but the shot that he tried to curl into the bottom hand corner went wide of the post. Another chance shortly after saw van Persie get away with a hand ball shout and then he directed his shot just wide of the left post. 

All of the players were certainly putting in a good shift for both teams. Wayne Rooney was showing his worth as United captain by keeping the ball, dropping back into midfield when his team needed him and playing his part in the build up to the attacks. This doubles with the performance of both Shaw and Di Maria down the left hand side who had looked extremely dangerous all game. For Swansea, Shelvey was definitely putting in some work when it came to defending and shutting down the United attacks. On the opposite end of the pitch, Gomis had held up the ball well for Swansea which allowed his team mates to join the attack and make them more dangerous. Overall, the first half made it difficult to decide between the two sides. 

The second half was all United. They were still playing a patient passing game to try and break down their opponents, but they were camped out in the Swansea half and not allowing them to move down field. On the hour mark, Rooney brings the ball under control in the box but gets dispossessed. Swansea couldn't retain the ball though and saw van Persie curl his shot into the side netting. Within a 10 minute spell, United saw a lot of chances go to waste; Rojo got the chance to put United ahead through a corner, but his header went over the crossbar and van Persie got his first effort on target, but the shot was weak and Lucasz Fabianski easily collected the ball. 

Then, on 73 minutes, completely against the run of play, Swansea get the lead that United had so desperately chased since the beginning of the second half. It was their first attack since the very beginning of the second half and Shelvey is left with acres of space to run with the ball and get his shot away. The shot is powerful and de Gea looked to be in a good position to possibly save the attempt but Gomis got his head to the ball as it soared over him which took the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net. 

This left United pushing for the last 15 minutes of the game for the equaliser that they needed. No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't find a way past the resilient Swansea defence or even get near the goal at some points. Swansea did have more chances to put the game out of sight but their attack always broke down as the United defenders were determined to get the ball back up field to their forwards. 

They couldn't do it though, meaning that Swansea had finally done the league double over Manchester United and it also left Louis van Gaal without a win over Garry Monk's side. End score: 2-1. 

MATCH REPORT: Southampton vs Swansea City

On paper, and going by recent form, it looked like Southampton would be back sitting pretty in third spot after they were pushed out of it by Manchester United yesterday. They have been in excellent form of late, while Swansea really haven't. Southampton have only lost at home to the two Manchester teams so far this season, which shows how good their home form has been of late. 

Southampton made a really bright start to the game. They hardly let Swansea get hold of the ball, and were pushing forward with every chance that they got. On 7 minutes, James Ward-Prowse had an excellent chance when he steered his shot through the defenders leg. Lukasz Fabianski was equal to it though, making a great save with his feet to turn the ball away. 

On 13 minutes, Swansea finally managed to get hold of the ball and create a chance with it. Jonjo Shelvey's through ball found Bafétimbi Gomis on the edge of the area and he turned to power his shot at the Southampton goal. He had beaten Fraser Forster, but unfortunately, his shot was just wide of the post. 

This was followed by an onslaught of chances from Southampton. The first one came from Harrison Reed on the edge of the box, but he could only drag it wide of the post. 5 minutes later, they were gifted a few good chances following a corner. Dusan Tadic took too long to take his shot but still managed to cross the ball into the box, but no breakthrough came from it as the shot was directed over the crossbar. Instead of taking the direct approach, Southampton were just trying to pass the ball into the net. On 31 minutes, Eljero Elia put an excellent cross into the box, but Neil Taylor just did enough to put Tadic off and prevent the shot from happening. 

In the first half, Southampton were unable to break down the Swansea defence. They were dominant throughout, but were missing that final cutting pass to get the goal that they really needed. On the other hand, Swansea were equal to everything that Southampton threw at them, Ashley Williams in particular doing a great job at making vital interceptions for his team. The second half started much the same as well. 

Finally, on the hour mark, Swansea began to step up their game. They started pressing Southampton higher and passing the ball around neatly to keep possession. Shelvey's cross got cut out, and in the hope not to concede a corner, Forster ran out to clear the ball, but he could only find Taylor. Luckily for Southampton, Taylor wanted too much time on the ball and they were able to close him down, much to Forster's relief. Only a minute later, Shelvey pushed his way through the crowd and hits the post with his shot. The visitors were causing a lot more problems now. 

With only 7 minutes and stoppage time left in the match, Swansea finally found the breakthrough they were looking for. After playing a quick one-two on the halfway line, Shelvey powers through the Southampton half, where no one tries to close him down or challenge him. He eventually reaches the edge of the box and fires his shot towards the top right corner, beating Forster and giving Swansea the lead their second half deserved. 

This didn't stop Southampton though. They carried on pushing forward for what would now be an equaliser and in his haste to get the ball, Ryan Bertrand committed a foul that was deemed worthy of a red card. He goes completely over the top of the ball and takes out Modou Barrow. The referee reached straight for the card, despite Bertrand's protests, leaving Southampton with an even bigger mountain to climb. 

However, it didn't look like it. Southampton carried on exactly the way they were before the sending off throughout stoppage time. The game became very scrappy and Swansea were camped out in their penalty box, but somehow they still managed to keep shut the door on any potential Southampton attacks. 

So, that leaves Southampton in fourth, only one point behind United who beat Leicester yesterday and level on points with Arsenal, who they are only above because their goal difference is one higher. Swansea retain 9th position after Stoke had briefly gone above them yesterday due to a win. Could this be the game to turn Swansea's season around, allow them to climb the table and challenge for a place in Europe? I guess we'll soon find out...

FA Cup Fourth Round [2015]

It is back again! Onto another round of the FA Cup which gives us all the surprises that a football fan could possibly want and ask for.

The early kick off on Saturday is where the first shock came from when Blackburn Rovers welcomed Swansea City. Early in the game, Kyle Bartley got sent off which made it look like Swansea would have a mountain to climb, but they still managed to take the lead. However, this seemed to be a turning point for Blackburn. Just after the opener, the home team got one back, and the second half proved to be great for them. They managed to get the two goals that finished the game for them without too much of a problem. The game was over, yet Gylfi Sigurdsson still got sent off in added time for a bad foul. End score: 3-1.

That meant that one more Premier League team were knocked out, but how many more would follow? Quite a few is the answer, and they're all the big boys of the league!

I'll start with Chelsea. They looked to have an easy match on paper; top of the Premier League playing against a League 1 side. It started out that way as well. Chelsea took a 2-0 lead in the first half and it seemed like that would be the end for Bradford. They fought back though and managed to pull it back to 2-1 just before half time. Even still, people argued that Chelsea would win the game due to the quality in their squad. However, the next goal didn't come until the 75th minute when Bradford got their equaliser. This prompted Jose Mourinho to bring on one of the big names, Eden Hazard, to try and win them the game. Instead, the opposite happened. Bradford went 3-2 up and was defending like their lives depended on it. When news of another goal came through, many people would have imagined a Chelsea equaliser, but instead saw the name of Mark Yeates on screens. End score: 2-4. Onto the next?

Manchester City had a tricky home tie against Middlesbrough, who have the best defence in the Championship this season. Surely, they wouldn't have been able to keep out the likes of Sergio Aguero though, right? Wrong. They threw their bodies on the line in order to stop City from scoring. The half time score was 0-0 and to people not watching the game, it sounded like City were going to come out for the second half and score their winner. Not even 10 minutes into the second half though, Middlesbrough took the lead. Just like in the Chelsea game, Manuel Pelligrini brought on the likes of Frank Lampard and Fernandinho hoping that they could get the winner. Lampard did hit the crossbar but that was City's closest chance. To add insult to injury, Middlesbrough got the deciding goal in stoppage time. End score: 0-2.

The game between Southampton and Crystal Palace started strongly and added a number of goals to the total tally scored over the weekend. The home side took the lead on 9 minutes before Palace replied almost instantly. Give it 5 more minutes and Southampton had taken the lead once again through a Scott Dann own goal. It didn't take Palace long to reply once again. The final goal of the match did come in towards the end of the first half and it was Chamakh with his second goal of the match. No goals in the second half, meaning the end score was: 2-3. 

Next we go onto the game between Tottenham Hotspur against Leicester City. A penalty kick for Spurs opened the scoring, making this, once again, look like a game where the higher team would have been preferred if their league positions were anything to go by. Form was clearly pushed out the window in this match though. It did take Leicester until the 83rd minute to get their equaliser and the game looked to be heading towards a replay until a mistake from Michel Vorm which gave Leicester their winner. End score: 1-2.

Manchester United and Liverpool were also two teams to struggle against lower opposition. United were the visitors to Cambridge United on Friday night and they had a hard time breaking down their stubborn defence, meaning Cambridge earned a well deserved replay at Old Trafford. Liverpool also had the same problem as United did; they wasted their chances and struggled to break down Bolton's defence. End score for both: 0-0.

The second to last game of the weekend (Stoke play Rochdale tomorrow night) saw Brighton host Arsenal, the holders. Arsenal started the game quickly and brightly, scoring their first goal within the first 2 minutes. They also added a second towards the end of the first half, making it look like the game was already over. Brighton did start the second half brightly, pulling a goal back and throwing everything they had at Arsenal. Again, Arsenal seemed to settle nerves through a brilliant goal, restoring their two goal lead. Brighton once again did get a goal back and wouldn't give up; pushing towards Arsenal, hoping to at least earn a replay at the Emirates, but it just wasn't meant to be. End score: 2-3.

Half of the Premier League teams have already been knocked out of the competition over the two weekends and that could be added to depending on Stoke's result tomorrow night. Not many big names to look out for in the draw now, but many people are now very wary of the lower league teams... Don't you just love the FA Cup?