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. 

FA Cup Third Round [2015]

The FA Cup is a great way to end the very hectic football calendar after Christmas. It just has everything that none of the leagues in England can give you. By throwing all of the teams together, it really does bring out the best from the rest. 

The third round of the competition is always an interesting one. It is the point where the Premier League and Championship teams get thrown into the mix and it really does just have all of the ingredients possible to bring about so many upsets. But it is a well known fact that everyone one loves an underdog.

Over the weekend (so far) there have been many surprises. Blyth Spartans led Birmingham City 2-0 at half time causing a lot of people to suddenly believe in the lower side. However, it just wasn't meant to be as a 6 minute period completely changed the game. Birmingham scored 3 in that time, meaning that Blyth got knocked out of the competition 3-2 after the 90 minutes. 

Another match that had people everywhere getting excited for a possible upset was the game between Derby County and Southport. A lot had been made about this fixture in the build up and Southport weren't ready to roll over and let Derby play the game that they wanted to. Derby have been flying high in the Championship, so a lot of people were expecting a lot when the game went into the final minutes of stoppage time. It just wasn't meant to be though, with Luke Foster conceding a penalty in the last minute which Chris Martin tucked away neatly. Talk about a heartbreak in the cup...

Then, there was the game between Stoke City and Wrexham. Everyone was expecting the Premier League team to stroll against the Conference team, but the match proved to go against expectations. For a little while at least... Wrexham eventually took the lead through Carrington. The lead lasted only 7 minutes though, because Stoke came back into it, and in 15 minutes turned the game around, making the final result 3-1. 

There was, of course, the game that caused the actual upset. The game took place between QPR and Sheffield United. Even though QPR haven't been in top form recently, a lot of people still expected them to beat the League 1 side. It just wasn't meant to be though. QPR didn't play at their best and Sheffield took advantage of this, going on to win 3-0. First heartbreak of the weekend? Not exactly. There was an all Premier League clash between Leicester City and Newcastle United. The bottom side looked to have no chance against their opposition, but proved a lot of people wrong when Ulloa gave them the lead in the first half and they managed to take that through to the end of the game. 

However, there were the obvious results that fans expected certain teams to win. It wasn't always easy though. Manchester City beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the end, but had to come back from a goal down and had Milner to thank for his two goals that won them the game. Manchester United beat Yeovil Town 2-0, including a wonder strike from Ander Herrera, but the game was made difficult for them by a resilient Yeovil side. Chelsea beat Watford 3-0, although it did take them until the second half to break the deadlock. Finally, Arsenal beat Hull City 2-0, but that game also wasn't as easy as the score line may suggest. Hull enjoyed a lot of the ball but just didn't create any clear cut chances and Alexis Sanchez put on a man-of-the-match performance. 

So, will there be any shocks in the remaining games? AFC Wimbledon host Liverpool tonight, Burnley host Tottenham and Everton host West Ham. Only in the FA Cup would you be able to hear fans around the country wondering if the smaller teams could knock out the Premier League big teams, but isn't that the beauty of it all. The draw is also tonight, so football fans around the country will be waiting to see who their teams, if they're still in, will be getting in the next round. Will there be any more shocks to see then? Only time will tell.