SERVICES
Tuesday January 9, 2008
The Magic Of The Cup Lives On
Several Premier League Teams Suffer Upsets In The Third RoundBurnley 0 Arsenal 2Arsenal rested most of their first-choice players as Croatian striker Eduardo scored the first for the Gunners and made the second for Nicklas Bendtner but it was not until Kyle Lafferty had been dismissed for a studs-up challenge midway through the second half that Burnley's challenge ended. Aston Villa 0 Manchester United 1England boss Fabio Capello saw Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney grab late goals for Utd. Ronaldo broke the deadlock with nine minutes remaining before substitute Rooney wrapped up the game in the dying seconds. It means United have now won 13 successive matches against Villa. Luton Town 1 Liverpool 1An own goal by John Arne Riise piled on the problems for Rafael Benitez and earned Luton a deserved replay in a thrilling third round FA Cup clash at Kenilworth Road. Liverpool looked to have won the tie when Peter Crouch put the Reds in front in the 72nd minute. But Luton were level inside three minutes when Riise turned a cross from Drew Talbot past his own goalkeeper. Stoke City 0 Newcastle United 0Sam Allardyce will stagger on to an FA Cup replay with Stoke at St James' Park. Rumors of a likely dismissal should the Magpies have been beaten were played down by the Newcastle hierarchy but the pressure on Allardyce would have reached almost intolerable proportions if the Coca-Cola Championship club had advanced. Everton 0 Oldham Athletic 1Oldham produced a giant-killing act to achieve arguably their finest result since they were in the top flight 14 years ago. Oldham have been in the doldrums since those great days under Joe Royle. Now in League One, they stunned Everton, with Scottish midfielder Gary McDonald cracking an impressive 20-yard winner in the first half. From then on John Sheridan's side battled for every inch of Goodison Park and fully deserved this victory. Blackburn Rovers 1 Coventry City 4Michel Mifsud scored twice as giantkillers Coventry marched into the FA Cup fourth round at the expense of below-par Blackburn. The Malta international, nicknamed the Mosquito, opened the scoring and added a late fourth to take his season's tally to 15. His goals sandwiched second-half strikes from Elliott Ward and Dele Adebola and sent 3,000 visiting supporters into raptures. David Bentley's late effort meant little to Rovers boss Mark Hughes. Sunderland 0 Wigan Athletic 3Steve Bruce got the better of former Man Utd team-mate Roy Keane as Wigan dumped Sunderland out of the FA Cup. Paul Scharner opened the scoring on 19 minutes before Paul McShane's own goal after the break. Substitute David Cotterill's bagged the third. Huddersfield Town 2 Birmingham City 1Birmingham crashed out of the FA Cup in the third round as Chris Brandon struck a late winner for Coca-Cola League One side Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium. The afternoon started well for the hosts when Luke Beckett prodded home from close range and though Garry O'Connor drew the EPL side level before the break, Brandon volleyed home to seal the win. Bolton Wanderers 0 Sheffield United 1David Carney steered Utd past EPL opposition and into the fourth round of the FA Cup. It was the Australian winger's first goal for the club. Carney, 24, drilled a low shot beyond Ali Al Habsi following a through-ball from Stephen Quinn. Chelsea 1 QPR 0FA Cup holders Chelsea began their defense of the trophy with a victory over west London neighbors QPR at Stamford Bridge. An own goal from Rangers goalkeeper Lee Camp in the 29th minute allowed Chelsea a safe passage into the fourth round. Claudio Pizarro's 20-yard shot rebounded off an upright and then off the back of the Camp before spinning over the goal line. The victory helped Chelsea stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions at home to a staggering 54 games. Ipswich Town 0 Portsmouth 1Ipswich were always up against it after youngster Liam Trotter had been somewhat harshly dismissed by referee Mark Halsey following a late sliding challenge on Pedro Mendes in the 24th minute. Forgotten £6million striker David Nugent came off the bench to send Portsmouth into the fourth round of the FA Cup as his goal beat 10-man Ipswich at Portman Road. Bristol City 1 Middlesbrough 2David Wheater's cool finish meant there would be no Riverside replay as Middlesbrough squeezed home 2-1 at Bristol City. Liam Fontaine gave City hope of a win with an early opener but Stewart Downing took advantage of an error by home goalkeeper Adriano Basso to equalize before the break and center-back Wheater secured the win. Tottenham Hotspur 2 Reading 2It was a miserable afternoon for England goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Robinson failed to deal with Stephen Hunt's free-kick for the opening goal, then he failed to hold onto Leroy Lita's shot for Hunt's equalizer. Dimitar Berbatov had scored twice between the errors. Tom Huddlestone was dismissed late on. West Ham United 0 Manchester City 0City created the best opportunities with Stephen Ireland twice denied by Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green and only a last-ditch challenge from Anton Ferdinand stopped Nery Castillo scoring on his debut. City also had strong shouts for a first-half penalty after Martin Petrov went down under a challenge from Ferdinand. Fulham 2 Bristol Rovers 2Danny Murphy's drive 17 minutes from time spared Fulham but Rovers will still be confident of getting through this third-round tie in a home replay after twice leading at Craven Cottage. Danny Coles' deflected right-foot drive gave the visitors a shock third-minute lead, but David Healy headed Fulham level five minutes before half-time. Against the run of play, Rovers regained the lead after the interval thanks to Craig Hinton's header. But Murphy spared the Premiership side's blushes. Derby County 2 Sheffield Wednesday 2Coca-Cola Championship strugglers Wednesday led 2-0 after just 23 minutes courtesy of goals from 18-year-old Mark Beevers and former Rams striker Marcus Tudgay. But one-time Wednesday manager Paul Jewell will return to his old Hillsborough stamping ground as Kenny Miller and Giles Barnes salvaged a third round replay. |
CURRENT ISSUE
RECENT ISSUES
SYNDICATE
[What is this?]
POWERED BY
HOSTED BY
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy
Website Design By C3I