Upsets aplenty in England’s FA Cup

Giantkilling was the order of the day as Everton and Blackburn exit.

Oldham

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David Carney knocks Bolton out of the race for the
FA Cup [GALLO/GETTY]

League One Oldham triumphed 1-0 at Everton and Coventry won 4-1 at Blackburn in a day of upsets in the England’s third round of the FA Cup.

Another League Championship club, Sheffield United, won 1-0 at Bolton on a goal by Australian winger David Carney, and League One Huddersfield ousted Birmingham City 2-1 as football’s oldest and most famous domestic competition lived up to its reputation for drama and surprises.

Gary McDonald scored Oldham’s winner at Goodison Park as the Latics, who have won seven times on the road this term, triumphed at Everton for the first time in 88 years.

Michael Mifsud, a Maltese international who used to play in Germany and Norway, scored twice as Coventry outplayed Blackburn at Ewood Park.

Defending champion Chelsea edged League Championship Queens Park Rangers 1-0 on a lucky own-goal by visiting goalkeeper Lee Camp.

Claudio Pizarro’s first-half shot hit the post and then rebounded off the goalkeeper’s body and back into the net.

Some other Premier League clubs that made it into the fourth round survived some scares.

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Middlesbrough’s David Wheater puts his side into
Monday’s pot [GALLO/GETTY] 

Middlesbrough trailed at League Championship Bristol City after Liam Fontaine gave the home side an 18th-minute lead.

But Stewart Downing and David Wheater replied for the visitors for a 2-1 victory.

Portsmouth won 1-0 at Ipswich on David Nugent’s second-half goal but only after the home side, which had won 11 and drawn twice in its 13 home games in league action, had Liam Trotter harshly sent off early in the game.

In the day’s late game Manchester United continued their good run over Aston Villa with a 2-0 victory.

The game looked to be drifting towards a scoreless draw until late goals from the usual suspects of Cristano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney saved manager Sir Alex Ferguson the headache of a replay.

Replays to come

A week after Tottenham beat Reading 6-4 in the Premier League, the two teams drew 2-2 in the Cup.

Dimitar Berbatov, who scored four times in the league game, netted both Spurs goals.

West Ham and Manchester City also face a replay after a 0-0 draw at Upton Park, but Wigan won 3-0 at Sunderland with goals by Paul Scharner and David Cotterill and Paul McShane’s own-goal.

One of the three clubs from outside the top four divisions made it into Monday’s fourth-round draw.

Havant & Waterlooville hit back to draw 1-1 at League One leader Swansea after an 87th-minute equaliser by Rocky Baptiste and now has a lucrative replay against the Welsh team.

The semiprofessional players of Chasetown, which is from the eighth tier of English football and is the lowest ranked club to reach the third round, threatened a surprise when Cardiff’s Kevin McNaughton deflected a cross from Ben Steane into his own net in the 17th minute.

But Peter Whittingham, Aaron Ramsey and Paul Parry responded for the League Championship club for a 3-1 victory.

Non-league Cambridge United also scared Wolves by taking the lead through Scott Rendell’s 42nd-minute penalty.

But Michael Knightly and Neil Collins hit back to give the home side a 2-1 victory.

Sunday’s games are Burnley-Arsenal; Derby-Sheffield Wednesday; Fulham-Bristol Rovers; Luton-Liverpool and Stoke-Newcastle.

Source: News Agencies