How the cup continued to weave its magic

Stevenage celebrate their second goal against Newcastle United

The third round of the FA Cup rarely fails to produce plenty of talking points, and this season was certainly no different.

At Old Trafford, Liverpool fans would have been hoping for a fairytale return for Kenny Dalglish who has already won the competition twice as a manager and once as a player with the club, but a debatable penalty in the opening seconds of the tie always meant it was going to be an uphill struggle for the Reds.  A clinically taken penalty from veteran Ryan Giggs, and a rush of blood from Steven Gerrard on the half hour mark ensured Manchester United progressed to the fourth round where they will meet Southampton at St Marys.

League one club Southampton themselves had a fantastic win at home to high-flying Blackpool on the South Coast with goals from Lee Barnard and on loan Guly giving them a 2-0 victory.  Given the current league positions of the respective clubs, this was arguably one of the biggest upsets of the weekend but with Ian Holloway fielding a weaker side and the history of the respective clubs, went largely unnoticed.

The big shock of the round however came at Stevenage Borough, where they defeated six-time winners Newcastle United.  This result is a real setback for newly installed manager Alan Pardew who has made a promising start prior to this shambolic display.  Real credit must go to Stevenage though, who under the stewardship of 42-year old Graham Westley are only playing their first ever season in the football league.

Another huge shock was seen last night at Crawley Town who, thanks to a last minute strike from ex-Wycombe Wanderers player Sergio Torres, heaped further misery on Derby County who have now lost 6 of their last 8 games.

The Sussex club who are currently sitting prettily in second place in the Blue Square Premier are the only non-league side to progress to the fourth round, after there was no fairytale for York City at Bolton or for Conference South Dover Athletic who had made the long trip to Yorkshire to lose 2-0 at Huddersfield Town following two goals in the first 8 minutes.

Notts County also produced one of the biggest results in their recent history after defeating Sunderland away in Wearside with a hard-fought 2-1 win.  The reward for this is a home tie against Leicester City or Manchester City with the former earning a replay back at Eastlands after skipper Andy King capitalised on a Joe Hart clanger to make it 2-2.  A win for the foxes in the replay will give Sven Goran Eriksson the chance to return to Meadow Lane just under a year after he resigned from his short stint as Director of Football.

Other talking points of the round included Burton Albion's late comeback against Tony Mowbray's Middlesborough at the Pirelli Stadium  after Gary O'Neil had put the visitors one up early in the second half.  Last seasons runners-up and 2008 winners Portsmouth also crashed out at the weekend after being outplayed by League One leaders and old rivals Brighton & Hove Albion at the Withdean Stadium

There were good away wins against Championship opposition for the two struggling clubs from the second city, Birmingham City and Aston Villa while West Midlands neighbours West Brom crashed out after their trip  to Reading ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat with on-form Republic of Ireland international Shane Long getting the winner just before the interval.

2009-finalists Everton came away victorious from Scunthorpe after a five star performance at Glanford Park.  They play holders Chelsea at Goodison Park in the fourth round after the Blues forgot about their dire recent league form and showed early intentions of notching up their third FA cup trophy in as many seasons by hitting seven past the hapless Ipswich Town who entertain Arsenal in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final in the week.

Finally in a repeat of the 1972, Leeds United were denied a win at the Emirates only by a very late Cesc Fabregas penalty that cancelled out Robert Snodgrass' spot-kick early in the second half.  But a replay at Elland Road is going to be a far from easy task for Arsene Wenger's men to complete, who may find the electric atmosphere that will be generated by a full-house in Yorkshire too hot to handle.

And I will leave you with this, a fact that sums up the magic of the FA cup - despite trips to three clubs in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League (Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal) in the past two seasons of the competition, Leeds United have not lost an away game in the FA cup since they were humiliated by Blue Square Premier minnows Histon Town back in November 2008!