 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Premier League side Leeds United suffered the biggest upset of the FA Cup third round when they fell to a 3-0 defeat by fourth-tier Crawley Town on Sunday as Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur eased through.
A brilliant solo strike from Nick Tsaroulla in the 50th minute put League Two Crawley in front after a first half in which Leeds had caused them few problems.
Three minutes later the West Sussex club were 2-0 up after an error from Leeds keeper Kiko Casilla who let an Ashley Nadesan shot squeeze in at the near post.
The impressive Nadesan had a hand in Crawley's third when his low shot was parried out by Casilla, only for Jordan Tunnicliffe to pounce and drill the ball home.
Crawley's best run in the FA Cup came in 2012, when they reached the fifth round -- the only other time they have made it past the third round.
Vinicius hat-trick as Spurs end lowly Marine's FA Cup run
Brazilian Carlos Vinicius struck a first-half hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur avoided an FA Cup banana skin with ease, enjoying a 5-0 win at eighth-tier Marine AFC later on Sunday.
Marine, who play in the Northern Premier League, Division One North West, lay 161 places below Spurs in the English football pyramid -- the biggest gap that the Cup has produced.
Although COVID-19 restrictions resulted in the game being played behind closed doors, Marine's small ground is surrounded by the backs of local houses which meant a number of supporters were able to watch the game from their back gardens.
The Merseyside club stuck at their task well, particularly in the opening stages and they nearly gave Spurs a shock in the 20th minute when Neil Kengni struck the bar with a long-range effort which former England keeper Joe Hart opted to let go only for the ball to dip late and strike the woodwork.
But four minutes later Vinicius opened the scoring, converting from close range after a low ball into the box from Dele Alli.
Alli, who has been a fringe figure for most of this season, then fed Matt Doherty whose shot was pushed out by Marine keeper Bayleigh Passant and Vinicius was on-hand to tap-in.
Another Brazilian, Lucas Moura, then curled in a free kick for the third before Vinicius completed his hat-trick in the 37th minute with a left-foot curler.
Alfie Devine, who became Spurs' youngest player at 16-years and 163 days old, came on as a substitute at the break and scored on the hour with a well-taken strike that zipped in the near post.
Silva double as Manchester City whip Birmingham
Bernardo Silva scored two goals and Phil Foden another as Manchester City strolled to a 3-0 win over Championship (second-tier) Birmingham City.
Portuguese midfielder Silva scored his first goal at the Etihad Stadium in over a year when he fired the ball into the top corner in the eighth minute after Birmingham defender George Friend failed to clear.
Silva doubled City's lead seven minutes later, finishing off a brilliant team move with a simple tap-in and Foden made it 3-0 before the break with a low strike from outside the box.
Frank Lampard's Chelsea were also up against League Two opposition but avoided any embarrassment with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Morecambe.
Mason Mount gave Chelsea an early lead at Stamford Bridge with a sweetly struck shot from outside the box and German striker Timo Werner scored his first goal in two months with a simple tap-in before the break.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz also got their names on the scoresheet as Chelsea secured their first win in four games in all competitions.
Championship club Barnsley beat League Two Tranmere Rovers 2-0 while Bristol City, also of the Championship, needed an 83rd-minute goal from Chris Martin to beat League One (third tier) Portsmouth 2-1.
