The third round of the FA Cup is officially in the books after Tuesday’s results, and some of the big teams took a big fall just as they started up in the one-and-done tourney. Let’s take a look around England at what went down.
FA Cup Winners
Doncaster Rovers
Though they were thoroughly dominated by Hull City, the League Two side held on despite giving up 19 shots (including a late equalizer) to the Championship side and piling up seven yellow cards. In the end, Rovers held their nerve to defeat the Tigers in a penalty shootout.
Wycombe Wanderers
Not only are they contending for promotion to the Championship, they just beat Portsmouth from the league above them. We may well be seeing these sides switch spots when next season starts. Substitute right-winger Gideon Kodua seized his chance starting at right back and may well be recalled by his parent club West Ham.
Exeter City
Currently not doing much in League One, the Grecians nevertheless notched a win over Championship side Oxford United. The fans are starved for some good news, and this upset victory at home is just what they need.
Kalvin Phillips
The former Leeds midfielder secured his big-money move to Manchester City and then couldn’t get off the bench under Pep Guardiola. Now he’s finally back to playing regularly at Ipswich and scored his first goal in more than a year during their win over Bristol Rovers.
Ivan Jurić
The itinerant Croatian coach endured a bruising six-week tenure as the manager of AS Roma this past fall before taking over Southampton just before Christmas. His first victory for Saints was an easy win over Swansea on Sunday.
Andreas Weimann
We might have been talking about the Blackburn striker missing an open goal after Middlesbrough goalkeeper Tom Glover gave him the ball. Instead, we’re talking about the Austrian putting in a rebound that advanced Rovers to the next round. Ah, to be a striker with a second chance.
David Brooks
His three assists for Bournemouth may have come against a West Bromwich Albion team with no manager that’s toiling in the Championship, but still, a hat trick of assists is what it is. The Welshman can look back on the weekend at a job well done.
Tosin Adarabioyo
The English defender has had a rough time of it recently, starting Chelsea’s recent defeats to Fulham and Ipswich, but he seized his chance against Morecambe United and scored twice (one of them an absolute screamer from the edge of the box) in the Blues’ emphatic win.
Thelo Aasgaard
The Liverpool native who plays for Norway’s junior team hit both of Wigan Athletic’s goals just after halftime in the Latics’ win over Mansfield Town. He may want to switch nationalities, because he’ll still have a ways to go to crack Norway’s offensive lineup.
FA Cup losers
Arsenal
Who else could it be? Presented with a wholly beatable Manchester United side that were down to 10 players after Diogo Dalot’s red card, the Gunners instead exited in a penalty shootout. After spurning so many late chances to win the game in regulation, the Premier League high flyers will be kicking themselves. Oh, and Gabriel Jesus tore his ACL.
Sean Dyche
Nothing like being fired as manager just hours before your ex-team goes on to win, is there? Everton gave him the sack while he was prepping for the team’s win over Peterborough United without him. Granted, the Posh are an opponent that Everton should have taken care of regardless of who was in charge, but he won’t be a happy camper.
Brentford
The Bees have proven to be an annoying opponent in the Premier League, but they lost to Plymouth Argyle, a team that’s fighting relegation to English soccer’s third tier and just fired Wayne Rooney as their manager. Good news though: with the cup no longer distracting them, Brentford bounced back and snatched a late draw with Manchester City in the Premier League.
West Ham United
It’s not so much the loss to Aston Villa that puts them on this side. It’s the injury bug that has hit their forward corps, what with Michail Antonio facing the possible end of his career after a car accident and Niclas Füllkrug pulling up lame during Friday’s match. Good thing the transfer window is open, because they need a striker, stat.
Adam Davies
The Sheffield United goalkeeper isn’t on this list for conceding the goal that knocked the Blades out of the cup. No, the Welshman is here because his own coach admitted that he should have been red-carded for an unpenalized elbow in the late stages of the Blades’ loss to Cardiff City.
Salford City’s owners
In isolation, Manchester City thrashing a fourth-tier club isn’t an unexpected result. However, Salford are owned by a bunch of former Manchester United players, and it couldn’t have been fun for them to watch their former cross-town rivals hit their current team for eight goals.