FA Cup, Round Four: Liverpool and Tottenham bow out

Asked how it was that a side with one point from its last eight League One games could beat Liverpool, Oldham Athletic manager Paul Dickov replied: “It’s the FA Cup. It’s fantastic and it’s what dreams are made of”. Cliché-heavy (but thank your stars he didn’t say Budweiser), Dickov’s answer is nonetheless contrary to the current narrative, which holds that the FA Cup has lost its sheen. The TERRIBLE advert informing viewers of ITV that we have William Hill to thank confirms the narrative in a disgustingly ham-fisted and mundane fashion by “hiding” the famous old cup itself in the office of some trendy internet startup (a voice over says “that’s not it, that’s not it, that’s not it). But - there is, mercifully, a but - this weekend, the FA Cup rediscovered its Dickovian dream-making capabilities.

Ever since the upset that wasn’t a shock - Millwall knocking out Aston Villa in the weekend’s first tie on Friday - the FA Cup Fourth Round lived up to its reputation: non-League Luton beat Norwich City; MK Dons were 4-0 at Loftus Road at one stage in dismissing Queens Park Rangers; Leeds United beat Tottenham Hotspur; Brentford “forced a replay” against Chelsea; Manchester City won at Stoke (HONK!).

The quarterfinals of the FA Cup will feature at least two sides who are not from the Premier League, and the fifth round draw gives sides from leagues lower than the Championship a very good chance to advance. There are two ties between lower-league sides, guaranteeing that there won’t be an all-Premier League quarterfinal.

Draw

Tottenham named a strong side to face Leeds United, with Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon both in the starting lineup, yet they still suffered a shock 2-1 exit at the hands of Leeds United in the FA Cup.

Spurs were incensed by the decision, and continued to attack, Gareth Bale putting on a fine display as the game drew on by gliding past Byram and sending in an excellent cross which the Leeds defence dealt with, before the home side almost secured the win by counter-attacking at speed, Brad Friedel keeping out Ross McCormack’s finish from a tight angle.

Both sides started the game as they intended to go on, with Chelsea seeing most of the ball but the home side looking comfortable and ready to counter-attack, and it was through that strategy that Brentford almost opened the scoring. Ramires gave the ball away in midfield which led to a sweeping counter-attack that Marcelo Trotta wasted with a wild finish.

The second half began in surprisingly open fashion, and with the tempo of the game always likely to favour Chelsea, they soon equalised through a wonderful goal from Oscar. producing a superb touch to control a cross from the left and slot the ball home from inside the area.

Liverpool are off for an FA Cup fourth round trip to Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park where the biggest issue at the moment appears to be all the snow that has piled up on the pitch. Assuming they get things cleared, which they should, the League One side will get a shot to pull off a big upset.

Oldham injuries and suspensions

Again, Brighton refused to give up. Gus Puyot’s side had been exploiting Andre Santos’ presence on the Arsenal left all match, and the hosts took advantage of the Brazilian’s woefully incompetent display for the equaliser, which saw the so-called left back refuse to defend a cross from Barnes that allowed Ullua to mark his debut in style with a flying header.

The hosts couldn’t recover from this third setback. Substitute Craig Mikkail-Smith made a late plea for a penalty only to be denied by Michael Oliver as the impressive Seagulls crashed out of the cup.

Stoke City injuries and suspensions

Manchester City injuries and suspensions

Manchester United injuries and suspensions

Fulham injuries and suspensions

Villa couldn’t hold onto that lead, and gave up an equalizer just five minutes later. It came in the most predictable fashion, through a set piece. The Villains have struggled to defend set plays through a number of managerial changes over the years, and were unsurprisingly beaten by Danny Shittu.

The second half featured an unfortunate incident in which a linesperson was hit with a bottle thrown from the crowd. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident, and multiple bottles made their way onto the pitch during the match. Because this is hardly a new occurrence at The Den, the match resumed quickly.