The FA Cup third round ties including the Premier League sides, saw some great results including Manchester United dumping Arsenal out on penalties whereas Brentford falling to lower-tier opposition, Plymouth. (More Football News)
💝Elsewhere, Tottenham endured the humiliation of being taken to extra time by Tamworth, an opponent nearly 100 places lower in English soccer's pyramid, before winning 3-0 and avoiding one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history.
♕Four days after beating Premier League leader Liverpool 1-0 in the English League Cup semi-finals, Tottenham's team of established internationals toiled against a group of part-time soccer players whose main jobs included bricklaying, selling zippers and being a financial advisor.
꧙A massive surprise was on when fifth-tier Tamworth forced extra time with the score 0-0, only for the hosts to concede an own-goal in the 101st minute and then strikes by Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson to disappoint the majority of the 3,700 fans inside the tiny stadium called The Lamb.
| Date | Home Team | Score | Visiting Team |
| 9-Jan-25 | Sheffield United (2) | 0�1 | Cardiff City (2) |
| 9-Jan-25 | Everton (1) | 2�0 | Peterborough United (3) |
| 9-Jan-25 | Fulham (1) | 4�1 | Watford (2) |
| 10-Jan-25 | Wycombe Wanderers (3) | 2�0 | Portsmouth (2) |
| 10-Jan-25 | Aston Villa (1) | 2�1 | West Ham United (1) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Birmingham City (3) | 2�1 | Lincoln City (3) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Bristol City (2) | 1�2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (1) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Middlesbrough (2) | 0�1 | Blackburn Rovers (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Liverpool (1) | 4�0 | Accrington Stanley (4) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Leicester City (1) | 6�2 | Queens Park Rangers (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Bournemouth (1) | 5�1 | West Bromwich Albion (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Brentford (1) | 0�1 | Plymouth Argyle (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Chelsea (1) | 5�0 | Morecambe (4) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Exeter City (3) | 3�1 | Oxford United (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Norwich City (2) | 0�4 | Brighton & Hove Albion (1) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Nottingham Forest (1) | 2�0 | Luton Town (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Reading (3) | 1�3 (a.e.t.) | Burnley (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Sunderland (2) | 1�2 (a.e.t.) | Stoke City (2) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Leeds United (2) | 1�0 | Harrogate Town (4) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Manchester City (1) | 8�0 | Salford City (4) |
| 11-Jan-25 | Coventry City (2) | 1�1 (a.e.t.) (4�3 p) | Sheffield Wednesday (2) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Hull City (2) | 1�1 (a.e.t.) (4�5 p) | Doncaster Rovers (4) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Tamworth (5) | 0�3 (a.e.t.) | Tottenham Hotspur (1) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Arsenal (1) | 1�1 (a.e.t.) (3�5 p) | Manchester United (1) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Crystal Palace (1) | 1�0 | Stockport County (3) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Ipswich Town (1) | 3�0 | Bristol Rovers (3) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Newcastle United (1) | 3�1 | Bromley (4) |
| 12-Jan-25 | Southampton (1) | 3�0 | Swansea City (2) |
| 13-Jan-25 | Millwall (2) | Vs | Dagenham & Redbridge (5) |
| 14-Jan-25 | Leyton Orient (3) | Vs | Derby County (2) |
| 14-Jan-25 | Mansfield Town (3) | Vs | Wigan Athletic (3) |
| 14-Jan-25 | Preston North End (2) | Vs | Charlton Athletic (3) |
♐Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou felt compelled to bring on his top players including Son Heung-min, Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke from the substitutes' bench to eventually overpower Tamworth, which is 16th in the National League and was playing in the third round for first time since 2012.
🃏At the Emirates, Altay Bayindir was his side's savior by saving one penalty from Martin Odegaard in normal time to send the game against Arsenal to extra time at 1-1 and then another from Kai Havertz in the shootout.
♒United scored all of its penalties to keep the defense of its trophy on track in the unlikeliest of manners. Bruno Fernandes put United ahead in the 52nd minute at Emirates Stadium only for Dalot to pick up his second yellow card and leave the visitors with 10 men for the final half-hour of regulation time.
ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚWithin two minutes, Arsenal equalized through Gabriel's deflected shot and then squandered a chance to go ahead after Havertz was adjudged to have been fouled by Harry Maguire in the area.
♔Odegaard's penalty was heading to the bottom corner but was tipped aside by Bayindir, whose save to keep out Havertz's penalty was very similar.
♈Joshua Zirkzee converted the clinching penalty and that was also redemption for the Dutchman, who was substituted in the 33rd minute of a recent Premier League game against Newcastle and jeered by some United fans.
Biggest Upset
🐬The biggest shock was Brentford’s 1-0 loss to the bottom team in division two, Plymouth.
Other Results
ꦚThere were no problems for other Premier League teams playing lower-league opposition, though Newcastle did have to come from behind to beat fourth-tier Bromley 3-1 after conceding an eighth-minute opener.
ꦍLewis Miley, Anthony Gordon and William Osula scored at St. James' Park for Newcastle, which earned an eighth straight win in all competitions.
꧑Eberechi Eze's goal secured Crystal Palace a 1-0 win over third-tier Stockport, while Ipswich beat Bristol Rovers — also from the third tier — 3-0 thanks to goals by Kalvin Phillips, Jack Clarke and Jack Taylor. Southampton beat second-tier Swansea 3-0, with Tyler Dibling scoring twice.
♐In Sunday's other game, fourth-tier Doncaster beat Hull 5-4 on penalties after the score was 1-1 at the end of extra time.
ꦐPep Guardiola's Manchester City routed fourth-division Salford City 8-0 in the FA Cup whereas there were wins for Chelsea, Brighton, Bournemouth and Leicester City on Saturday.
(With AP inputs)
