Three Premier League clubs were upset in the FA Cup this weekend by lower division sides, including defeats to the top two sides in the table.
There's no magic left in the FA Cup, they say. It's a competition devoid of flair and of excitement. The naysayers have been calling the Cup a pale shadow of what it once was, a broken shell of the thrilling competition it once represented.
Which is a shame, because those naysayers missed a really fun day of football.
The fourth round of the FA Cup looked like it was going to be one in which the favorites all progressed easily. Manchester United were supposed to start things off on Friday by trouncing League Two side Cambridge United to book their ticket to the next round, but a brave performance from Cambridge saw the match out 0-0 and Manchester have to try it all over again in a replay. It was stressful watching the minutes count down to the end of the match, but Cambridge held firm and while they couldn't steal the win, fans everywhere were thrilled at the result.
On further reflection, that performance should have served as a warning bell. Like fools, we didn't pay attention.
The next sign that the magic was still there came in the very next match. Saturday's kickoff featured a visit from Swansea City to Championship side Blackburn. Swansea were reeling from a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea last weekend, but should have had enough about them to see off a midtable side from the second division ... then a Swansea defender got sent off seven minutes in. Jaws dropped. Eyes widened. Swansea got the first goal, but gave up an equalizer so quickly that those watching didn't have a chance to breathe. The tension built and built as the match went on, and finally Blackburn found a second goal, then a third, and you could just feel that this was just the tip of a crazy iceberg.
One down.
The next set of matches for the day featured both Chelsea and Manchester City playing lower-division sides at home, hosting Leage One's Bradford City and the Championship's Middlesbrough respectively. City came out flat and Middlesbrough were predictably plucky, but the defending EPL champions got to halftime with the match scoreless. Chelsea had an easy half, coasting to the break with a 2-1 lead after Bradford eked a goal just before halftime. It seemed that, maybe, sanity had returned, and the day's magic was spent
Then the magic surged again, and the entire landscape changed.
Patrick Bamford put Manchester City to the sword early in the second half, giving Middlesbrough an unlikely lead ... and then an even more unlikely thing happened. They held it. They fended off the worst City could throw at them, and just as everyone watching thought that the match couldn't get any better, they scored a second goal at the death of stoppage time to really twist the knife in their opponent's side as they walked off the pitch victorious.
Chelsea held out longer, but even mighty Jose Mourinho couldn't protect his side from the Magic of the Cup forever. It took until the 75th minute, but Bradford found an equalizer. People stared in shock. Then they found a winner. The shock grew to excitement, but no one was quite sure it would hold up. Chelsea are a dominating force, after all. Then, deep in stoppage time, Bradford found a dagger and a fourth goal, and every single neutral and Bradford fan jumped for joy. It was an embarrassing display from Chelsea, but it was a perfect example of just how magical the FA Cup can be as Bradford celebrated their titanic victory.
Three down.
Surely, then, as Liverpool prepared to finish off the day's matches, they would make sure to not under-estimate Bolton on a day when clearly the narrative was swinging against big clubs? It seemed as such early on, when the Reds blitzed the Wanderers at Anfield, but some good luck, tough defending, and a little help from the referee let Bolton hold on for dear life as the last sprinkles of the day's cup magic sprinkled down on them. As the match wore on it became clear that Liverpool were going to have a hard time breaking the scoreless deadlock, and when the final whistle blew to signal the end of the match and impending replay, the result came as little surprise to those who had witnessed the insanity of the day.
Those four sides weren't alone in their frustrations: third-place Southampton were knocked out at home against lowly Crystal Palace, and Tottenham Hotspur were felled by the worst club in the EPL, Leicester City. Both lost to EPL teams, but with those losses, four of the top eight sides in the Premier League were out of the FA Cup, with two facing replays and two others yet to play in the round.
Both Arsenal and West Ham are on the road against lower-division sides on Sunday. Brighton & Hove Albion in particular look like a tricky opponent, having found a good vein of form lately. If Arsenal underestimate them at all, they could be in for a very tricky ride. Aston Villa are fortunate enough to host a Championship side instead of visiting them, but as Liverpool demonstrated on Saturday, that means nothing.
This round of the FA Cup has been an incredible display of just what the Magic of the Cup means, and it's not over yet. The Premier League teams that play on Sunday had better be careful, or they too could fall under the Cup's spell.
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