Yesterday saw the return of FA Cup action as Manchester United travelled away to Arsenal and secured themselves a place in the fifth round with a 3-1 win at the Emirates.
Former Gunners favourite Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring, with goals from Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial bettering Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s strike to continue Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s perfect reign at the Old Trafford club.
Today’s opening match saw a tightly contested affair between League One side Accrington Stanley and their visitors Derby County, with Frank Lampard’s side snatching a late win thanks to a Martyn Waghorn goal to put their name in the hat for the next draw.
There were eight FA Cup fourth round fixtures taking place at 3pm this afternoon, including two all Premier League ties and a few potential cup shocks.
With so many games taking place at one time, here are some of the things you may have missed in this afternoon’s 3pm FA Cup fourth round kickoffs.
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The one thing all football fans have in common is a love of goals and those that come in the FA Cup tend to be quite special.
However, they were a little hard to come by for quite some time this Saturday.
That’s right, as the afternoon continue we eventually got some goals to talk about but up until the 23rd minute, there was only one solitary goal in all eight matches, and only three scored across two games after 45 minutes.
Luckily, it took just five minutes in the second half to match that total, finally sparking some life into this round.
City triumph in the Joe Hart derby
The former City goalkeeper wasn’t picked from the off today, with Nick Pope taking his place in goal for the Clarets while Hart had to watch from the luxury of the well-cushioned away bench.
Despite Burnley’s excellent form of late – 10 points out of the last possible 12 in the Premier League – Sean Dyche’s side were simply hoping for a decent showing at the Etihad without being on the end of a severe beating.
29 – Manchester City have scored 29 goals in all competitions since they last conceded; they haven’t let in a goal in 566 minutes of play since Roberto Firmino equalised for Liverpool at the Etihad on January 3rd. Dominant. pic.twitter.com/2QgEsyd7sJ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 26, 2019
As is expected of Pep Guardiola’s side, they had the vast majority of possession and made it count big time.
Mirroring their Premier League fixture earlier in the campaign, City put five past Burnley to ensure they continued on course towards potentially another cup final this season.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, a Kevin Long own goal and a Sergio Aguero strike – his 17th in 19 FA Cup games – means they have won all of their last eight games, scoring 33 goals, averaging 4.12 goals per match.
So close for Shrewsbury and Portsmouth
Just 30 miles and 52 league places separated Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton Wanderers going into today’s match at New Meadow, with former Wolves defender Sam Ricketts leading his League One side against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Premier League outfit.
The Wolves coach made six changes heading into this fixture but it looked for a long time as if they were going to regret messing with the previous starting eleven.
A potential giant killing, the home side managed to get themselves 2-0 up against their Premier League counterparts, with goals from Greg Docherty and Luke Waterfall putting the hosts in dreamland.
But heartbreak was in store, with Raul Jimenez dragging Wolves back into the match before a 93rd-minute equaliser by full-back Matt Doherty ensured that the Premier League side were at least in the hat for the next round.
However, a replay will need to be played which will not be ideal for Wolves but financially benifial for Shrewsbury.
The same came be said for Pompey, who looked as though they had booked their place in the next round, but a goal in the dying moments of the match from Queens Park Rangers meant they would now face a trip to Loftus Road in a replay.
Doncaster and Newport living the dream
What an afternoon for Doncaster Rovers who overcame Oldham Athletic to make their way through to the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 1956.
League One vs League Two meant that there would be one lower league side progressing this afternoon and it looked as though they would both be in the hat with a score draw enforcing a replay.
Ben Whiteman put the hosts in the lead before Peter Clarke equalised for the visitors, but a last minute penalty was awarded to Doncaster, giving them the ideal opportunity to sneak into the fifth round.
Up stepped Whiteman who buried the spot-kick, nabbed his brace and ensured his side were finishing the match with big smiles on their faces.
For Newport, a last minute goal by Matt Dolan against Tony Pulis’ Middlesbrough keeps them in the competition and with the replay taking place on home soil, you may see another cup-shock occur in the near-future.
Rafa now has no distractions
Newcastle United found themselves in a confusing situation.
A match at home to fellow Premier League side Watford – who made a host of changes in anticipation of their own league ambitions – meant that the Geordies had a real opportunity to reach the fifth round for the first time since 2006.
Torn between concentrating on league survival and pleasing the supporters with a decent cup run, Watford ensured that they took the decision out of Newcastle’s hands.
Strikes from Andre Gray and Isaac Success meant Javi Gracia’s side came away from St James’ Park with the result they wanted, with Rafa Benitez most likely content, with his ambition now soley on keeping his side in the Premier League.
He would never say that out loud though…
An afternoon of late, late goals!
There were late goals scored all over the place!
Our complaints about a dry first-half must have been heard by the footballing gods, with a flurry of goals hitting the back of the net in all bar one of the second halves in the 3pm matches.
20 second half goals were scored with key strikes hitting the back of the net in the final moment of games.
A late winner for Doncaster, a last-minute equaliser for Newport County, a match-clincher for Watford and a last-gasp draw secured by QPR meant the closing moments of the 3pm matches were extremely action-packed.
Scores
Brighton 0-0 West Brom
Doncaster 2-1 Oldham
Middlesbrough 1-1 Newport
Newcastle 0-2 Watford
Portsmouth 1-1 QPR
Shrewsbury 2-2 Wolves
Swansea 4-1 Gillingham
The post Late, late goals: the 3pm FA Cup action you might have missed appeared first on Squawka News.
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