Holders Portsmouth crashed out of the FA Cup on Saturday as Manchester United were forced to come from behind to overcome Tottenham and keep their quadruple bid on track.
On a day when non-league interest ended with the exit of Kettering Town and Torquay, the only shock came at Fratton Park, where the holders were beaten 2-0 by Championship side Swansea.
To rub salt into the wounds, it was Nathan Dyer, on loan from Pompey’s bitter rivals Southampton, who scored the Welsh club’s opener.
That was the first goal Pompey had conceded in 651 minutes of FA Cup action. The second followed when Jason Scotland converted from the spot after Jordi Gomez was brought down by Nadir Belhadj in first-half stoppage time.
Swansea boss Roberto Martinez said the win showed his side, promoted from League One to the Championship only last season, could aspire to joining the top flight.
A makeshift United line-up was rattled when Roman Pavlyuchenko headed Spurs into an early lead at Old Trafford.
But a deflected shot from Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov’s 10th goal of the season sent United into yesterday’s fifth-round draw and kept alive the possibility of a clean sweep of every tournament entered for the reigning English, European and World Club champions.
Kettering were left heart-broken after goals in the last two minutes from Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora gave Fulham a barely deserved 4-2 win at Rockingham Road.
The Conference side had dominated after Craig Westcarr had canceled out Simon Davies’ early strike 10 minutes before half-time. Danny Murphy’s 77th-minute goal restored Fulham’s lead, but Kettering equalized again through a Westcarr penalty before finally running out of steam.
Torquay’s exit was equally cruel, with Coventry’s Elliot Ward scoring the only goal of the game in the 87th minute.
A Michael Ballack double helped Chelsea to a 3-1 win over Ipswich at Stamford Bridge. Alex Bruce, son of Wigan manager Steve, canceled out Ballack’s opener before the break but the Germany captain settled the contest with a 59th-minute free-kick and Frank Lampard added a late third.
West Ham’s passage into the last 16 was eased by a blunder from referee Lee Mason, who mistakenly whistled for a penalty after a handball by Hartlepool defender Michael Nelson that was clearly outside the box.
Valon Behrami had just given the Hammers a barely-deserved lead and Mark Noble converted the spot-kick to make it 2-0, which was how it finished.
Aston Villa were taken to a replay they could have done without after a goalless draw at Doncaster and the all-Premier League clash between Sunderland and Blackburn also ended goalless.
Michael Turner’s 15th-minute header and a late strike by Ian Ashby earned Hull a 2-0 win over League One’s Millwall in a contest marred by pre-match crowd trouble.
Goals from Danny Webber and Lee Hendrie earned Sheffield United a 2-1 win over Charlton.
Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace went down to a 4-3 defeat at Watford that may cause the outspoken Palace manager to regret his pre-match boast that his side was capable of reaching Wembley.
Burnley could yet claim a fourth Premier League scalp this season after an 89th-minute goal by Martin Paterson earned them a 2-2 draw at West Brom. The Lancashire club have beaten Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham in the League Cup this year and went desperately close to knocking out Spurs in the semi-final.
Middlesbrough earned some respite from the Premier League survival scrap with a 2-1 win over Championship leaders Wolves.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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