FA Cup holders Arsenal face a rematch with last season’s beaten finalists Hull City in the third round of this year’s competition.
In May, Arsene Wenger’s side ended a nine-year trophy drought, as Aaron Ramsey’s extra-time goal clinched a 3-2 win over Hull at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Coincidentally, not only will the Gunners start their Cup defense against Steve Bruce’s team, but Monday’s third-round draw was held in Hull, with the Tigers boss watching on as his side were handed a trip to the Emirates Stadium in the first tie called out.
“We’d been drawn against Arsenal in the rehearsal,” Bruce told BBC Sport. “Let’s hope it is as good as the final, because it was a great game.”
Tigers captain Curtis Davies added: “I guess it was just meant to be.”
The third round of the Cup, which takes place over the first weekend of next month, will also feature a host of fascinating opportunities for memorable giant-killing acts. League Two minnows AFC Wimbledon — in the third round for the first time in their 12-year history — host Liverpool in a match which recalls the 1988 final that was won 1-0 by the original Wimbledon in one of the great FA Cup upsets as the “Crazy Gang” shocked the then-reigning English champions.
Wimbledon are a fan-run team formed from the ashes of the club that left southwest London and became Milton Keynes Dons due to falling attendances and an inability to build a new stadium in the borough.
Premier League leaders Chelsea, who won the Cup in four of the past eight seasons, are to host Championship promotion contenders Watford.
Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United go to either Accrington Stanley or Yeovil Town, who meet in a second-round replay to decide who gets the glamor tie.
Manchester City, the 2010-2011 winners, are to play at home to Sheffield Wednesday, while Sunderland are to host former giants Leeds United in a rematch of the 1972-1973 final when the Black Cats pulled off a shock 1-0 win. There are eight non-league sides in the draw, with the pick of ties with those teams seeing Dover Athletic drawn against Premier League outfit Crystal Palace.
Stoke City are to play Wrexham in a match pitting the Premier League team against a side whose memorable giant-killing act was a defeat of Arsenal in 1992, while West Bromwich Albion are to host Gateshead.
As well as Arsenal against Hull, there are three other all-Premier League ties: Burnley against Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City versus Newcastle United, and Everton against West Ham United.
Chesterfield, whose place in the competition could be in jeopardy after they were charged by the FA with fielding an ineligible player in their second-round win at MK Dons, were drawn to play Scunthorpe United or non-league Worcester City.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
RSS