Luton’s Alex Lawless is mobbed by teammates after scoring the winning goal in the Hatters 1-0 FA Cup victory against Wolves
Non-leaguers Luton and Macclesfield caused the biggest shocks of round three in the FA Cup.
Luton Town defeated Championship Wolves 1-0 at Kenilworth Road and cost Stale Solbakken his job in the Midlands.
The only goal of the game came in the 46th minute, Alex Lawless scoring with a superbly taken volley.
It was a deserved victory for the Hatters, who are 59 places below Wolves in the football pyramid.
The other major surprise in the third round was Macclesfield beating Championship Cardiff 2-1 at the Moss Rose Ground.
The visitors are top of the Championship, but decided to field a weakened side in the North West.
And it looked like Malky Mackay’s decision was correct as the Bluebirds took the lead in the 57th minute, Nathaniel Jarvis with a scrambled effort to give the Welsh side the lead. Cardiff seemed to be heading to victory until the 85th minute.
Jack Mackreth found in-form Matthew Barnes-Homer and the striker scored from six yards with a left-footed effort. It got even better for the home side with just two minutes remaining. Cardiff goalscorer Nathaniel Jarvis brought down Homer in the penalty box and Barnes-Homer scored from the resulting spot-kick.
Championship side Brighton defeated Premier League Newcastle 2-0 at the Amex Stadium, to cause a slight shock in the early kick-off. Newcastle are currently in the midst of an injury-crisis and the Seagulls took full advantage.
The home side were in front on 33 minutes. Wayne Bridge produced a superb cross which found Andrea Orlandi, who somehow flicked the ball past Rob Elliot with his back to goal. It was a cleverly taken effort by the midfielder.
Newcastle’s afternoon got even worse in the 63rd minute, as captain and striker Shola Ameobi was dismissed, after a second yellow card for a challenge on Brighton’s David Lopez. Newcastle looked more of a threat to Brighton with ten men, but couldn’t find a breakthrough.
The home side sealed the victory in the 87th minute. Lopez played a superb ball through the Magpies defence to find substitute Will Hoskins who fired a low effort past Elliot in the visitors goal. The defeat completed a nightmare week for Newcastle.
Chelsea defeated Southampton 5-1 at St Marys, with Demba Ba claiming a brace on his debut. The Saints took the lead through striker Jay Rodriguez. Ba equalised, before Victor Moses put the visitors into the lead prior to half-time.
Defender Branislav Ivanovic extended the Blues lead. Ba then added his second and veteran midfielder Frank Lampard completed the victory in the 83rd minute from the penalty spot.
League One Bournemouth drew 1-1 at Premier League Wigan. The Cherries took the lead just before half-time, former-Everton trainee Eunan O’Kane firing home from the edge of the penalty area past Mike Pollitt in the Latics goal.
Wigan brought on on-loan Manchester United youngster Angelo Henriquez at half-time and the change nearly paid instant dividends, the striker heading against the crossbar from David Jones’ cross.
The home side did equalise in the 70th minute though. Full-back Maynor Figueroa being pulled back in the penalty area and winning a penalty. Spanish midfielder Jordi Gomez saw his spot-kick saved by Shawn Jalal in the Bournemouth goal, only for the mercurial star to score from the rebound.
Neither side could find a winning goal, so Bournemouth now have the chance to cause an upset back at Dean Court.
Premier League champions Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 victory against Championship Watford at the Etihad Stadium. City took the lead on 24 minutes, striker Carlos Tevez smashing home a superb free-kick from the edge of the penalty area.
The Citizens extended their lead on the stroke of half-time, midfielder Gareth Barry heading home from James Milner’s cross. City were three goals up in injury-time, as youngster Marcos Lopes scored his first goal from inside the penalty area.
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