FA Cup Round Up.

Who wants it?

The Cup is back!  This weekend saw the third round of the FA Cup reinforce the romance of the worlds most loved competition as Leeds toppled Man United, but elsewhere the cup boasted its largest attendances for over 30 years.

For those unfamiliar with the FA Cup, the teams from the Premiership and Coca-Cola Championship avoid rounds 1 and 2 as that’s where the non-league teams who have battled to make it to round 1 meet League One and League Two competition. The top two tiers of English football get a bye and join in the fun in round 3. 

So, to the action…Jermaine Beckford took his big moment in front of the cameras to knock United out of the competition yesterday, but whats next for Leeds and all the other winners from round 3? A look at the weekends results and round 4 match-ups after the jump.

Lets’ start with Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s men turned around a one goal deficit in the last 12 minutes of the second half yesterday to beat West Ham 2-1 at Upton Park. The win sees Arsenal meet one of Wenger’s favorite teams to play in the next round…Stoke.

Wenger recently championed the ridiculous idea that kick-ins should replace throw-ins to stop players like Stoke’s Rory Delap throwing long balls into the box. Arsenal lost 2-1 at Stoke in this competition last year to goals that were created by Delap’s bicep bombs. How ironic that Arsenal now meet Stoke again after Tony Pullis’ side progressed with two goals created by…You guessed it, Rory Delap long throws. Stoke beat York 3-1.

Elsewhere, Chelsea thumped Watford 5-0 as young Daniel Sturridge got his blues account up and running. The former Man City player’s fee has still not been decided as Chelsea and City cannot agree  on the price (City want 10 million). The amount will be determined at a tribunal in the near future.

One for the future. Delfouneso scored against Blackburn.

Reading held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw and now head to Anfield in hopes of the big upset that will pair them with Burnley in round 4. Burnley were 2-1 winners at MK Dons.

Aston Villa youngster Nathan Delfouneso scored as the Birmingham club beat Blackburn 3-1 at Villa Park. Villa will now host Brighton in the next round. Talking of Brighton, they beat fellow seaside dwellers Torquay 1-0 away to tee-up their bumper pay day.

Tottenham beat Peterborough 4-0 (second time in a week  that the Posh have conceded 4) at the lane. Nico Kranjcar scored a brace, Defoe and Keane finished the job. Spurs will now face ‘giant killers’ Leeds United who toppled Manchester United yesterday. The longer Leeds progress in this competition suits me as that’s one more game to deal with as my beloved Norwich City chase Leeds for the League One title.

Wigan beat fellow Premier League strugglers Hull, 4-1 at the DW stadium to set-up a a 4th round trip to either Sven Goran Eriksson’s Notts County or non-league Forest Green Rovers. That tie was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Preston absolutely hammered Colchester 7-0 at Deepdale, Sunderland saw off non-league Barrow 3-0 at the Stadium of Light, Benjani stepped of the bench and out of the shadows of Adebayor, Tevez and co for Man City to give them a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest forward Robert Earnshaw missed a penalty as his team drew 0-0 with a rejuvinated Birmingham City.

Other round 3 results…

Sheffield United 1 QPR 1
Tranmere 0 Wolves 1
Blackpool 1 Ips**t 2
Bolton 4 Lincoln 0
Everton 3 Carlsile 1
Fulham 1 Swindon 0
Huddersfield 0 West Brom 2
Leicester 2 Swansea 1
Millwall 1 Derby 1
Plymouth 0 Newcastle 0
Portsmouth 1 Coventry 1
Sc**thorpe 1 Barnsley 0
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Crystal Palace 2
Southampton 1 Luton 0

Round 3 replays
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Accrington Stanley v Gillingham, R3, 19:45
Birmingham v Nottm Forest, R3R, 19:45
Brentford v Doncaster, R3, 19:45
Bristol City v Cardiff, R3, 19:45
Coventry v Portsmouth, R3R, 19:45
Derby v Millwall, R3R, 19:45
Notts County v Forest Green, R3, 19:45
QPR v Sheff Utd, R3R, 19:45

Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Liverpool v Reading, R3R, 19:45
Newcastle v Plymouth, R3R, 19:45

Round 4 fixtures…

Saturday, 23 January 2010
Accrington Stanley/Gillingham v Fulham, R4, 15:00
Aston Villa v Brighton, R4, 15:00
Bolton v Sheff Utd/QPR, R4, 15:00
Bristol City/Cardiff v Leicester, R4, 15:00
Everton v Nottm Forest/Birmingham, R4, 15:00
Millwall/Derby v Brentford/Doncaster, R4, 15:00
Notts County/Forest Green v Wigan, R4, 15:00
Portsmouth/Coventry v Sunderland, R4, 15:00
Preston v Chelsea, R4, 15:00
Reading/Liverpool v Burnley, R4, 15:00
Sc**thorpe v Man City, R4, 15:00
Southampton v Ipswich, R4, 15:00
Stoke v Arsenal, R4, 15:00
Tottenham v Leeds United, R4, 15:00
West Brom v Plymouth/Newcastle, R4, 15:00
Wolverhampton v Crystal Palace, R4, 15:00