Friday 22 January 2016

FA Cup Third Round Replays Review

After an weekend of surprises and huge wins in the FA Cup third round earlier in the month, this week saw the replays of ten ties following the rearranged tie between Newport County and Blackburn Rovers.

The aforementioned tie between the League Two and Championship sides took place on Monday night after a waterlogged pitch saw the original postponed, the tie was settled in the 90 minutes as Rovers claimed a 2-1 victory in a game which saw both sides reduced to ten men. Marshall put the visitors ahead with a ninth minute penalty before Brown was sent off just a minute later and County used the extra man in the 30 minute mark as Byrne levelled for 1-1.

Jordan Rhodes sealed the win for the visitors on 75 minutes before County's night ended on a further downer with the late dismissal of Day in the final minutes.

Tuesday night saw eight ties replayed starting with top flight basement boys Aston Villa hosting League Two side Wycombe Wanderers at Villa Park. Alike the original game, the sides were hard to part on the scoreboard in the first hour but Villa showed their superiority in the final 15 minutes with strikes from Ciaran Clark and Idrissa Gueye completing a 2-0 win.


An all League One meeting saw Bradford City host Bury with the sides battling to secure a home tie against Championship side Hull City. A tight game saw the sides remain level at 0-0 at the end both the 90 minutes and the end of 30 minutes of extra time meaning the lucrative fourth round place would be settled in a penalty shoot-out which the visitors won 4-2.

Championship side Bristol City hosted top flight West Bromwich Albion in a battle to secure a home tie against League One side Peterborough United. The sides were separated by just a single goal across the 90 minutes as Baggies record signing Salomon Rondon secured a 1-0 win with a strike in the 52nd minute.


A huge home tie against Premier League champions Chelsea was the prize as Championship side Milton Keynes Dons hosted League Two side Northampton Town. The sides remained level at 0-0 at the end of the first half before two goals in eight minutes put the hosts in control, Reeves converted a 53rd minute penalty ahead of a 61st minute effort from Murphy for 2-0. The win and the chance to welcome Chelsea was confirmed late on as Church converted the Dons second penalty on 89 minutes for 3-0.

League Two side Portsmouth hosted Championship side Ipswich Town with a plum tie at home to top flight Bournemouth at stake. The 2008 winners took the lead in the 32nd minute with a penalty from Roberts before McNulty doubled the lead on 37 minutes to set up a potential 'cupset'. Ipswich pulled one back through Maitland-Niles on the hour but were unable to avoid a surprise exit from the competition with a 2-1 defeat.

Yeovil Town hosted fellow League Two side Carlisle United in a battle to secure a lucrative home tie against top flight Everton. Compton put the hosts ahead in the 31st minute before an equaliser from Sweeney in the 77th minute ensured the sides would continue the battle into extra time. The tie remained at 1-1 meaning the sides would face a penalty shoot-out which saw Carlisle win 5-4.

The lowest ranked and only non-league side left in the competition was Eastleigh and as they travelled to face Championship strugglers Bolton Wanderers,a home tie against Leeds United was just 90 minutes away. Alike the original tie, Eastleigh struck first and this time around it was Partington with an 11th minute strike before two goals in six minutes before half time saw the sides go into the break at 2-2. Bolton levelled through Madine on 39 minutes before a 43rd minute effort from Moxey put the hosts ahead only for Mohamed to level in the final seconds. The tie was settled just before the hour mark as Pratley backed up his late leveller from the 1-1 draw with a 58th minute strike for 3-2.



Tuesday's final tie saw a battle between two Championship sides as Reading hosted Huddersfield Town for the right to host League One promotion hopefuls Walsall.

Huddersfield raced into a 2-0 lead inside 15 minutes with strikes from Paterson (8) and Smith (15) before they were reduced to ten men as Hogg as dismissed on 27 minutes before Piazon cut the deficit on 29 minutes.

A brace from Vydra in the 57th and 61st minutes put Reading 3-2 ahead and the tie was wrapped up by two late goals for the home side as Vydra completed his hat-trick ahead of a strike from Iglesias to complete a 5-2 rout.


Wednesday saw two ties starting with the all top flight battle between Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur with a trip to League One side Colchester United awaiting in the next round. Tottenham struck an opener in the 39th minute through Son Heung-Min before Nacer Chadli sealed a 2-0 win with a 66th minute strike.

The second tie of the evening saw top flight Liverpool host League Two side Exeter City at Anfield with a home tie against West Ham United, the impetus for the League two side while the Reds would hope to avenge a league double suffered to the Hammers. The Reds fielded a mix of youth and experience which was a bit stronger than the original tie and it was clear early on as Joe Allen made it two goals in three games in the tenth minute. Exeter did well to keep the gap to a single goal long into the second half but were unable to take their chances and Liverpool wrapped up the win with two goals in the final 16 minutes. Academy starlet Sheyi Ojo curled in a superb second on 74 minutes before Joao Teixeira made it 3-0 with six minutes left of the 90.

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