Saturday FA Cup third-round wrap: The things you might have missed
All the action from a big day on the English football calendar, as Norwich hold Chelsea and Coventry pull off a stunning win over hapless Stoke
Selected reports below; all other scores at the end
Norwich 0-0 Chelsea
Norwich and Chelsea will have to do it all again at Stamford Bridge to decide a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup after this poor goalless draw at Carrow Road.
The Canaries had the better of a terrible first half in which Chelsea failed to even register a shot on target, and squandered their best chance when Josh Murphy wriggled through before firing wide from a tight angle.
Antonio Conte's side improved after the break but still didn't truly test Angus Gunn until the 55th minute, when the Manchester City loanee tipped a low Willian effort around the post. There was a David Luiz free-kick that whistled over the crossbar, and a weak punch from Willy Caballero which almost let in Murphy again, but that was about as good as things got for either side here.
Goals: N/a
Aston Villa 1-3 Peterborough
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
League One Peterborough came from behind at Villa Park to pull off a brilliant win over Championship promotion-chasers Aston Villa.
Villa had taken a fifth-minute lead through youngster Keinan Davis, but couldn't find a second to kill off the Posh, who rallied after half-time. First, Grant McCann's team drew level through their free-scoring striker Jack Marriott, and then grabbed a shock late second seven minutes from time through centre-back Ryan Tafazoli.
Marriott then struck his 23rd goal of the season in the dying embers to pull off a memorable victory and secure a spot in the fourth round.
Goals: Davis 5' -- Marriott 75', 90+3', Tafazoli 83'
Bournemouth 2-2 Wigan
Bournemouth stole another late draw to earn a replay against Wigan, courtesy of Steve Cook's 92nd-minute leveller at the Vitality Stadium.
Eddie Howe made eight changes from the side that drew at Brighton last weekend, and it showed as early as the fourth minute when Will Grigg converted a knockdown from Gavin Massey at close range. A full-strength Wigan – leaders of League One – were always going to be a cause for concern for Howe's cobbled-together side, and on the half-hour mark they had a second goal when Nick Powell's 25-yard free-kick deflected in beyond Artur Boruc.
Mark Pugh and Jordon Ibe came off the bench to replace Brad Smith and Connor Mahoney at half-time, and 10 minutes later Bournemouth halved the deficit through French striker Lys Mousset. Howe's side were dominant in the second period but looked like they'd come away with nothing to show for their efforts – that was, until Cook scored his second goal in as many games to steal a draw.
Goals: Mousset 55', Cook 90+2' -- Grigg 4', Hyndman o.g. 29'
Coventry 2-1 Stoke
Coventry pulled off the shock of the day to beat Stoke at the Ricoh Arena, hammering another nail into Mark Hughes's coffin.
The Sky Blues scored with their first corner of the game when Jordan Willis powered home a header from close range, and the League Two side managed to carry that lead through to half-time. But it wasn't to last: 10 minutes after the interval Willis went from hero to zero by chopping down Ramadan Sobhi for a penalty which was dispatched by Charlie Adam.
It's at this point where a Premier League club generally asserts their authority against deflated lower-league opposition – but then Stoke aren't most Premier League teams right now. As such, Coventry restored their lead with just over 20 minutes remaining when right-back Jack Grimmer scored a belter to plunge Hughes back into trouble. An incredible result for the 1987 winners – but Hughes is surely doomed now.
Goals: Willis 24', Grimmer 68' -- Adam 54'
Exeter 0-2 West Brom
Alan Pardew can enjoy his first win as West Brom boss this evening after his Baggies side swept aside League Two Exeter at St James Park.
The West Midlanders were ahead within 90 seconds when Salomon Rondon finished off a speedy Baggies break, squeezing a strike home past Grecians goalkeeper Christy Pym. It got worse for Exeter midway through the first half when they failed to clear their lines properly, and Jay Rodriguez pounced after Troy Archibald-Henville kindly headed into his path.
The Premier League side squandered a chance to go three up before the break when Pym saved a penalty from Hal Robson-Kanu, but saw out the second half with little fuss to go through.
Goals: Rondon 2', Rodriguez 25'
Fleetwood 0-0 Leicester
Fleetwood have themselves a well-deserved replay at the King Power Stadium after a dreadful game in Lancashire.
With Jamie Vardy missing against his old club through injury, the League One side grew in stature as the game wore on and hit the post in injury time when Leicester's Yohan Benalouane deflected a shot onto the post, which hit goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic and bounced back to the grateful Swiss. Fleetwood were the better side against a lacklustre Foxes outfit, who can count themselves lucky to still be in the hat.
Goals: *solemn gaze outside window*
Fulham 0-1 Southampton
Southampton can finally celebrate a first win in 10 matches after beating Championship side Fulham at Craven Cottage.
James Ward-Prowse got the only goal for the Premier League strugglers just before the half-hour mark, firing home a low effort after good work from Sofiane Boufal and Shane Long in the build-up. In the end that was all they needed, though, as the Saints controlled the rest of the match and maintained a clean sheet for their welcome victory.
Goals: Ward-Prowse 29'
Man City 4-1 Burnley
Manchester City overturned a first-half deficit to knock out fellow Premier League high-fliers Burnley at the Etihad Stadium.
Both managers named strong sides; for City, Claudio Bravo and Oleksandr Zinchenko were handed starts, while David Silva was named in the XI after announcing the premature arrival of his baby son Mateo earlier this week. Sean Dyche made four low-key changes from his last line-up, drafting in Kevin Long, Matt Lowton, Sam Vokes and Ashley Westwood for Phil Bardsley, Scott Arfield, Steven Defour and James Tarkowski.
Sergio Aguero struck a post early on, but it was Burnley who took the lead through Ashley Barnes on 25 minutes after capitalising on a mishit from John Stones. Aguero wasn't to be denied after half-time, though, and turned this game on its head with two goals in as many minutes to put Guardiola's side ahead. Leroy Sane then finished off a one-two with Silva for his first goal since October 28, before Bernardo Silva capped the turnaround eight minutes from time.
Goals: Aguero 56', 58', Sane 71', Bernardo 82' -- Barnes 25'
Middlesbrough 2-0 Sunderland
Boro came out on top in this north-east derby at the Riverside to pile yet more misery on Sunderland.
Rudy Gestede slotted Tony Pulis's side ahead after a wonderful driving run through midfield from Adama Traore, before £9m summer signing Martin Braithwaite doubled the hosts' lead shortly before half-time. The Danish striker reacted quickest inside the box after Jason Steele's feeble punch from a Stewart Downing corner, sending Boro into round four.
Goals: Gestede 10', Braithwaite 42'
Newcastle 3-1 Luton
Newcastle avoided an upset at St James' Park to record a comfortable victory over League Two Luton. Ayoze Perez's quickfire first-half double had eased any early concerns, as the Spaniard first capitalised on a horrible blunder from Luton goalkeeper Marek Stech, before doubling the Magpies' advantage six minutes later after Dwight Gayle's header had been saved.
Rafa Benitez's team had a third before half-time via Jonjo Shelvey's first goal since April, although their lead was cut within minutes of the second half through Danny Hylton – who thought he'd grabbed a second soon after, only to hear the bad news that his goal had been disallowed after 30 seconds of celebration.
Goals: Perez 30', 36', Shelvey 39' -- Hylton 49'
Watford 3-0 Bristol City
Watford swept aside Manchester United-slaying Bristol City to secure safe passage through to the fourth round at Vicarage Road.
Andre Carrillo finished from close range to break the deadlock 10 minutes before half-time, before Troy Deeney celebrated a return from suspension early in the second half by stooping low to head in Tom Cleverley's cross from the left.
Etienne Capoue capped an emphatic victory for Marco Silva's men with five minutes to spare when he fired low past Luke Steele following a one-two with Deeney.
Goals: Carrillo 36', Deeney 57', Capoue 85'
Wolves 0-0 Swansea
Wolves and Swansea will face off again at the Liberty Stadium after this goalless draw in which both sides were reduced to 10 men.
Ruben Vinagre was shown a straight red card five minutes before half-time for a nasty-looking, knee-high challenge on Nathan Dyer. But while that incident should have given Swansea the impetus to exert control, Leroy Fer levelled things up after a foolish tussle with Helder Costa which led to the Dutchman getting an early bath.
Goals: N/a • Red cards: Vinagre 40' -- Fer 67'
Other results:
Birmingham 1-0 Buton
Blackburn 0-1 Hull
Bolton 1-2 Huddersfield
Brentford 0-1 Notts County
Cardiff 0-0 Mansfield
Carlisle 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Doncaster 0-1 Rochdale
Ipswich 0-1 Sheffield United
Millwall 4-1 Barnsley
QPR 0-1 MK Dons
Stevenage 0-0 Reading
Wycombe 1-5 Preston
Yeovil 2-0 Bradford
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.