Plymouth provided the first big upset of the FA Cup third round as Morgan Whittaker's late goal earned them a 1-0 win at Brentford.
Currently bottom of the Championship and less than a fortnight on from having sacked boss Wayne Rooney, the Pilgrims secured their first win of any kind since November 5 to stun Thomas Frank's side.
Frank had made several changes to his line-up and paid the price in a game of few chances which was decided by Whittaker's 20-yard strike, having been allowed to dribble his way across the edge of the Brentford area.
Sporting Life's Jimmy 'The Punt' Cantrill sided with Plymouth at 4/1 in the double-chance market, having also correctly predicted a 90-minute draw between Reading and Burnley, which went to extra-time after ending 1-1 before Burnley progressed thanks to a brace from substitute Zian Flemming.
This competition. Magic. pic.twitter.com/t5NtwCVzBk
— Plymouth Argyle FC (@Argyle) January 11, 2025
There was another shock further down the pyramid as Demetri Mitchell celebrated his 28th birthday with a deadly double to help send Exeter into the fourth round for the first time in 44 years with a 3-1 win over Oxford.
It was no more than the Grecians deserved against the much-changed Championship outfit, with Vincent Harper also on target for the League One side after Oxford had taken an early lead through Matt Phillips.
City hit eight past Salford
James McAtee grabbed a second-half hat-trick as Manchester City powered into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a ruthless 8-0 demolition of League Two neighbours Salford.
Jeremy Doku weighed in with two goals while Jack Grealish ended his long scoring drought and youngsters Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also struck in a one-sided encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
It was a brutal exhibition by a much-changed City, whose fans revelled in the beating dished out to their ‘Class of 92’-owned visitors.
Gary Neville, one of that group of famous former Manchester United players, was taunted mercilessly as the goals flew in.
The England full-back turned pundit and businessman was not actually present to witness the rout, but colleagues Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were on hand to see it unfold in agonising detail from the stands.
Ryan Giggs, the sporting director who also has a backroom role, was also at close hand in the technical area as the biggest game in Salford’s history quickly turned sour.
In the other teatime local derby, Leeds edged out Harrogate 1-0 thanks to a goal from Largie Ramazani.
Five for Chelsea and Cherries
Elsewhere things went with the form book although Chelsea were made to wait for the floodgates to open as League Two Morecambe put up dogged resistance before going down 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.
There were periods in the first half when the 87 places separating these sides in the pyramid could easily be forgotten, the team currently 23rd in League Two leaving Enzo Maresca’s Champions League chasers puzzling over how they would pick their way through to round four.
That two of the five goals were blasted in from outside the penalty area by reserve defender Tosin Adarabioyo gave a sense of how short on inspiration Chelsea were for much of this match, though the 27-year-old deserved credit for showing initiative to break the deadlock late in the first half as the crowd grew nervous.
The natural order soon took over. Christopher Nkunku scored to make it 2-0 having earlier missed a penalty, and there were two goals also for Joao Felix in a rare start, but Morecambe departed knowing they had made Chelsea sweat.
Brighton got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion as they beat Norwich 4-0.
The Seagulls had failed to win any of their previous eight games, with six ending in draws, but it was a different story at Carrow Road as they hit the goal trail against their Championship hosts.
Two goals towards the end of the first half from Georginio Rutter set the Premier League outfit on their way to a comfortable victory before Julio Enciso and substitute Solly March struck after the break to emphasise the gulf between the two sides.
Nottingham Forest made it seven wins in a row in all competitions for the first time in 19 years after beating managerless Luton 2-0.
Forest added to their six successive Premier League victories with a comfortable success over the Sky Bet Championship side thanks to goals from Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa.
Dango Ouattara scored twice as Bournemouth made light of their striker crisis with a thumping 5-1 win over West Brom, while Stoke beat Sunderland 2-1 after extra-time.
Trent stunner as Liverpool ease through
Trent Alexander-Arnold demonstrated his attacking qualities as Liverpool beat Accrington Stanley 4-0 in the third round of the FA Cup.
Six days after his defending came in for fierce criticism in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United, Alexander-Arnold showed what he could do at the other end of the pitch with a brilliant goal at Anfield.
Diogo Jota had finished off a swift counter-attack to give Liverpool the lead on 29 minutes before Alexander-Arnold curled in a sumptuous second on the stroke of half-time.
Jayden Danns made it 3-0 just a few minutes after coming off the bench and fellow substitute Federico Chiesa completed the scoring with his first goal for the club in the 90th minute.
James Justin scored his second brace of the season to help Leicester progress through to the fourth round with a crushing 6-2 victory over QPR.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side produced a professional display after the interval to give the Dutchman his second victory as boss, which could also inject some momentum into the Foxes’ Premier League survival bid.
League One leaders Birmingham scored their fastest FA Cup goal on the way to a 2-1 win over Lincoln.
Winger Ayumu Yokoyama converted Scott Wright’s cross after just 35 seconds and Lyndon Dykes made sure of the win with a superb volley on 77 minutes before Jovon Makama pulled one back from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
Wolves survived a late scare to take their place in the next round thanks to a 2-1 win at Bristol City.
Rayan Ait-Nouri stooped to head the visitors in front early on and Rodrigo Gomes soon doubled the lead, only for Scott Twine to score a superb free-kick with the last kick of the first half.
Wolves hit the post twice in the second period but also saw the woodwork come to their rescue when Ross McCrorie headed against the underside of the bar.
Andreas Weimann scored the only goal to give Blackburn a 1-0 win at Championship rivals Middlesbrough.
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Expert xG analysis and features
- Transfer news and done deals
- Football and other sports tips
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
