FA Cup 3rd Round : Upsets galore

Scottish midfielder Gary McDonald's first-half strike gave League One Oldham a famous 1-0 FA Cup third-round triumph against mighty Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The League One side, over 50 places below the Merseysiders, fully deserved their victory after a battling performance.

Everton fielded a much-changed side, and McDonald's 25-yard cracker on the stroke of half-time was enough to beat them.

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Michael Mifsud scored twice as Coca-Cola Championship club Coventry booked their place in the fourth round with a memorable 4-1 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park.

The Sky Blues, who dumped Manchester United out of the Carling Cup earlier this season with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford, were in good form against Premier League opposition and never looked in danger of losing the lead given to them through Mifsud's crisp volley after 34 minutes.

They doubled their advantage after 64 minutes when Zurab Khizanishvili was adjudged to have fouled Leon Best in the penalty area and defender Elliott Ward coolly stepped up to fire past Brad Friedel.

Dele Adebola added a third from 18 yards before David Bentley scored a consolation five minutes from time for Mark Hughes' beleaguered side.

Mifsud added a fourth in the dying stages as Iain Dowie's side celebrated a memorable day.

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Chris Brandon scored nine minutes from time to secure another cup shock as League One Huddersfield beat Premier League Birmingham 2-1.

Luke Beckett handed the Terriers a dream start as he poked home from close range after just four minutes but Garry O'Connor levelled for Blues 15 minutes later.

Huddersfield never looked out of place against their more illustrious opponents and Brandon slotted home from close range late on to book their place in the next round.

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Holders Chelsea were made to work hard for their 1-0 victory over neighbours QPR at Stamford Bridge.

They scored the only goal of the game after 39 minutes in fortuitous circumstances as Claudio Pizarro's shot cannoned off the post before rebounding into the net off the back of Rangers goalkeeper Lee Camp.

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In other games :

Manchester United progressed as goals in the last 10 minutes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney saw off Aston Villa 2-0 in the evening kick-off.

Bolton left out a string of first-team players, including Chelsea target Nicolas Anelka, and were made to pay as David Carney's solitary strike put Sheffield United through.

Dave Nugent's third goal for Portsmouth secured a 1-0 win over Ipswich, who had Liam Trotter dismissed in the first half.

Paul Scharner's first-half header, Paul McShane's own goal and a neat strike from David Cotterill helped Wigan cruise past Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium of Light.

David Wheater's second-half goal ensured there was no upset at Ashton Gate as Middlesbrough came from behind to see off Bristol City 2-1.

Two replays required :

Stephen Hunt matched Dimitar Berbatov's brace as Reading secured a 2-2 draw with Tottenham, who had Tom Huddlestone dismissed for violent conduct.

Manchester City and West Ham will meet again after a dour goalless draw at Upton Park.

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Spurs sack boss - It's Jol Over

Tottenham have confirmed the departure of Martin Jol as manager following the UEFA Cup defeat to Getafe.

Spurs have issued a statement revealing the board asked Jol and assistant Chris Hughton to stand down, although there were reports earlier in the evening that the Dutchman had resigned.

A statement from the club read: "We can confirm that the board has this evening asked Martin Jol, club manager and Chris Hughton, first-team coach to stand down from their positions with immediate effect."

Jol added: "I can understand the position of the club in light of the results. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. Tottenham Hotspur is a special club and I want to thank the terrific staff and players.

"For me the fans were always amazing with their support so I would also like to say thank you - I shall never forget them."

Development coach Clive Allen and youth team boss Alex Inglethorpe will take charge of the first team for the time being, with Juande Ramos the overwhelming favourite to take over in the long term. Gus Poyet, the former Spurs midfielder, has been linked with an assistant-boss role.

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Preseason results : Arsenal, Spurs, Barca win - Chelsea slump

A busy Saturday afternoon for European clubs as the pre-season takes on a more serious turn - especially for those clubs who are building to qualifying matches in the Champions League.

In North London, Arsenal beat PSG 2-1 with goals from Mathieu Flamini and Niklas Bendtner in the Emirates Cup, while Valencia beat Inter Milan 2-0 perhaps showing their more advanced focus on results.

In Scotland, English clubs found it tough to get a result as Rangers upset Chelsea 2-0 with two late goals to Nacho Novo (86) and Filip Sebo (87) - which will be a great boost to the Glasgow club as they face a Champions League 2nd round match against FK Zeta this week.

And Hiberian beat Middlesbrough 1-0 thanks to a last minute winner from Ross Campbell - as Hibs added another scalp to the 3-0 win over Bolton on Wednesday.

Spanish giants Barcelona had no such problems, with Barca beating Hearts 3-1 in front6 of over 57,000 fans at Murrayfield with Ronaldinho scoring twice in the first half.

In Belgium, Charleroi beat Manchester City 2-0 as Sven found it harder to win outside Sweden, although in truth City bossed much of the match but lacked sharpness in front of goal.

Other games saw Premier league clubs stroll to wins against lowly opposition with Sunderland beating Bohemians 1-0, West Ham winning 3-1 at Southend, Birmingham scoring a 2-0 win over Walsall and Spurs beat Orlando Pirates 3-0 somewhere in Africa.

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FA Cup replay : Young Guns on Show

It's all a bit quiet for Arsenal news today - as the team have a rare midweek off after dealing to Liverpool at Anfield in the 3rd Round.

(had to get that in - sorry Duncan)

But you could still be forgiven for asking the question as to whether Arsenal's young players might steal the headlines tonight ?

Full-back Kerrea Gilbert will return to north London with Cardiff to try and get the better of Tottenham in their FA Cup third round replay on Wednesday.

And Birmingham will include two of their three Arsenal loan players at Newcastle - Fabrice Muamba and Sebastian Larsson - with Nicklas Bendtner ruled out through injury.

The BBC does a good write up on all four players - and before anyone leaps off the deep end about bloody European youngsters - I will point out that two of them are actually English as well ... although it's hard to tell with names these days eh?

( you can see the full item at BBC Sport here )

If young Gilbert could do the business tonight for Cardiff against Spurs then I'm sure he'd be the toast of Gooners everywhere on Thursday morning.

As far as betting goes - both Newcastle and Tottenham look like getting wins in 90 minutes tonight - but the prices are poor so you might want to consider HT/FT double to get better prices - rather than the outright win.

(see Chris's previews on the main site for details)

Good luck with your punts.

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Arsenal v Spurs (only the good results)

Spurs fans should click their |BACK| button now - because you're not going to like anything in the rest of this post.

Here is a selection of recent North London derbies - where the Gooners win.

2006.12.02 Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham


2005.04.25 Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham


2004.11.13 Tottenham 4-5 Arsenal


2003.11.08 Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham


2002.11.16 Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham

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