FA Cup

In the lead-up to Manchester City’s fifth-round FA Cup match with Newport County, Pep Guardiola said his team of superstars would “suffer” against a team in 15th place in EFL League Two.

Just before the match, Newport coach Michael Flynn told Guardiola he is a “genius.” 

Ashley Cole has completed another first in his 20-year career: his first FA Cup goal.

The 38-year-old recently signed for Frank Lampard’s Derby County from MLS and made his debut in it’s fifth-round FA Cup tie with Brighton & Hove Albion.

After going down 2-0 to the host, Derby County pressed for a response in the second half. After a ball over the top caused a scramble in the box, a poor clearance by Daniel Burn fell kindly to Cole’s head.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was his calm and collected self in his most recent press conference, especially since he revealed that Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial will be injured for some important games.

Martial has a groin injury while Lingard has a hamstring issue. 

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We entered the FA Cup Fourth Round with three massive underdogs to cheer for — fourth division sides Newport County and Oldham Athletic and fifth division Barnet, the only non-league side remaining in the competition. Unfortunately, Oldham got dumped out by Doncaster, but Newport forced a replay against Middlesbrough. 

The FA Cup is always full of surprises. Liverpool visited Wolves for a Third Round clash tonight, and we saw more of the same. Coming off a loss to Manchester City, Liverpool looked to bounce back and continue its hunt for trophies. Wolves needed a big result to get through to the next round. For Liverpool, it was an evening to forget. For Wolves, it was an evening to celebrate.

It’s no revelation that it’s become increasingly difficult for youth players to make the grade at clubs of a certain stature. From Barcelona’s La Masia to Bayern’s Junior Team, potential first team prospects struggle to make the breakthrough while the world’s richest clubs continue to look outward rather than promote from within. 

Although we still have a few replays to settle, the FA Cup Third Round is pretty much done and dusted, giving us time to look at the darlings of the competition with 32 clubs remaining. 

The usual favorites are all there — Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs — but we also have three clubs that standout at the opposite end of the spectrum. Barnet, playing in the fifth tier, is the lowest ranked remaining club and the only non-League side left.

More than 15 years after Arsene Wenger brought Cesc Fàbregas to London at the tender age of 16, the Spanish midfielder played what was likely his final match for an English club. It was a little emotional.

After eight seasons with Arsenal and 4.5 more with Chelsea (with a brief stint at Barcelona in between), Fàbregas said farewell to the London fans, who gave him a heartfelt sendoff late in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.