MY ACCOUNT
A thrilling FA Cup third round saw eight Premier League sides dumped out — the most at this stage for 15 years.
League Two Stevenage toppled Aston Villa, Newcastle were sent packing by Sheffield Wednesday of League One, while Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth lost to Championship opposition.
National League Wrexham also handed an upset to second-tier Coventry as Manchester City piled more misery on Chelsea by beating them 4-0.
With Premier League leaders Arsenal hoping to avoid slipping up against third-tier Oxford tonight, we pick out the stars of the FA Cup third round so far.
Anass Zaroury (Burnley)
Perhaps the least surprising upset of the weekend saw Championship high-flyers Burnley knock out Bournemouth, who are struggling badly in the top fight.
Vincent Kompany’s men were the better team throughout the clash at the Vitality Stadium, with Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury’s display a real standout.
After Ryan Christie cancelled out Manuel Benson’s opener, Zaroury was on hand to finish off a fine team move and put the Clarets 2-1 up in the first half.
His second of the afternoon was all his own making as he cleverly combined with Josh Brownhill inside the box before lashing in the finish before the break.
The highly-rated 22-year-old could easily have completed his hat-trick in the second half but for a fine stop from Mark Travers, but Benson netted his second moments later to complete an impressive 4-2 victory.
Ian Poveda (Blackpool)
Blackpool were the next to deal out a humbling for the top flight as they dismantled a much-changed Nottingham Forest 4-1 at Bloomfield Road.
In a Tangerines display with plenty of positives, it is Ian Poveda who earns a place in this list for his influential showing.
The Leeds loanee thrived in a No10 role against Steve Coooper’s men, firing home his side’s second of the afternoon — and his first since arriving at the Seasiders.
Later teeing up Jerry Yates to score Blackpool’s fourth, pundit Stephen Warnock was left purring at the 22-year-old’s performance.
Warnock said on Match of the Day: “His footwork for the goal, the calmness, outstanding. The speed with which he attacks, weight of pass, hungry to win the ball back.
“He is that type of player where he can frustrate you one game, and the next — everything can go right.”
Josh Windass (Sheffield Wednesday)
An inspired display by League One promotion contenders Sheffield Wednesday saw them claim the scalp of high-flying Premier League side Newcastle.
A Magpies XI boasting the likes of Alexander Isak, Sven Botman and Joelinton were turned over by the Owls thanks to two strikes from Josh Windass.
After a goalless but eventful first half, Windass got the final touch of a lovely move early in the second half before clinically finishing past Martin Dubravka for the second time 13 minutes later.
Substitute Bruno Guimaraes halved the deficit to set up a nervy finish but Darren Moore’s men held on for a memorable victory.
Struggling to hear the question during his post-match interview inside a raucous Hillsborough, Windass remarked: “I honestly don’t know what you just said.
“It was enjoyable. We’ve been on a good run of form so, yeah, tonight was no different. It’s always nice to score, I’ve been in good form, so it’s nice to score.”
Thomas O’Connor (Wrexham)
The Saturday thrills continued as Wrexham came out on top of a Hollywood-worthy seven-goal thriller at Coventry.
Efforts from Sam Dalby, Elliot Lee, Thomas O’Connor and Paul Mullin saw the National League’s second-placed side extraordinarily race into a 4-1 lead.
Viktor Gyokeres and Kasey Palmer scored for the Sky Blues to set up a nervy finish despite Jonathan Panzo’s red card, but the North Wales outfit held on for a superb win in front of owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny.
Again, it seems harsh to single out just one individual display but it was Irish midfielder O’Connor who takes a place on this list.
The ex-Southampton youngster ensured the Red Dragons went into the break with a two-goal advantage, leaping to put his side 3-1 up in the sixth minute of stoppage time during a lively display in the West Midlands.
Dean Campbell (Stevenage)
Perhaps the biggest shock of the round was saved until late in the weekend as Stevenage scored two goals in the final three minutes to stun a side 59 places above them in the English football pyramid in Aston Villa.
Unai Emery’s side looked to be cruising at Villa Park despite enjoying a slender advantage through Morgan Sanson’s effort, but substitute Dean Campbell’s crucial contribution off the bench stunned the home crowd.
Introduced with less than half an hour to play, the 21-year-old stole the ball from Leander Dendoncker before forcing a foul inside the box — allowing fellow subsitute Jamie Reid to equalise in the 88th minute.
Boro’s tails were up from that point and some quick thinking from a corner caught Villa out again, allowing Campbell the opportunity to find the winner which he took in emphatic style with a fierce strike past Robin Olsen.
Sparking bedlam among the 3,000-strong travelling support, Campbell’s first ever goal for the Hertfordshire side was one that wrote his name into the club’s history.
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
It is a more established player who rounds things off as Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez put Chelsea to the sword for the second time within a week.
The Algerian had already scored the winner off the bench at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League last Thursday, before doing the damage from the start this time with two goals.
His stunning free-kick to put City 1-0 up was undoubtedly one of the goals of the round and he also netted his side’s fourth from the spot late on to pile the pressure on Blues boss Graham Potter.
Citizens manager Pep Guardiola said: “The quality of Riyad is everything. He loves to play football, he helped us to play the game.
“It was really good. It was a fantastic free-kick. He played an outstanding game.”
