Stevenage shocks Aston Villa in the FA Cup as more Premier League teams lose
One of the biggest FA Cup upsets in recent memory arrived in the most spectacular way possible when Aston Villa became the latest Premier League team to lose in the third round on a “magical” weekend.
On Sunday, League Two team Stevenage stunned their opponents by scoring twice in the closing two minutes to defeat Aston Villa and go to the fourth round.
Since the Premier League’s establishment in 1992, an unprecedented amount of clubs are now assured of being eliminated from the competition before the end of the regular season.
One more Premier League club will undoubtedly be eliminated when Liverpool and Wolves play their game on Thursday. Eight Premier League clubs have already been eliminated from this year’s third round.
The number of top division teams quitting at the first hurdle will be at its highest since 2007–08, the only other season since 1992 to have as many as nine sides fall.
In addition, the 2007–08 season marked the final time a team from the lower divisions of English football advanced to the FA Cup final.
The league’s top team, Arsenal, will travel to League One opponent Oxford United on Monday night in an effort to avoid Villa’s fate, while Leeds United will play Cardiff City in a Championship playoff replay.
View all of the most recent FA Cup highlights and responses here.
“It’s what dreams are made of,” exclaims a “big-hearted” Stevenage after shocking Villa
Unai Emery, the manager of Villa and a four-time Europa League champion, made it clear this week that he was preparing his team with the goal of winning the tournament.
It was Stevenage manager Steve Evans and his squad who were left celebrating with their traveling supporters amid ecstatic scenes at full-time in a surprising ending to Sunday’s match, which demonstrated the FA Cup’s propensity to surprise remains alive and well.
For the players, the chairman, and the town of Stevenage, it is “amazing,” according to Evans.
The FA Cup is “what dreams are made of,” he continued, “to see over 3,000 fans here and winning the manner we did.”
“Making ensuring we were still in the game at 75 minutes was the weekly goal. In the event that we were, I would be able to use the boys with hearts the size of Big Ben since I knew we had an extraordinarily fit squad.”
Emery selected seasoned players like Danny Ings and Philippe Coutinho in his starting lineup despite Villa’s appalling recent FA Cup record, which includes eight straight losses.
He wasn’t by himself, but After 65 minutes, a furious Coutinho left the game with one shot on goal after making a match-high five efforts, and Stevenage’s official Twitter account couldn’t help but poke fun at him in his farewell message.
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Plenty of surprises, but which caught you off guard the most?
A fantastic weekend of FA Cup third-round action was capped off by Stevenage’s stunning upset victory over a team 59 league spots higher than them.
They are the first fourth-tier team to defeat a Premier League team in an away FA Cup match since Oldham eliminated Fulham four years ago.
On Saturday, lower-league opposition also defeated Premier League teams Bournemouth, Newcastle United, and Nottingham Forest.
battlers in the second tier Blackpool thrashed Forest 4-1, Burnley, the league’s top team, won 4-2 against Bournemouth, and Newcastle, the third-placed team in the Premier League, lost 2-1 against League One club Sheffield Wednesday.
In addition to competing with the Premier League losers, non-league team Wrexham also staked a claim to the biggest upset of the round.
For the first time since 2000, the National League team—owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney from Hollywood—easily defeated Championship team Coventry in a seven-goal thriller.
Though there are many options, which result startled you the most? Comment down below.
