FA Cup scores, results: Arsenal stunned by Nottingham Forest; Tottenham, Liverpool overcome shaky starts

Sunday saw most many Premier League sides take part in the third round of the FA Cup play. While plenty big names struggled, they ultimately found their way. Well… except for one. Unlike a Saturday of cupsets, Sunday’s FA Cup fixtures were more cut and dried, with home sides winning every fixture but one and the side in a higher tier also advancing in all matches but one. The one exception? Arsenal, currently fourth in the Premier League, were stunned late by Championship side Nottingham Forest.

Let’s recap the day’s action.

FA Cup scores:

Luton Town 4, Harrogate Town 0
Stoke City 2, Leyton Orient 0
Cardiff City 2, Preston 1
Charlton 0, Norwich City 1
Wolves 3, Sheffield United 0
West Ham 2, Leeds United 0
Tottenham 3, Morecambe 1
Liverpool 4, Shrewsbury 1
Nottingham Forest 1, Arsenal 0

Match of the day: Nottingham Forest 1, Arsenal 0

Just when it didn’t seem like there would be any upsets, Lewis Grabban was sure to bring the entertainment with a late winner for Nottingham Forest to knock Arsenal out of the FA cup. It capped off a disappointing day for the Gunners who rotated a little but did play a team strong enough to expect to win. Right out of the gate, Bernd Leno had to scramble to stop a good Forest attack and Arsenal never settled into the game. 

Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli had about four chances between them in the first half but were unable to get anything from it. While some of this was due to the defensive shifts from James Garner and Steve Cook, Arsenal expected to transition their good form to this competition. Even after Grabban got his goal in the 83rd minute, he almost had another to put things out of sight but Ben White was there to clean things up.

Tottenham, Liverpool overcome shaky starts

In a match that was closer than the scoreline suggested, Liverpool’s rotated cast went behind early to Shrewsbury Town of League One. Daniel Udoh scored the opener in the 27th minute as the Reds got off to a shaky start. Shrewsbury’s cohesion was giving Liverpool fits as Udoh scored the opener from close range. After Cole Kelleher staved off a few more attacks, Kaide Gordon scored his first senior goal for Liverpool, capping off a good team goal. Shrewsbury thought they were ahead again as Ryan Bowman had the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out due to offsides. 

A handball in the box from Ethan Ebanks-Landell would lead to a penalty smashed home by Fabinho and it was off to the races. Takumi Minamino came on for max Woltman at half followed by Roberto Firmino joining the action around 60 minutes. Soon after his introduction, Firmino got into his bag of tricks to place a back-heel goal into the net for a 3-1 lead. Fabinho would close out the scoring in the 90th minute for an unlikely brace but despite the scoreline.

Also struggling with a rotated cast, Tottenham went behind in the 33rd minute to Leauge One side Morecambe. Anthony O’Connor got the opener in the 33rd minute as Spurs’ set play defense continued to struggle. After going behind, it didn’t seem like Spurs even wanted to get into the game prior to a triple substitution in the 69th minute. Bryan Gil, Tanguy Ndombele, and Dele Alli would leave the pitch to boos. Ndombele also went right down the tunnel making you wonder if this may be his final action in a Spurs shirt. Regulars Oliver Skipp, Lucas Moura, and Harry Kane were added to immediately raise the effort level. Only five minutes later, things would be leveled as Harry Winks curled in the unlikeliest of free kicks. Shooting from a wide position, the kick looped over Trevor Carson’s head to bring things 1-1.

An always relentless presser, Lucas Moura would create and score the go-ahead goal picking the ball off of Shane McLoughlin and putting it into the back of the net. Kane finished things off to make sure that Winks wasn’t the only Harry on the scoresheet. But while Spurs pulled off the victory, this is another match that shows why Antonio Conte has a lack of trust with the reserves available to him.

West Ham and Wolves took care of business, both winning by multiple goals.

Debut to remember: D’Margio Wright-Phillips, Stoke City

The son of Shaun Wright-Phillips made his debut today in Stoke City’s 2-0 victory over Leyton Orient. While he didn’t get on the scoresheet, being Ian Wright’s grandson, goal-scoring is in the blood as Wright-Phillips has been performing well for Stoke City’s U-23 side. Hopefully, there will be more to come from him in the future.

Fourth-round draw

The draw for the fourth round also took place Sunday, and will give us the following fixtures to look forward to

• Crystal Palace vs. Hartlepool United
• AFC Bournemouth vs. Boreham Wood
• Huddersfield Town vs. Barnsley
• Peterborough United vs. Queens Park Rangers
• Cambridge United vs. Luton Town
• Southampton vs. Coventry City
• Chelsea vs. Plymouth Argyle
• Everton vs. Brentford
• Kidderminster Harriers vs. West Ham United
• Manchester United or Aston Villa vs. Middlesbrough
• Tottenham Hotspur vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
• Liverpool vs. Cardiff City
• Stoke City vs. Wigan Athletic
• Nottingham Forest vs. Leicester City
• Manchester City vs. Fulham
• Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Norwich City