New Telegraph

Blackpool shock West Brom in FA Cup shootout

•Wins for Leicester, Everton

 

Sam Allardyce’s nightmare start to his reign as West Brom manager continued as his former club Blackpool knocked the Baggies out of the FA Cup on penalties.

 

Twice the League One club led as Jerry Yates swept in Bez Lubala’s cross from close range and Gary Madine stroked into the bottom corner from 20 yards, reports the BBC. Semi Ajayi’s header and Matheus Pereira’s penalty, awarded for an Ollie Turton handball, forced extra time. But Chris Maxwell saved three shootout spot-kicks to send Blackpool through.

 

And Everton needed an extratime winner from Abdoulaye Doucoure to finally see off Championship side Rotherham and reach round four of the FA Cup. The Premier League side – featuring the likes of James Rodriguez and Lucas Digne – led through Cenk Tosun. A VAR call denied Tosun a second at the death but substitute Doucoure steered home a winner early in extra time.

 

It was tough on Rotherham, who  would have earned a replay after it was level at the end of normal time were it not for the need for FA Cup ties to be resolved in one match this year – meaning no replays – as a result of Covid-19’s impact on the football calendar.

 

However, Leicester reached the FA Cup fourth round with an emphatic win at Stoke, in which former Super Eagles skipper, John Mikel Obi failed to shine.

 

Even without Jamie Vardy and James Maddison, a strong Foxes side displayed too much quality for the Championship side. James Justin’s superb effort into the top right corner set them on their way before Marc Albrighton, Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes added to their tally.

 

Stoke’s best chance fell to Sam Vokes with the score at 0-0 but he blazed a volley over from close range.

 

While Michael O’Neill’s Stoke side acquitted themselves well and at times troubled the visitors from set-pieces, there was a noticeable gulf between them and a Leicester side occupying third place in the Premier League.

Read Previous

WAFU B Cup: Eaglets on verge of elimination

Read Next

NPFL: Akwa Utd compound Amapakabo’s woes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *