The Malta Independent 6 August 2026, Thursday
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West Ham, Man Utd humbled in FA Cup

Malta Independent Sunday, 5 January 2014, 18:15 Last update: about 14 years ago

Manchester United and West Ham paid a heavy price for fielding weakened teams in the FA Cup when they were knocked out in the third round on Sunday, while Chelsea and Liverpool advanced relatively comfortably.

Swansea capitalized on the 80th-minute sending-off of substitute Fabio Da Silva by scoring in the last minute through Wilfried Bony in a 2-1 win at United, the latest setback for David Moyes in his turbulent first season with the English champions.

However, Chelsea had no problem seeing off second-tier opposition, defeating Derby 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by John Obi Mikel and Oscar, and Sunderland beat third-tier Carlisle 3-1.

Later Sunday, third-tier Oldham looks to beat Liverpool for the second straight year in the world's oldest club knockout competition and Manchester United hosts fellow Premier League side Swansea.

With his squad hit by injury and the first leg of a League Cup semifinal against Manchester City to come on Wednesday, West Ham manager Sam Allardyce fielded an unrecognizable starting XI that was humbled at The City Ground.

Djamel Abdoun's goal gave Forest a 1-0 lead at halftime before Jamie Paterson scored a hat trick and Andy Reid completed the humiliation with the fifth in injury time.

West Ham's lineup further highlights the FA Cup's increasing lack of appeal in the eyes of many top clubs but Allardyce made no apologies, even though the humiliating result will pile the pressure on him after his team's poor start to the season. West Ham is next to last in the Premier League after 20 games.

"We had a huge amount of problems in terms of the available members of the squad so I've got to keep them intact, that's a major priority," Allardyce said.

"Many, many managers have changed the team in all divisions, but my changes had to be severe. I didn't want it to be but it had to be."

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho also rested many of his top players, and his weakened team relied on a much-improved second-half display to ultimately see off Derby with some ease at Pride Park.

Mikel headed home Willian's devilish free kick in the 66th minute for only his fourth goal for Chelsea in 300 appearances, before Brazil playmaker Oscar struck a fierce shot in at the near post five minutes later.

Chelsea will host Stoke in the fourth round while Sunderland will play either Kidderminster or Peterborough thanks to goals from Adam Johnson and El Hadji Ba and an own goal by Sean O'Hanlon against Carlisle.

 
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