The Emirates FA Cup third round is always one of the best days of the footballing calendar, and so it proved in the 2018 edition with a healthy portion of giant-killings.
The draw for the fourth round will take place on Monday, and it will contain plenty of surprises as well as many teams with all to play for in their replays.
Here’s our pick of the five big shocks of the day.
Coventry 2-1 Stoke City
Jordan Willis got the Sky Blues’ opener and Charlie Adam equalised for the Premier League outfit from the spot, but Jack Grimmer was on hand to hit a 69th-minute winner and send the home fans into raptures.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes is said to be under pressure at the helm for Stoke, and the Sky Blues did him no favours on Saturday afternoon.
Aston Villa 1-3 Peterborough United
It was also an unforgettable day for Peterborough fans after their side struck three late goals at Villa Park to dump the claret and blues out of the Cup.
Championship side Villa led for most of the match through Keinan Davis’ eighth-minute goal, but Boro looked dangerous throughout – with Jack Marriott, Danny Lloyd and Marcus Maddison all testing Jed Steer in the Villa net.
Marriott grabbed the equaliser in the 75th minute and then Posh fans had 15 minutes to remember as Ryan Tafazolli edged them ahead before Marriott wrapped things up in injury-time.
AFC Bournemouth 2-2 Wigan Athletic
There was pure drama on the south coast as Premier League side Bournemouth needed an injury-time equaliser to prevent a third round proper exit.
Wigan, winners of the Emirates FA Cup in 2013, took the lead inside five minutes through Will Grigg’s neat finish, before Nick Powell’s free-kick deflected off Emerson Hyndman to get the travelling fans dreaming.
But Eddie Howe’s men rallied after the break and got back in it with Lys Mousset’s score on 55 minutes, and completed the turnaround in the 92nd minute when Steve Cook leaped high to power in a header from six yards out.
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 MK Dons
Championship outfit QPR are out of the Emirates FA Cup this season after they went down to a gritty performance from League One MK Dons.
The Hoops are in good form in the league and named a strong side for this one, but were undone by Ousseynou Cisse’s fantastic second-half curled effort – consigning Ian Holloway to a seventh defeat in his last eight third round proper ties.
Fleetwood Town 0-0 Leicester City
The Cod Army can look forward to an away day in the Midlands as their side put in a strong display to hold Premier League Leicester to a 0-0 draw.
Former Fleetwood man Jamie Vardy will have wanted to feature in this one but had to watch on from the stands due to injury, as Leicester were outplayed for large periods.
Fleetwood have never been beyond the third round proper but will be looking forward to the replay with bucket-loads of excitement.
