The Romance Of the Cup is Still Alive
The third round of the FA Cup has become famous for its upsets down through the years and although they were few and far between this year, those that managed to pull off shocks, proved that the romance of the cup is still alive. This time it was the turn of Luton and Macclesfield Town to have their moment in the limelight. Both non-league sides managed to take out Championship opposition on their way to famous victories. With 18 Premier League teams still in the draw for the fourth round (albeit there are a few replays to be played), both non league clubs will have pleased the football traditionalists.
Luton managed to overcome a Wolves side who saw their manager sacked after their side's disastrous result. Macclesfield were one nil down until two goals in the last five minutes saw they them overcome the Championship leaders, Cardiff City in what was certainly the result of the round. The hero on the day was Matthew Barnes-Homer who is his side's top scorer with 15 goals this season. His 88th minute penalty was enough to send Macclesfield through to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history. Their reward is a home tie against the winners of the Bournemouth - Wigan replay. While Luton will have their big day out when they travel to face Premiership side, Norwich City.
Newcastle Looking Increasingly Like a Championship Side
When Mike Ashley decided to hand Alan Pardew an eight year contract back in September, you just knew it wasn't going to end well. Pardew chose to play a second string side against the Championship's, Brighton and it came back to haunt him when his side were rightfully dumped out of the cup. Brighton dominated the game from the first whistle and in truth looked like the Premiership side. Newcastle's performance was bereft of any real quality which will be very worrying for all Geordie fans. The game should have been seen as the ideal opportunity for some of the fringe players to stake a claim for a run in the Premiership but instead they only further damaged their already secondary reputation.
Those that made the the 700 mile round trip to Brighton will have been left feeling robbed of their time and their money. Deep down Pardew will probably be happy that his side are out of the cup as he clearly doesn't have the squad to compete in the league, in Europe as well as the cup. All season he has been using the excuse that his side are drained following their Europa League exploits but if you look at the team that starts the midweek game in Europe and compare it to the one that plays in the league at the weekend, you will only see a handful of the same names. Newcastle currently sit in 15th positon of the league, just one point outside of the relegation zone. They are due to welcome some key players back from injury and should have enough quality to avoid the drop. But they will be thankful that there are worse teams than them in the league this season because at the moment they are playing like a struggling Championship side.
Demba Ba Makes Instant Impact at Chelsea
With a continuing misfiring Fernando Torres sat on the bench for the trip to the south coast on Saturday, it was up to Chelsea's new £7 million signing Demba Ba to lead the line. It took him all of 35 minutes to open his Chelsea account after scrambling the ball over the line from all of a yard out. With a £7 million release clause in the former Newcastle striker's contract, it was a no brainer that one of the top clubs would come in for him. Having proved that his now infamous knee injury can be managed to devastating effect, Torres may have to get comfortable on the bench for a while yet.
It remains to be seen however, how much time Demba Ba will be given from the start. With Abramovich calling the shots at Stamford Bridge, he will have the overriding say if his £50 million striker is first choice or not. Ba seems like the ideal man to lead the line at Chelsea for the remainder of the season, at least until Falcao joins as expected in the summer. Ba has 13 league goals already to his name with Newcastle, a side that has been struggling for the majority of the season. With the likes of Mata and Hazard supplying him at Chelsea, the Senegalese international is well on his way to surpassing last season's tally of 16 league goals. With two goals on his debut, he has given both Abramovich and Benitez the ideal headache selection for the upcoming fixtures.
United Heavily Reliant on van Persie... Again
When Man United splashed £22.5 million on Robin van Persie during the summer, the majority felt that it was money well spent. There were the usual cynics who felt that he wouldn't be fit for long enough to make a lasting impression at Old Trafford. Fast forward 5 months and the Dutchman has been an instant hit at his new home. In 26 games he has scored a staggering 20 goals. 16 of these have come in the league which sees him sit on top of the Premier League goal scoring charts. Without RVP's goals, United would be languishing in 12th position of the league and out of the FA Cup. A stat which speaks volumes of how important he has become to United in such a short period of time.
With Rooney out injured and Hernandez having an unusually quiet evening, Alex Ferguson was forced to play his trump card against West Ham on Saturday. In his 20 minute cameo he had just one clear cut opportunity but that was all he needed. The ball from Giggs was one of the best you'll see this season but van Persie's deft touch and rifled finish was every bit as good. On his so called 'weaker' right foot, he smashed the ball past the hapless Jussi Jääskeläinen, thus earning his side a valuable reply at Old Trafford. Ferguson will have been left disappointed that the side he put out didn't have enough to win the game but will be delighted that he had a player of van Persie's quality to call on in their time of need.
Luis Suarez Continues To Make The Headlines
The enigma that is Liverpool's Luis Suarez is never far from the headlines. In recent times he has been making them for all the right reasons, having scored 15 league goals already. On Sunday however, he returned to the back pages for all the wrong reasons. We've all seen his goal against Mansfield a million times over at this stage but the reaction of the sporting world has been incredible. Without condoning Suarez's handball, the critics need to take a collective deep breath and consider the situation if the roles were reversed.
The Mansfield manager Paul Cox was very dignified in his post match press conference and admitted that he "could be two faced on the incident" in saying that he would have taken Suarez's goal had it come for his side. It is up to him to play to the referee's whistle. Yes of course he could have pulled a Miroslav Klose and admitted that he handled the ball but that is another matter entirely. The fact remains that the goal sent Liverpool through to the fourth round and although any non-Liverpool fan will once again be calling for the Uruguayan's head, he's been through it all before. As Brendan Rodgers put it "he has thick skin" and will continue to do what he does best - putting the ball in the back of the net.
