Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Andy Pakes previews this Sunday afternoon clash in the first edition of Game of the Week for 2012
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
Man Utd themselves suffered a scare, finding themselves 1-0 down at half-time to League One’s Southampton, but goals from Owen and Hernandez saw them safely through.
A similar pattern occurred in ties involving the other premiership title challengers, as Arsenal relied on a late Fabregas penalty to see off Huddersfield and Chelsea and Man City pinched late equalisers against Everton and Notts County respectively.
The only other draw of the round occurred at the Reebok, where Bolton and Wigan played out a 0-0 draw. Ironically, five of the six teams involved in draws were Premiership teams, for whom the prospect of a replay is often considered worse than being knocked-out.
In the other all-Premiership ties, there were victories for Aston Villa over Blackburn, in which multiple F.A. Cup winner Robert Pires scored his first goal for Villa, and Stoke over Wolves, who had Thomas Sorensen to thank for an injury-time penalty save.
Perhaps the biggest shock of the round took place in the other all-premiership tie, where Fulham humbled Tottenham 4-0. In a disastrous opening fifteen minutes, Spurs managed to concede two penalties – both converted by former player Danny Murphy - and have Michael Dawson sent-off, and by half-time it was already 4-0.
Other shocks included League One’s Brighton, following on from their excellent league form, with a 1-0 victory over Championship club Watford and League One Leyton Orient triumphing 2-1 over Championship promotion candidates Swansea thanks to a late own-goal conceded by Captain Alan Tate. Orient will face fellow North London club Arsenal in the 5th round.
There were near misses for Coventry, who found themselves 2-0 up at Birmingham only to lose 3-2, and Nottingham Forest, who pushed West Ham all the way but ultimately lost 3-2, with Victor Obinna scoring the only hat-trick of round. There was no further success for third-round giant killers Stevenage, who lost 2-1 to Reading, and there was to be no shock victory either for the other League Two outfits Hereford and Burton Albion, who lost to Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley respectively.
FA Cup fifth round draw (to be played 19th/20th February):
West Ham vs Burnley
Notts County/Manchester City vs Aston Villa
Stoke City vs Brighton
Birmingham vs Sheffield Wednesday
Leyton Orient vs Arsenal
Everton/Chelsea vs Reading
Manchester United vs Crawley Town
Fulham vs Bolton/Wigan
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