FA Cup Fourth Round draw

Poignant SG

Only Birmingham and Portsmouth must try again, against their Championship opposition of Nottingham Forest and Coventry respectively, but Manchester City, Everton and Tottenham all won.

Difficult, snowy conditions at the Riverside Stadium made conditions bad for both Middlesbrough and Manchester City, not that the visitor's minded, defeating their Championship opposition 1-0 with a strike from Benjani just on half time.

Financially troubled Portsmouth fell behind at Fratton Park to Coventry, but hit back on the stroke of half-time through Kevin-Prince Boateng to force a replay.

Burnley were 2-0 up by half time at MK Dons, with goals from Graham Alexander and Steven Fletcher, although Paul Ince's League One side did score a last minute consolation.

Nottingham Forest and Birmingham played out a goalless draw at the City ground as defensives stood firm. However, Robert Earnshaw did waste a golden opportunity to embarrass the visitor's when he blazed a second half penalty over the crossbar.

Managerless Bolton shrugged off losing their manager this week with a comprehensive thumping of League Two Lincoln 4-0 at the Reebok Stadium, all the strikes coming in the second half.

In the other all Premiership clash, Aston Villa recorded a 3-1 win over Blackburn, who had El-Hadji Diouf sent off in the first half for a lunging challenge on Habib Beye.

Rovers had a marvellous chance to draw level but David Dunne missed a penalty.

Both side's will now change their attention to their Carling Cup semi-final next week and named changed sides.

Everton meanwhile made hard work of seeing off League One side Carlisle at Goodison Park before eventually recording a 3-1 win.

Fulham go through to the next round thanks to a 1-0 hone win over Swindon Town and it was their in-form striker Bobby Zamora who scored the only goal.

The other all Premiership clash saw strugglers Hull and Wigan meet at the DW Stadium and despite the Tigers leading at half time, it was Wigan who roared back after the break to win 4-1.

York had their two minutes of fame as they took the lead against Stoke City before the Potters rallied to beat the non-league outfit 3-1.

The game had been delayed by half-an-hour due to the visitors' coach being held up in traffic due to the bad weather conditions.

Tottenham eased into the fourth round after a convincing 4-0 victory over Peterborough United at White Hart Lane as Niko Kranjcar scored twice.

Jermain Defoe netted on 70 minutes and Robbie Keane converted a last-minute penalty.

Sunderland ensured there were no upsets at the Stadium of Light as they disposed of Conference side Barrow 3-0.

Poignant SG

FA Cup results

Tottenham Hotspur beat Championship strugglers Peterborough United 4-0 as the FA Cup exploded into action with a goal fest in round three.

The Premier League clubs signaled their intention to dominate the competition once again as dreams of a giant killing were slayed.

Peterborough had never beaten their high-flying opponents and failed to break their duck at White Hart Lane as Niko Kranjcar, Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane secured safe passage for Harry Redknapp’s side.

It would have taken a performance of biblical proportions for David to beat Goliath at the Stadium of Light after non-league Barrow were drawn against Premiership Sunderland.

The Blue Square Premier outfit were given a dream draw against Steve Bruce’s side but fell behind early on to a Steed Malbranque goal.

With only one defeat in their last 17 games, Barrow gave a good account of themselves but fell further behind after half time through Fraizer Campbell.

The former Manchester United striker had only scored one goal for his new club before the match but bagged his second of the day on the hour mark as Sunderland’s class paid dividends.

Everton hosted League One Carlisle United at Goodison Park hoping a cup win could kick-start their stuttering Premiership campaign.

David Moyes’ side took the lead through James Vaughan early on but Carlisle were up for a scrap and leveled through Kevan Hurst just minutes later.

But Everton booked their place in the next round in the closing stages as Tim Cahill and a Leighton Baines penalty secured victory.

Portsmouth, winners of the competition in 2008 welcomed Coventry City to the south coast but honors were even after a bruising battle at Fratton Park.

Avram Grant’s side fell behind to a David Bell goal on the half hour mark but were level before the interval through thanks to Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Coventry looked to take advantage against a Portsmouth side low on confidence and dominated the second period but were forced to settle for a replay.

Burnley secured their place in the next round with a 2-1 over Paul Ince’s MK Dons.

Graham Alexander opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Steven Fletcher doubled their advantage ten minutes before the interval.

A Dean Morgan goal on 89 minutes ensured an uncomfortable finish for Owen Coyle but the Premier League side held on for a place in round four.

Manager-less Bolton Wanderers hosted Lincoln City at the Reebok Stadium and failed to break down the League Two side in the first half.

But they were in front just minutes after the restart courtesy of the unfortunate Moses Swaibu, who put through his own net on 49 minutes.

Things got worse for the visitors within a minute as Chung-Yong Lee turned in to double the home side’s advantage.

A place in round four was secured in the closing stages as Gary Cahill and Mark Davies secured a 4-0 win.

Fulham made hard work of League One Swindon Town at Craven Cottage.

In-form Bobby Zamora opened the scoring early on but Town keeper David Lucas kept his side in the tie after saving an Andrew Johnson penalty on the hour mark.

But one goal proved enough for Roy Hodgson’s side who are in the hat for round four.

The Premier League’s form side Birmingham City traveled to Nottingham Forest looking for cup success.

After a goalless first half Forest were given a penalty but Robert Earnshaw failed to find the back of the net from 12 yards.

Kevin Phillips looked lively for Alex McLeish’s men but couldn’t break the deadlock at the City Ground.

[email protected]_Devils.com SG

Leeds has taken the lead in the 19th minute at old trafford.

Man united 0 Leeds 1

Beckford the scorer.

zocoss SG

Funeral atmosphere: Only 5,335 fans turned up for Wigan's FA Cup clash against Hull

They normally have to find room on the touchlines when their teams take part in the most famous competition in football.

But on Saturday Wigan mascot Stripey and Hull City counterpart Roary could take their pick of the best seats at the DW Stadium for an FA Cup third-round tie that attracted only 5,335 fans despite being an all-Premier League affair. And it was not only at Wigan that the magic of the Cup was in desperately short supply.

Only 7,621 watched Preston North End thrash Colchester United 7-0, Sheffield Wednesday's gate of 8,690 against Crystal Palace was nearly 14,000 down on their average and Portsmouth, who are desperate for funds and could have done with a bumper turn-out against Coventry City, saw a mere 11,214 supporters go through the Fratton Park turnstiles.

Wigan's average home attendance in the Premier League this season has been around 18,000 but they got nowhere near those dizzy heights for yesterday's clash with fellow relegation strugglers Hull.

Wigan ran out 4-1 victors but, having had pitiful ticket sales ahead of the game, the club opted to close the South Stand.

The funeral atmosphere did little to improve the mood of under-fire Hull manager Phil Brown. 'I was a bit surprised the crowd was so low,' he said.

Comical: The mascots have the pick of the seats as Wigan take on Hull

Atrocious weather all week and more snow falling before kick-off prompted Wigan manager Roberto Martinez to say: 'I don't blame anyone for not taking the risk.

'The Premier League is the best in the world but can be expensive for fans and you can understand people not coming after our game with Manchester United earlier in the week.'

zocoss SG

Arsenal are losing 1 - 0 to West Ham... Hope they can make a come back soon...

mrwonderful SG

West Ham play like Arsenal. Both trying to dribble into the net.

And you can see from this match Arsenal is really dependent on Fabregas. Fabegras has the pace, vision and shooting ability to be the one man difference.