Sports

Crawley stun Leeds as Spurs, Man City and Chelsea advance

Crawley stun Leeds as Spurs, Man City and Chelsea advance

By Reuters

Chelsea's Timo Werner scores their first goal during FA Cup Third Round match between Chelsea and Morecambe, at Stamford Bridge, in London, Britain, on January 10, 2021. Photo: Action Images via Reuters

MANCHESTER: Premier League Leeds United suffered the biggest upset of the FA Cup third round when they fell to a 3-0 defeat by fourth-tier Crawley Town on Sunday but Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed a 5-0 win at minnows Marine AFC. Manchester City and Chelsea also eased through with comfortable victories against lower-league opponents but Brighton and Hove Albion needed penalties to win at fourth-tier Newport County. A brilliant solo strike from Nick Tsaroulla in the 50th minute put League Two Crawley in front after a first half in which Leeds had caused them few problems. Three minutes later the West Sussex club were 2-0 up after an error from Leeds keeper Kiko Casilla who let an Ashley Nadesan shot squeeze in at the near post. The impressive Nadesan had a hand in Crawley's third when his low shot was parried out by Casilla, only for Jordan Tunnicliffe to pounce and drill the ball home. Crawley's best run in the FA Cup came in 2012, when they reached the fifth round -- the only other time they have made it past the third round. Jose Mourinho's Tottenham travelled to Merseyside to face eighth-tier Marine, no doubt with some degree of trepidation given the Cup has never produced a bigger mismatch. The part-timers play in the Northern Premier League, Division One North West, 161 places below Spurs in the English football pyramid. COVID-19 restrictions denied Marine fans the chance to see the club's biggest ever match but some supporters were able to get close to the action -- watching from their back gardens which overlook the tiny ground. The non-league side nearly gave Spurs a shock in the 20th minute when Neil Kengni struck the bar with a long-range effort which former England keeper Joe Hart opted to leave only for the ball to dip late and strike the woodwork. Yet four minutes later Carlos Vinicius opened the scoring and quickly added a second -- both finishes coming from close-range. Another Brazilian, Lucas Moura, then curled in a free kick for the third before Vinicius completed his hat-trick in the 37th minute with a left-footed curler. Alfie Devine came on as a substitute at the break to become Spurs' youngest player at 16 years and 163 days old and scored on the hour with a well-taken strike that zipped in the near post. NARROW ESCAPE Brighton narrowly avoided another upset as they needed penalties to beat League Two Newport County in South Wales. Solly March looked to have won the game with a fine strike in the 90th minute but Brighton keeper Jason Steele made a mess of a cross in the sixth minute of stoppage time and the ball flew in off Albion defender Adam Webster. But, after extra time stayed goalless, Steele made amends with four excellent saves in the shootout and Webster too redeemed himself with the winning spot-kick. Bernardo Silva scored two goals and Phil Foden another as Manchester City strolled to a 3-0 win over Championship (second-tier) Birmingham City. Portuguese midfielder Silva scored his first goal at the Etihad Stadium in over a year when he fired the ball into the top corner in the eighth minute after Birmingham defender George Friend failed to clear. Silva doubled City's lead seven minutes later, finishing off a brilliant team move with a simple tap-in and Foden made it 3-0 before the break with a low strike from outside the box. Frank Lampard's Chelsea were also up against League Two opposition but avoided any embarrassment with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Morecambe. Mason Mount gave Chelsea an early lead at Stamford Bridge with a sweetly struck shot from outside the box and German striker Timo Werner scored his first goal in two months with a simple tap-in before the break. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz also got their names on the scoresheet as Chelsea secured their first win in four games in all competitions. Championship club Barnsley beat League Two Tranmere Rovers 2-0 while Bristol City, also of the Championship, needed an 83rd-minute goal from Chris Martin to beat League One (third tier) Portsmouth 2-1.