Newcastle’s elimination was a big surprise, with Josh Windass scoring for Sheffield Wednesday in the 52nd and 65th minutes before Bruno Guimaraes pulled one back in the 69th.
All Whites striker Chris Wood was presented with the perfect opportunity to level the scores but blasted a one-on-one chance over the crossbar.
Newcastle have now advanced beyond the fourth round of the FA Cup only once since 2006 — in the 2019-20 season.
The early exit at least allows Newcastle to concentrate on finishing in the Champions League qualification positions in the league. The team don’t have European competitions to deal with, either.
Kompany’s Cup links
The last time Vincent Kompany was seen in the FA Cup, he was lifting the trophy at Wembley Stadium on his final appearance for Manchester City after their 6-0 win over Watford in the title match.
Now back in English football as manager of Burnley, he is making more memories in the famous old competition.
His team’s 4-2 win at Bournemouth didn’t come as a big surprise, given Burnley are top of the Championship and only five places lower in the pyramid.
“I think you treat the FA Cup the same as the league,” the former Belgium international said. “There wasn’t too much consideration on workload because the games were sufficiently apart. We felt we wanted to do well in the competition.”
In the other upset of the day, Forest were beaten at Blackpool 4-1.
World Cup returnees
Alexis Mac Allister and Harry Kane returned to English football after the World Cup in very different states of minds — one as a champion, the other distraught after a costly missed penalty.
They both slipped back into action seamlessly.
Mac Allister, who starred for Argentina in their run to the title in Qatar, was a halftime replacement for Brighton after his extended break back home to celebrate, and scored twice in the team’s 5-1 win over second-tier Middlesbrough.
Kane, the England striker who missed a late penalty in the loss to France in the World Cup quarter-finals, has been back for a while and has settled into a strong run of scoring form for Tottenham.
His fourth goal in four games came in Tottenham’s 1-0 win over third-tier Portsmouth in the third round. Kane exchanged a one-two with Ryan Sessegnon before curling a shot into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area in the 50th minute for his 265th goal for Tottenham, one off the club record held by Jimmy Greaves.
Kane is still looking to win a first trophy in his career, with Tottenham last claiming a major piece of silverware in 2008.
Relief for Jones
Southampton ousted fellow Premier League team Crystal Palace 2-1 with a come-from-behind win — secured by Adam Armstrong’s goal after a goalkeeper mistake — that will come as a relief for its manager.
Nathan Jones is already under pressure barely two months after replacing Ralph Hasenhuttl in charge. The result ended a run of three losses, all in the Premier League, for Southampton, with the team’s two wins under Jones coming in cup competitions.
Their next game is against Manchester City in the League Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
“The be-all and end-all is making sure that we are a Premier League team first and foremost. Any cup run is a bonus,” Jones said.
Benrahma doesn’t celebrate
Said Benrahma scored a long-range goal to earn West Ham a place in round four but there was a muted celebration afterward.
The goal in the 1-0 win came against his former club, Brentford, which he left in January 2021 to move to West Ham.
Leicester, Fulham through
Kelechi Iheanacho scored for 2021 champion Leicester in their 1-0 win at fourth-tier Gillingham and he has 16 goals in 22 games in the FA Cup.
Fulham won at second-tier Hull 2-0 while Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Wolves.
On Saturday, Manchester United beat Everton 3-1 to kick off the round.
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