The FA Cup 3rd round proved to be a historic one, along with a few upsets, some surprises and and some fights too.
Tottenham lost to Aston Villa in an ill-tempered end to a fine contest. Newcastle got the better of Bournemouth in a tense tie-breaker. Brighton brought an end to Manchester United’s campaign. A second string Manchester City scored 10 goals against a hapless Exeter City, and Sunderland showed tremendous resolve in beating Everton in a tie-breaker.
History, however, was created by Macclesfield FC, who knocked out and dethroned defending FA Cup Champions Crystal Palace in a sensational 2-1 victory at the Leasing.com stadium at Macclesfield in Northern England on 10th of January.
The victory for the Silkmen from Macclesfield was unprecedented and the biggest one in terms of statistics in the FA Cup history ( the oldest football competition in the world). With 117 league places separating Macclesfield from Crystal Palace, the win eclipsed the previous record held by Chasetown’s win over Port Vale in 2007-08, which had a 101-place gap between the teams.
Macclesfield captain Paul Dawson started it all with a brilliant header from a Luke Duffy free-kick just before halftime. The lead was doubled by a fine finish from Isaac Buckley-Ricketts in the 61st minute. The two superb goals gave hope to the Silkmen as they defended bravely.
Crystal Palace tried it all and eventually scored from a stunning free-kick by Yeremy Pino in the 90th minute. The goal had arrived a bit too late for Crystal Palace, and with just 6 minutes to defend, Macclesfield got through unscathed.
Crystal Palace thus became the first defending champions in the FA Cup to lose to a non-league team in over a century.
Macclesfield supporters stormed the pitch in utter jubilation. The joy was palpable. Less than a month ago, the club was stooped in sorrow after their 21-year-old striker Ethan McLeod died in a car accident while returning home from their match against Bedford Town on 16th December.
A club which was expelled and liquidated in September 2020 and had been reformed in its present avatar in October 2020 had done itself a world of good.
Macclesfield’s Manager, John Rooney ( the legend Wayne Rooney’s brother) had eventually made his place under the sun. For Crystal Palace, the defeat may hurt for some time to come.
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