FA Cup 3rd Round Match Analysis

Hello and welcome to my latest blog post, where the 2012-13 FA Cup proper kicks off over this weekend. 
The EPL takes a week break, and will be back on the 12th and 13th of January, but this weekend is the FA Cup 3rd Round weekend, where the lower clubs have the chance to provide shocks to the EPL sides.

Today's Matches (involving EPL sides ONLY):

Brighton 2 Newcastle United 0

This match was the first of the 3rd Round, as Brighton hosted a weak Newcastle side without talisman Demba Ba who made a £7million move to Chelsea.

The match burst into action for the home side in the 32nd minute, when full-back Wayne Bridge used a burst of pace to keep the ball in play. He quickly crossed the ball into the box in mid-air, and defender Mike Williamson was punished for failing to stick to striker Andrea Orlandi, when he swiveled past the defender to poke the ball past goalkeeper Elliot break the deadlock. 

Too much space: Brighton striker Andrea Orlandi pokes the ball past Elliot to make it 1-0 to the hosts.

Breakthrough: Orlandi celebrates his goal in the 33rd minute with his team mates.

Newcastle striker and acting captain Shola Ameobi was sent off (two yellow cards) in the 62nd minute after a late challenge was seen by the referee and he was giving his marching orders.

Marching orders: Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi is given a red card (2nd yellow) after a late challenge.

Newcastle pressed for an equaliser after Ameobi's dismissal, but they could not find the target.

 

Brighton ended Newcastle's hopes of an equaliser in the 87th minute when Lopez's through ball found striker Will Hoskins who went one-on-one with Elliot before tapping the ball past him into the net.

Game over: Will Hoskins slots the ball past Elliot to make it 2-0 in the 87th minute.

Aston Villa 2 Ipswich Town 1

Striker Michael Chopra broke the deadlock for the 31st minute. 

Opener: Michael Chopra celebrates his goal against Aston Villa with his Ipswich team-mates

Darren Bent equalised in the 46th minute for the home side, before first-team striker Andreas Weimann won the match in the 83rd minute to seal Villa's place in the 4th Round. 

Bolton 2 Sunderland 2

Bolton midfielder Lee Chung Yong broke the deadlock in the 12th minute after some poor defending by Carlos Cuellar found a mis-placed pass into the Korean's path.

Easy: Lee Chung-Yong celebrates his goal with his team-mates to put the hosts ahead against Sunderland.

Team GB striker Marvin Sordell doubled the hosts lead in the 48th minute with a header which beat Simon Mignolet, but Sunderland were desperate not to lose to lower-tier opposition, and made a comeback in the latter stages of the second half. 

Goalbound: Sordel's header gives Bolton a 2-0 lead over Sunderland with 42 minutes to play.

Young striker Connor Wickham gave Sunderland hope of getting back into the match, after a scrappy bit of play in the box saw the ball fall to his feet before he smashed the ball through the goalkeeper's legs into the net to make it 2-1. 

Midfielder Craig Gardner equalised for The Black Lions in the 75th minute with a beautiful curling bullet from 20 yards out. 

Crawley Town 1 Reading 3

Crystal Palace 0 Stoke City 0

Fulham 1 Blackpool 1

Manchester City 3 Watford 0

Peterborough United 0 Norwich 3 

QPR 1 West Brom 1

Southampton 1 Chelsea 5

£7million striker Demba Ba scored a double on his debut for Chelsea today, as the away side thrashed EPL side Southampton 5-1. 

Debut goal: Demba Ba equalised for Chelsea to make it 1-1 against Southampton today.

Debut DOUBLE: Demba Ba makes it 4-1 to Chelsea to score his 2nd goal for Chelsea after his £7million move.

2 for me: Ba celebrates his second of the day to make it 4-1.

Fernando Torres was rested on the bench after claims of problems with Chelsea's rotation policy after a 1-0 home loss on Wednesday to QPR.

Rotation: Torres and Lampard both started the match from the substitutes bench as Benitez rotated his squad.

Defender Branislav Ivanovic scored a header, while winger Victor Moses also scored for The Blues.

3 and easy: Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic scores a header to give Chelsea a 3-1 lead after 52 minutes.

Ahead: Chelsea team-mates mob Nigerian winger Victor Moses after his goal puts The Blues 2-1 ahead.

Frank Lampard completed the rout after coming off the bench to score from the penalty spot. 

193rd goal: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard scores from the penalty spot to complete the rout.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Coventry City 0

Wigan Athletic 1 Bournemouth 1 

West Ham 2 Manchester United 2 

The evening match was played at Upton Park in an all-EPL tie. 

The hosts fell behind in the 22nd minute after a United counter attack found midfielder Tom Cleverley have a placed shot inside the box which flew past goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Lovely effort: Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley places the ball past Jaaskelainen to break the deadlock

First: Cleverley celebrates his lovely curled effort with his team-mates.

West Ham ensured that the lead would not last long because in the 26th minute, new signing winger Joe Cole delivered a swerving cross into the box and defender James Collins unleashed a power header past goalkeeper David De Gea into the net with an unstoppable strike.

Equaliser: West Ham defender James Collins heads the hosts back into the match.

At half-time, the score was 1-1 with the hosts the happier of the two sides. 

In the 59th minute, Joe Cole whipped another ball into the box and James Collins flicked the ball with his head away from De Gea into the net.

(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON!)