Cup hits north England

Liverpool’s 2-1 midweek defeat at Blackpool was the only Premier League match of the week as the FA Cup took centre stage with Liverpool managed by Kenny Dalglish losing to an early Giggs penalty for Manchester United at Old Trafford. Newcastle United were dumped out of the cup 3-1 at Stevenage and Sunderland lost 2-1 at home to Notts County while Middlesbrough suffered the same result as hosts Burton Albion came back with 2 late goals from Shaun Harrad to make it a bad day for the north with Carlisle also dropping out after their 1-0 loss at Torquay. In a tale of 2 penalties Arsenal earned a trip to Leeds with a last minute spot kick, and Leicester earned a trip to Manchester City with a 2-2 draw while Jermain Defoe scored a double as Tottenham put Charlton out 3-0 at White Hart Lane. Chelsea smashed Ipswich 7-0 at the Bridge while Queens Park Rangers lost to a single goal at Blackburn and West Bromwich Albion suffered the same fate at Reading. Millwall were demolished 4-1 by visiting Birmingham and a Diomansy Kamara hat-trick at the Cottage helped Fulham shatter Peterborough 6-2 while Sheffield Wednesday won 3-0 at Bristol City and Sheffield United lost 3-1 at home to Aston Villa. . In the battle of the seasiders Portsmouth lost 3-1 at Brighton and Blackpool were beaten 2-0 at Southampton. Cardiff drew 1-1 at Stoke while Leyton celebrated a 1-0 win at Norwich and Wolves drew 2-2 at Doncaster. Nottingham Forest won 2-1 at Preston and Crystal Palace lost by the same scoreline at Coventry.
In the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg matches ten-man West Ham thrilled their crowd with a 2-1 success over Birmingham and the Tractor Boys of Ipswich bounced back from their humiliating hammering at Chelsea to send Arsenal back with a 1-0 defeat.