Nottingham Forest caused one of the upsets of the FA Cup third round with a 3-0 win over BPL side Manchester City.
The Coca-Cola Championship side spoiled what was supposed to be a day of celebration for City, who had unveiled new signing Wayne Bridge on the pitch before kick off, when they stunned their hosts with two goals in four minutes as half-time approached.
Nathan Tyson struck first after 38 minutes with a thunderous volley from 25 yards and Robert Earnshaw made no mistake from close range for the second. City failed to improve in the second half.
It was the worst possible outcome for Hughes, who is under huge pressure to perform having been bankrolled by the club’s owners the Abu Dhabi United Group, and their miserable afternoon reached a new low with 15 minutes remaining when Dietmar Hamann threw the ball straight to Joe Garner, who made no mistake with his finish from the edge of the box.
Chelsea were unable to book their place in the next round after being held to a 1-1 draw by League One side Southend with a goal in stoppage time. Salomon Kalou’s header on the half-hour put the Blues in front but Peter Clarke was the hero for the Shrimpers.
Earlier in the day League One side Hartlepool caused the first upset of the round when they knocked out Premier League Stoke 2-0 at Victoria Park.
Michael Nelson headed in Matty Robson’s left-wing free-kick four minutes after half-time before David Foley sealed the win with a 25-yard volley which flew into the top right corner of the net 15 minutes from time.
There were shock results among teams from outside the Premier League too, with Blue Square Premier side Torquay knocking Championship outfit Blackpool out of the cup with a 1-0 win.
Torquay took the lead just after the half-hour when Matt Green latched onto a Kevin Nicholson long ball before driving past Paul Rachubka from 20 yards. Kettering added to the Blue Square Premier’s representation in round four after they beat Eastwood Town 2-1 at Rockingham Road.
Arsenal saw off the challenge of Championship Plymouth with a 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium as.stand-in captain Robin van Persie grabbed a brace.
There will be no fairytale run for Barnsley this year after they lost 3-0 at West Ham. The Tykes, who knocked out Liverpool and Chelsea en route to the semi-finals last season, were behind in the 10th minute when Herita Ilunga ghosted in at the far post to tap in a Mark Noble cross from five yards. Noble added the second and Carlton Cole sealed the result in the 68th minute when he turned in Ilunga’s cross.
Sunderland beat Bolton 2-1 with Djibril Cisse scoring the decisive goal, while their north-east rivals Newcastle were held goalless at Hull in another all-Premier League affair. Shay Given, who earlier this week revealed he might be prepared to leave the club, was the star of the show in the Magpies goal.
Fulham beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 with a late goal from Andrew Johnson while Middlesbrough held off a late rally to beat Blue Square Premier side Barrow 2-1 at the Riverside thanks to an Afonso Alves double.
Leon Osman broke the deadlock two minutes before half-time as Everton beat Macclesfield 1-0 at Moss Rose, while West Brom were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Peterborough, Craig Mackail-Smith forcing the replay with a close-range finish three minutes from time.
Elsewhere holders Portsmouth were held to a 0-0 draw by Bristol City.
Steven Davies’ last-gasp penalty denied Forest Green Rovers a place in the fourth round draw as they lost 4-3 to Derby in a thriller at the New Lawn.
Rovers, currently 75 places below Derby in the football pyramid, raced into a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes thanks to goals from Jonathan Smith and Alex Lawless.
Rob Hulse and Martin Albrechtsen restored parity for Derby before Paul Stonehouse put Forest Green 3-2 ahead with 18 minutes left.
Paul Green pulled Derby level after 76 minutes when he wriggled free in the box to fire past Roy Carroll.
The home fans thought they were heading for a replay at Pride Park but Davies scored from the spot with three minutes left after Kris Commons was fouled by Lawless, who was sent off for the challenge.
League One sides Millwall and Crewe will have to try again after the duo played out a 2-2 draw at the New Den.
Bottom side Crewe shocked their hosts 12 minutes in when Dennis Lawrence headed home his first goal for the club.
Marc Laird levelled the scores five minutes from the break before Andy Frampton put Millwall ahead on the stroke of half-time with a close-range header. Danny Shelley’s first senior goal then earned Crewe a replay.
Second-half goals from Joe Ledley and Ross McCormack gave Cardiff a 2-0 win over Reading at Ninian Park.
Arturo Lupoli’s second-half strike earned Norwich a replay against Charlton, who had taken the lead through Jonjo Shelvey at The Valley.
Coventry brushed aside Blue Square Premier side Kidderminster 2-0 at the Ricoh Arena with goals from Leon McKenzie and Leon Best.
Jonathan Walters, Pablo Counago and Jonathan Stead were all on target to give Ipswich a 3-0 win over Chesterfield at Portman Road.
Gregorz Rasiak came off the bench to give Watford a 1-0 win over Scunthorpe at Vicarage Road.
Leicester and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw at the Walkers Stadium while the scoreline was the same at Loftus Road between Championship duo QPR and Burnley.
A number of matches fell victim to the weather. Sheffield United’s game with Leyton Orient, Cheltenham’s match against Doncaster, the midlands derby between Birmingham and Wolves and Swansea’s trip to Histon were all called off.