Man U, Chelsea safely thru'
Oldham produced a huge FA Cup shock with a 1-0 third round win away to Premier League high-flyers Everton on Saturday.
Fellow League One side Huddersfield also enjoyed victory over top-flight opposition by beating Birmingham City 2-1 in the third round - the stage when teams from English football's top two divisions enter the competition.
Premier League Blackburn Rovers also fell at the first hurdle, beaten 4-1 at home as Championship Coventry enjoyed their second surprise result in Cup competition this season.
Sheffield United, also of the Championship, ensured that top-flight Bolton's FA Cup campaign fell at the first hurdle with a 1-0 away win.
Elsewhere non-league Havant and Waterlooville, in a match where both sides had a man sent-off, came from behind to draw 1-1 away to League One leaders Swansea.
Holders Chelsea beat west London rivals and big-spending Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers 1-0 while Middlesbrough came from behind to defeat Premier League promotion hopefuls Bristol City 2-1.
Manchester United knocked Aston Villa out for the second time in two seasons, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scoring late on to secure a 2-0 win.
Oldham, 13th in League One saw Scottish midfielder Gary McDonald make Everton, sixth in the Premier League, pay for fielding an under-strength side with a goal in first-half injury time.
Oldham then hung on for their first win at Goodison in 88 years as Everton striker Ayegbeni Yakubu hit the post in injury time.
"It wasn't a vastly weakened team at all, in fact I felt it was a strong team," Everton manager David Moyes insisted.
Oldham boss John Sheridan added: "I believed we could get something from the game, we have won seven on the trot away now, so we are doing something right."
Tottenham and Reading, who recently shared 10 goals in the Premier League, drew 2-2 at White Hart Lane while in other top-flight fixtures saw Wigan win 3-0 away to fellow strugglers Sunderland and West Ham and Manchester City draw 0-0.
Huddersfield went ahead at the Galpharm Stadium through Luke Beckett in the fourth minute before Garry O'Connor equalised for Birmingham.
But with the match heading towards a replay, Chris Brandon scored for Huddersfield with nine minutes left to send their Premier League opponents crashing in what Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said was a "half-hearted" display by his side.
"This is a fantastic day for the club, the town, the players and the fans," said Huddersfield manager Andy Ritchie.
Coventry, FA Cup winners in 1987, saw Malta striker Michael Mifsud open the scoring at Ewood Park with a 34th minute volley.
The visitors, who'd already knocked Manchester United out of the League Cup, extended their lead through an Elliott Ward penalty in the 64th minute.
Dele Adebola made it 3-0 in the 83rd minute before David Bentley pulled one back for Blackburn.
Coventry, 17th in the Championship, had the last word when Mifsud scored his second in the 90th minute.
Manchester United's victory was their fourth FA Cup win over Premier League rivals Villa in six years but the match was goalless until the 81st minute when Ronaldo was first to a Ryan Giggs cross.
Rooney, on as a substitute, sealed victory in stoppage time.
"It's not in our nature," said United defender Rio Ferdinand when asked if United had thought of holding on for a draw. "The manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) wouldn't settle for that either."
Australia international David Carney grabbed Sheffield United's decisive goal three minutes before half-time against a weakened Bolton.
Lowly Havant, who play in the second flight of England's non-league set-up, kept out Swansea until the 74th minute when Andy Robinson put the hosts ahead. But Havant fought back and levelled three minutes from the finish through Rocky Baptiste.
Chelsea beat QPR thanks to a fortunate own-goal when Claudio Pizarro's shot hit the post and rebounded off Rangers keeper Lee Camp in the 28th minute at Stamford Bridge.
At White Hart Lane, want-away striker Dimitar Berbatov twice gave Tottenham the lead but Stephen Hunt twice equalised for Reading to ensure a replay.
Chasetown, the lowest-ranked club ever to reach this stage of the FA Cup, saw their dreams of further glory end in a 3-1 home defeat against Cardiff.
Comments