Coventry City 2 Stoke City 1
Jack Grimmer struck with just over twenty minutes remaining to send the Sky Blues into the Fourth Round Proper of the FA Cup, stunning Premier League Stoke City in the process, at the Ricoh Arena.
The first effort came from the visitors in the eighth minute when a shot from Geoff Cameron was blocked by Tom Davies, and then in the 11th minute Stoke went close again as a Diouf effort seemed to be heading in until Willis produced a superb clearence off the line to keep the scoreline at 0-0.
The first chance for the hosts came in the 18th minute when an interception saw them launch an attack and it ended with Jordan Maguire-Drew having a go from long range, but it went over the bar, before another chance for Stoke saw Diouf head to Ireland but the latters effort went wide.
Moments later a fantastic ball into the Stoke area by Maguire-Drew just failed to find Biamou, before a great run from Grimmer ended with his ball into the box finding McNulty who teed up Biamou, but the final effort was deflected behind for a corner.
However in the 25th minute the underdogs struck, as from the resulting corner the ball wasn't cleared and Jordan Willis rose the highest to find the back of the net and give the league two side a shock lead at the Ricoh.
Stoke had a chance to level just before the half hour mark when Adam whipped in a ball to the back post and this was met by Diouf, but his header went over, and then five minutes later a ball over the top found Berahino, but his shot was saved comfortably by Coventry keeper O'Brien.
With seven minutes of the half remaining Maguire-Drew played a superb ball to McNulty, but his shot went wide of the Stoke goal, and then a minute before half time Stoke's Adam headed a ball across to Diouf but his header went over once again.
And just before half time the hosts so nearly doubled their lead when Bayliss slid in McNulty, but after rounding the keeper could only hit wide.
And again the Sky Blues passed up another opportunity in first half stoppage time as Biamou slid in McNulty this time, but the forward saw his shot cleared off the line, however the hosts did go in a goal to the good at the break.
Half Time Coventry City 1 Stoke City 0
Those misses at the end of the first half looked costly though as nine minutes into the second period the Premier League visitors levelled from the penalty spot through Charlie Adam, however the hosts almost retook the lead in the 58th minute when McNulty failed to connect with a ball to the back post.
Stoke responded with a chance of their own a minute later when an Adam corner was met by Zouma but it went over the bar, before a cross from Grimmer was won by Shipley, however his effort was blocked and then gathered by Stoke keeper Butland.
But in the 68th minute the Sky Blues retook the lead when Jack Grimmer cut inside and slammed home from the edge of the box, and the shock was well and truly back on.
Ireland sent a shot wide for Stoke three minutes later, before a Diouf header was cleared off the line by Stokes as the visitors pressed for a leveller, and then in the 82nd minute another Diouf effort went well wide of the Coventry goal and the lead was preserved.
The majority of the 14,199 crowd in attendance was biting their nails as Stoke came forward again, and with a minute left Crouch fired a shot at goal, but O'Brien saved to keep his side ahead.
Four minutes of stoppage time followed and two minutes into that Zouma hit an effort over the Sky Blues goal, and it proved the last chance as Coventy held on for a famous win and a cup shock at the Ricoh Arena.
Full Time Coventry City 2 Stoke City 1
Photos courtesy of Maxime Biamou, CCFC Community, Tom Bayliss, Prostate Cancer UK and BBC Sport:-
So Coventry City cause one of the shocks of the round and this proved to be Mark Hughes last game in charge of the Premier League visitors as he was sacked soon afterwards after a poor run of form in the league and then this cup exit. The Sky Blues drew MK Dons away in the Fourth Round so a local derby (of sorts) awaits them, and backed by a healthy following at Stadium MK no doubt they will be confident of reaching Round Five of the competition.
Here are the Third Round Proper results in full
Friday 5th January
Liverpool 2 Everton 1
Manchester United 2 Derby County 0
Saturday 6th January
Fleetwood Town 0 Leicester City 0
Middlesbrough 2 Sunderland 0
Ipswich Town 0 Sheffield United 1
Watford 3 Bristol City 0
Birmingham City 1 Burton Albion 0
Aston Villa 1 Peterborough United 3
AFC Bournemouth 2 Wigan Athletic 2
Coventry City 2 Stoke City 1
Bolton Wanderers 1 Huddersfield Town 2
Yeovil Town 2 Bradford City 0
Brentford 0 Notts County 1
Queens Park Rangers 0 Milton Keynes Dons 1
Exeter City 0 West Bromwich Albion 2
Doncaster Rovers 0 Rochdale 1
Blackburn Rovers 0 Hull City 1
Cardiff City 0 Mansfield Town 0
Manchester City 4 Burnley 1
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Swansea City 0
Stevenage 0 Reading 0
Newcastle United 3 Luton Town 1
Millwall 4 Barnsley 1
Fulham 0 Southampton 1
Wycombe Wanderers 1 Preston North End 5
Carlisle United 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0
Norwich City 0 Chelsea 0
Sunday 7th January
Newport County 2 Leeds United 1
Shrewsbury Town 0 West Ham United 0
Tottenham Hotspur 3 AFC Wimbledon 0
Nottingham Forest 4 Arsenal 2
Monday 8th January
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Crystal Palace 1
Replays
Tuesday 16th January
Leicester City 2 Fleetwood Town 0
Mansfield Town 1 Cardiff City 4
West Ham United 1 Shrewsbury Town 0 (AET)
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Carlisle United 0
Reading 3 Stevenage 0
Wednesday 17th January
Wigan Athletic 3 AFC Bournemouth 0
Swansea City 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Chelsea 1 Norwich City 1 (AET, Chelsea won 5-3 on penalties)
So that completed the Third Round Proper, there were some surprises in there too. The biggest ones were obviously Coventry's win over Stoke City and also Wigan's win over AFC Bournemouth in a replay, whilst the holders Arsenal were dumped out by Championship Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Also Newport County's win over Leeds United raised a few eyebrows as the Cup Magic continued to flow in this round.
Anyway it's now onto its Fourth Round Proper stage, the Final 32, and here are those fixtures:-
Friday 26th January
Sheffield Wednesday VS Reading
Yeovil Town VS Manchester United
Saturday 27th January
Peterborough United VS Leicester City
Huddersfield Town VS Birmingham City
Notts County VS Swansea City
Milton Keynes Dons VS Coventry City
Millwall VS Rochdale AFC
Southampton VS Watford
Middlesbrough VS Brighton & Hove Albion
Wigan Athletic VS West Ham United
Hull City VS Nottingham Forest
Sheffield United VS Preston North End
Newport County AFC VS Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool VS West Bromwich Albion
Sunday 28th January
Chelsea VS Newcastle United
Cardiff City VS Manchester City
Some magical ties in the Last 32, including Yeovil Town Vs Manchester United and Newport County AFC Vs Tottenham Hotspur. Both ties seeing League Two hosting top Premier League opposition and the always interesting scenario of how the top teams will deal with facilities they will not be used too. However I am sure both Huish Park and Rodney Parade are more than adequate to accommodate and both hosts will be chomping at the bit to have a crack at the big boys.
I myself will be at Stadium MK for the Milton Keynes Dons vs Coventry City tie. I have my ticket and am looking forward to this one. MK are struggling towards the foot of League One whilst The Sky Blues are in the final playoff spot in League Two so it promises to be a decent tie. And with the visitors selling out their allocation of 7,833 tickets they will be backed by a no doubt noisy following so this could lift the League Two side, but the hosts did knock out Championship side QPR away in the previous round and also the prize of a Last 16 berth will prove a big carrot for both!!!
Should be fun so make sure you catch my next blog with a report from Stadium MK and also a round up of the other Fourth Round Proper results.
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