Premier League leaders Newcastle suffered a surprise exit from the FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday and holders Liverpool earned a fateful draw with Wolves, while Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth fell in a surprise third-round draw.
also read: Kane fires Spurs into FA Cup fourth round
Elsewhere in an evening of FA Cup action, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Hollywood actors who own Wrexham, led the celebrations on social media after the non-league side’s shock 4-3 win at second-tier Coventry.
But it was Wednesday, second in League One, who stole the show on Saturday with an impressive 2-1 win at Hillsborough over a Newcastle side sitting third in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe’s side are unbeaten in 15 games but Wednesday are now unbeaten in 10 games after Josh Windass’ double stunned the Magpies.
Wednesday went ahead in the 52nd minute when Windass, who appeared to be in an offside position, deflected Dennis Adeniran’s cross from close range.
Windass scored his second goal 13 minutes later, brilliantly converting after being beaten by Michael Smith.
Newcastle reduced the deficit in the 68th minute when Bruno Guimaraes headed home from close range, but Chris Wood squandered a golden chance to equalize when he fired home from 10 yards.
“It’s a disappointing result for us. We know we don’t have the deepest squad of any team in the Premier League,” Howe said.
At Anfield, a difficult week for Liverpool which started with a Premier League defeat at Brentford, ended with a 2-2 draw against Wolves.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was guilty of an error when his pass was intercepted by Goncalo Guedes, who scored Wolves’ 26th-minute opener.
Darwin Nunez curled a superb volley past Matija Sarkic to equalize on the stroke of half-time and Mohamed Salah’s 52nd-minute finish put Liverpool ahead.
But the Reds, who handed Dutch striker Cody Gakpo his debut following his move from PSV Eindhoven, hit back in the 57th minute through Hwang Hee-chan’s effort.
It could have been worse for Liverpool, as Toti’s goal was disallowed for offside in the final minute as the Reds survived for the replay.
“The first goal shouldn’t have happened, but we all know how often Ali saved our backs,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said.
“I’m not sure about the disallowed goal. We had one shot that looked offside, but I understand why he was angry.
Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui was furious with the decision and also said Salah’s strike should have been disallowed.
“We have seen, there is no offside, sorry. Impossible. The decision was wrong,” he said.
“Then Mohamed Salah was offside before Toti touched the ball, so he got the advantage.”
– ‘The big thing’-
Sam Dalby, Elliot Lee, Thomas O’Connor and Paul Mullin scored for National League side Wrexham in their 4-1 win at Coventry.
Despite a late fightback from 10-man Coventry, Wrexham reached the fourth round for the first time since 2000, prompting a celebratory Instagram post from Reynolds filled with profanity.
“It’s a big chapter in Wrexham’s story since the new owners have come in and I’m sure they’ll be delighted with what they see today,” said Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson.
Forest boss Steve Cooper has named a completely different starting side for the clash at Blackpool after their midweek win over Southampton lifted them out of the Premier League relegation zone.
That plan backfired as the Championship side won 4-1 at Bloomfield Road, with goals from Marvin Ekpiteta, Ian Poveda, CJ Hamilton and Jerry Yates.
Two goals from Anass Zaroury and Manuel Benson earned Championship leaders Burnley a 4-2 win at Bournemouth.
Harry Kane came close to becoming Tottenham’s top scorer when he scored in the 50th minute of their 1-0 win over Portsmouth.
Kane, with four goals in four games since his penalty miss against France knocked England out of the World Cup, has 265 goals for Spurs – just one behind the club’s all-time record goalscorer, Jimmy Greaves.