Underdog clubs have their day
Oldham, Barnet and Newport County stun much bigger teams
Until Dec. 26, Pete Wild had been planning to cheer on Oldham as a fan with his pals in its FA Cup third-round match at Premier League club Fulham.
Wild was indeed at Craven Cottage on Sunday but in the dugout, rather than the stands, guiding the unheralded northern England team to victory in one of three so-called “giant killings” on a classic day in the famous knockout competition.
Fourth-tier Oldham beat Fulham 2-1 at the same time as non-league team Barnet was stunning second-tier Sheffield United in a1-0 win despite a gap of 84 places in English soccer’s pyramid.
A few hours later, fourth-tier Newport County eliminated Leicester, the seventh-placed team in the Premier League, after a 2-1 win at Rodney Parade.
Ruining the day for the romantics was Manchester City, which swept to a 7-0 victory over second-tier Rotherham in its biggest win under Pep Guardiola.
While Guardiola is arguably soccer’s most famous coach, Wild is still making his way in his managerial game and was Oldham’s youth-team manager until Dec. 26, when he was asked to take charge of the first team on an emergency basis following the firing of its manager after a 6-0 loss.
The 33-year-old Wild accepted the challenge, led Oldham to back-to-back wins in its league games, and has now master- minded one of the biggest FA Cup shocks in recent years.
“It is one you have to savour,” said Wild.
Especially since the manager in the home dugout at Craven Cottage was Claudio Ranieri, the storied coach who led Leicester in its fairy tale Premier League-winning campaign in 2015-16.
Ranieri’s Fulham was 1-0 ahead with 14 minutes left, only to concede goals to Sam Surridge and Callum Lang. Barnet 1, Sheffield United 0: Another of the day’s big upsets was also plotted by a caretaker manager.
It was an emotional afternoon for Darren Currie, who led Barnet to its victory over Sheffield United — the club where his uncle, Tony, is regarded as a soccer great and has a stand named after him at the stadium at Bramhall Lane. “He wants his team to go through, but he’s proud of me and what I’ve done today,” Darren Currie said.
Shaquile Coulthirst scored the only goal of the game, from the penalty spot. Newport County 2, Leicester 1: Nearly a year after holding Tottenham to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup fourth round, Newport got the job done against another big team in the Premier League.
It felt like history would repeat itself when Rachid Ghezzal equalized for Leicester in the 82nd minute — the same minute that Harry Kane drew Tottenham level 12 months ago.
But this time, there was another twist as Leicester midfielder Marc Albrighton gave away a penalty for handball and Padraig Amond converted the penalty.