Marine’s dream over, Crawley stun Leeds

The biggest mismatch in the FA Cup’s 150-year history delivered a predictably brutal result as Tottenham Hotspur showed no mercy to an eighth-tier opponent whose lineup featured a garbage collector and a factory worker.

It was left, then, to Crawley to provide the so-called ‘‘giant killing’’ long associated with the storied competition, with a British reality TV star helping the fourth-tier team complete a stunning 3-0 win over Leeds.

On a classic day in the world’s oldest club knockout competition, Tottenham’s stars entered the humble surroundings of Rossett Park – a cosy ground located alongside a row of townhouses, from which horn-blaring residents got a free view of the action – and came away with a 5-0 victory over Marine, a team of parttimers 161 places lower in English football pyramid.

A first-half hat trick from Carlos Vinicius, who was filling in as striker for Harry Kane, settled any early nerves among Tottenham’s players who dressed for the game in a makeshift locker room that is usually a bar. For the locals watching the game from behind a wall or metal fencing – some with a glass of wine – there was the treat of Gareth Bale coming on as a second-half substitute.

So, the dream is over for Marine, though a match broadcast live in 40 territories worldwide will be a huge money-spinner and potential life-changer for a tiny club from England’s northwest whose world has been turned upside down amid a pandemic that prevented any fans from attending the biggest game in its history.

For Crawley, the road to Wembley Stadium is still very much open, with the dominant win over Leeds proving a fairytale moment.

Summing up the ‘‘magic of the FA Cup’’ – a phrase often trotted out at the third-round stage of the competition when the country’s top teams enter – was the sight of reality show star Mark Wright coming on for Crawley in the final minutes for his debut in professional football. It capped a humiliating day for Leeds and its widely admired Argentine manager, Marcelo Bielsa, whose record in three seasons in the FA Cup reads: played three, lost three.

‘‘He was very complimentary afterward,’’ Crawley manager John Yems said of Bielsa, ‘‘but I suppose when you lose 3-0, you can’t be anything but.’’

There were no such fairy tales in the games involving Chelsea and Manchester City,. Chelsea beat fourthtier Morecambe 4-0, and City beat secondtier Birmingham 3-0.