One Wild day in English soccer
Fan-turned-coach helps FA Cup third round deliver big upsets
Until 11 days ago, 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 north 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 a 1-0 win despite a gap of 84 places in English soccer’s pyramid.
A few hours later, fourthtier Newport County eliminated Leicester, the seventh-placed team in the Premier League, after a 2-1 win at its atmospheric Rodney Parade ground.
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 youthteam 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 masterminded one of the biggest FA Cup shocks in recent years .
“It is Roy of the Rovers stuff,” said Wild, referring to a now-defunct British cartoon about a fictional soccer player. “It is one you have to savour.”
Especially since the manager in the home dugout at Craven Cottage was Claudio
Ranieri, the storied coach who led Leicester in its fairytale 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.
Lang’s 88th-minute winner came moments after Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic had a penalty saved off his first touch after coming on as a substitute.
Aside from the embarrassment of losing to a team three leagues below it, the loss will not do Fulham’s confidence any good as the club from southwest London fights for survival in the Premier League. Fulham is on next-to-last place, four points from safety.
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. Shaquile Coulthirst
scored the only goal of the game, from the penalty spot, to ensure Barnet will be the only non-league side in the fourth round. It is in 15th place in the fifth-tier National League.
Sheffield United, which is in third place in the second-tier League Championship, could end up replacing Fulham in the Premier League but the clubs were united in misery Sunday.
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.
It rounds off a bizarre festive period for Leicester, which has beaten Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton in the league but also lost to struggling Cardiff in the league and now Newport in the cup.
Sixth-tier Woking, the lowest-ranked team in the third round, lost 2-0 at home to Watford. There were also wins for Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster and Millwall.
SPANISH LA LIGA
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored brilliant goals as Barcelona beat Getafe 2-1 on Sunday to increase its lead in the Spanish league.
Barcelona capitalized on slipups by its rivals earlier in the day to take a five-point lead over second-placed Atletico. Sevilla trails Barcelona by seven points in third place, and fifth-placed Real Madrid is 10 points behind, as the league reaches its midway point next round.
Getafe started well but, as he so often does, Messi turned the match around in the 20th minute when he pounced on a loose ball in the area, poked it between the legs of goalkeeper David
Soria and slotted it home from a tight angle.
Suarez matched his teammate’s effort in the 39th when he planted his left foot as a pivot and used his right leg to rifle the ball from the edge of the area into the corner of the net with a waisthigh volley.
Messi leads the league with 16 goals, followed by Suarez in second place with 12.
Getafe pulled one back through Jaime Mata just before halftime and the hosts had chances to draw level. But Barcelona goalkeeper
Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved a powerful header by Leandro Cabrera before Mata squandered a golden opportunity in the 66th when he caught Ter Stegen off his line only to miss the open goal.