The magic of the FA Cup

Arsenal were dumped out of the FA Cup by an inspired Nottingham Forest on a day of major shocks in the competition a day after Mark Hughes was sacked by Stoke City.

West Ham and Leicester survived testing ties against lower-league opponents while Manchester City came from behind to crush fellow Premier League side Burnley 4-1.

And Virgil van Dijk made an instant impact for Liverpool following his mega-money move from Southampton.

Here are some of the major talking points from the third round of the FA Cup:

Romance not dead

The FA Cup weekend was a throwback to the time when the third round used to be a red letter day in the English football calendar, giving the game’s minnows a chance to give the big boys a bloody nose. In the biggest shock, Nottingham Forest ejected holders Arsenal from the competition on Sunday, while former winners Leeds United were sent packing by a feisty Newport County, who play their football in the fourth tier of the English game. Stoke City crashed out to Coventry City the previous day. The increasing dominance of the Premier League and the high-profile Champions League have pushed the FA Cup down clubs’ list of priorities but there are flickers of life in the world’s most famous domestic cup competition.

Stoke run out of patience with Hughes

Mark Hughes’ (right) tenure came to an end at Stoke City when he became the seventh Premier League manager to be sacked this season after his side’s ignominious FA Cup defeat to League Two Coventry. Hughes, 54, was in charge at Stoke for exactly 200 games, following managerial spells with QPR, Fulham, Manchester City, Blackburn and Wales. Speaking after the defeat, Hughes suggested that going out of the Cup could ironically help the club, who are in the relegation zone. “The fact we’ve gone out, even if it’s a little bit raw at the moment, might help us,” Hughes said. “At the moment we don’t want to discuss Premier League games, but maybe when we wake up on Monday the reality clearly has to be our league form.” But it was not to be.