Maidstone United's Lamar Reynolds, left, and Ipswich Town's Dominic Ball battle for the ball during the English FA Cup fourth round soccer match between Ipswich Town and Maidstone United at Portman Road, in Ipswich, England, Jan. 27, 2024.Joe Giddens/The Associated Press
Maidstone provided the kind of massive upset the FA Cup is known for, Brighton’s Joao Pedro netted a hat trick, and Luton scored a last-gasp winner against Everton in the fourth round on Saturday.
Nonleague side Maidstone pulled off one of the competition’s biggest surprises in years by beating second-division Ipswich 2-1 to reach the last 16 for the first time.
Brighton is back there again after making the semi-finals last year, after Pedro netted his first hat trick for the club in a 5-2 win over fellow English Premier League team Sheffield United.
Luton also advanced after substitute Cauley Woodrow scored in the sixth minute of added time to secure a 2-1 win at Everton in a matchup between teams battling to avoid relegation from the top-flight. And Newcastle ousted Fulham 2-0 away despite a subpar performance.
But it was a team from the sixth division that stole the spotlight, as Maidstone became the lowest-ranked team since 1978 to reach the fifth round.
Sam Corne scored the winner for Maidstone in the 66th minute and goalkeeper Lucas Covolan made a string of saves to hold the lead and set off wild celebrations among the more than 4,400 away fans at Portman Road.
“The magic of the FA Cup is very much alive,” Maidstone manager George Elokobi said.
Ipswich dominated and had 38 efforts at goal compared to just two for the visitors. But Lamar Reynolds put Maidstone ahead against the run of play, finishing off a quick counter in the 43rd by lobbing Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton.
Jeremy Sarmiento equalized for Ipswich in the 56th but Walton then set up Corne in the area 10 minutes later, and he rifled home inside the near post.
“We knew we had to believe and it showed on the pitch, that desire to put our bodies on the line,” Corne said.
Maidstone can dream of a meeting with one of the Premier League giants in the last 16. The draw for the fifth round will be held on Sunday.
Defending champion Manchester City advanced by beating Tottenham on Friday, while Liverpool and Manchester United face lower-tier opposition on Sunday.
Leicester, the 2021 champion, beat fellow Championship side Birmingham 3-0, while Plymouth Argyle forced a replay against Leeds by holding the host to 1-1.
ANOTHER FULHAM EXIT
It’s been a bad week for Fulham in cup competitions.
Marco Silva’s team was eliminated in the English League Cup semi-finals by Liverpool despite a 1-1 home draw in the second leg on Wednesday, and went out of the FA Cup three days later at Craven Cottage.
Sean Longstaff scored for Newcastle against the run of play late in the first half and Dan Burn was on hand to tap in a rebound in the 61st to seal the win. Fulham wasted chances to get back in the game.
Eddie Howe took Newcastle to the League Cup last year but the club is still looking for a first trophy since wealthy Saudi owners took charge.
“It has been such a long time since the club has won something,” Burn said. “We’ve made a big thing over the last two seasons about that and we have four games to either get to the final or win it so let’s see who we get in the next round and hopefully push on.”
PEDRO POWERS BRIGHTON
Pedro took his tally to 18 goals in all competitions for Brighton after converting two penalties and completing his hat trick from just outside the area to make it 4-2 for the visitors in the 67th.
Sheffield came back from 2-0 down to equalize but couldn’t find another way back, with Danny Welbeck polishing off the win in injury time.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has been tipped as a possible successor to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool after the German’s surprising announcement that he is stepping down at the end of the season, and another deep cup run could certainly help his chances. His team lost on penalties to Manchester United in last year’s semi-finals.
LUTON SEALS IT LATE
A replay probably didn’t seem like an attractive prospect for Everton or Luton to fit into an already packed schedule, so both sides were pushing for a late goal to break the deadlock at Goodison Park.
It was Woodrow who provided it, scoring from close range following a goalmouth scramble at a corner after Arnaut Danjuma’s clearance rebounded off him.
That made up for a mistake by Luton goalkeeper Tim Krul, who was at fault for Everton’s equalizer when he let Jack Harrison’s long-range shot squirm from his grasp and trickle over the line to cancel out Vitalii Mykolenko’s opening goal.
Luton was the better team for much of the game but Everton’s backup goalkeeper Joao Virginia kept the hosts in the game with two crucial saves while Nathan Patterson also cleared a shot off the line.