Anything Can Happen In The Cup

The FA Cup is undoubtedly the greatest domestic cup competition in the world. No other competition comes remotely close to the dreams that this remarkable tournament creates and the memories entwined into the history of English Football. The weekend past epitomised everything that the FA Cup stands for. 'Anything can happen in the cup' is a well known and over used cliche yet it's a one that is so true and was evident over the weekend. Cambridge, Bolton, Bradford and Middlesborough certainly ruined many accumulators this weekend, but dished out the dough to the courageous few.

But first we rewind back to the 1988 cup where the 'Crazy Gang' or Wimbledon had a spectacular cup run which eventually culminated in lifting the cup against clear favourites Liverpool. The FA Cup is about giving lower teams the opportunity to humble some of England's elite. The single games attempt to keep a level playing field, and the big teams know that if they take the foot off the gas, then they will be punished by the passion, will to win and aggression of their opposition. Not only does it offer the chance of a life time for players, but it will also bring in a decent amount of revenue to please the owners.

The weekend past proved that the FA Cup is magical. Louis Van Gaal took his Manchester United side to the Abbey Stadium to face Richard Money's Cambridge United. The fact that Manchester United towered 76 places above the League Two side, did not deter Money's players from delivering a performance of the highest quality. The discipline showed by the home side was second to none and they prevented the 13 times Premier League winners from scoring. They did pose a threat to the unsteady defence of the Red Devils through the pace of Sullay Kaikai and Ryan Donaldson on the wings. At the same time, the absence of Wayne Rooney was felt. His creative spark could have been the linchpin to unlock the defence, as Falcao and Wilson were feeding off scraps. When Chris Foy blew the final whistle, you knew what it meant by the emotion on the faces of the players and crowd alike. Cambridge deserve their moment at Old Trafford, and will certainly throw the kitchen sink at it and enjoy the occasion regardless of the result.

When news filtered around England that Manchester United had only drawn, many expected that to be the fairytale story of the weekend. The drama was only beginning. League One side Bradford are no strangers to the tag of underdogs and don't seem to pay much attention to the script, after their Capital One Cup exploits of 2012/2013, where they knocked out Arsenal, Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa on their route to the final. Jose Mourinho fielded a team that contained only 3 regular starters - Azpilicueta, Oscar and Cahill - which could be one of the causes for a lacklustre and faltering performance. Chelsea opened a 2 goal lead inside 38 minutes and even though they look infallible at the Bridge, the wheels came off the wagon and they leaked 3 second half goals to lose 4-2. It has been dubbed as one of the great FA Cup come backs and rightly so. I was listening to the game on 5Live and when Ramires netted the second Blues' goal, was fearing the worst for the Bantams. Memories of 2013 will creep back into the minds of the players and fans and rightly so. They deserve another cup run after that performance. 

Middlesborough were the next lower division side to throw the script out of the window with their quality performance at the Etihad. Unlike Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini fielded much of his first team with Cabellero, Boyata and Kolarov the exceptions. With 65% possession and 8/24 shots on target, City were dominant but unable to capitalise, handing Boro the initiative to grab the winner through loanee Patrick Bamford. Tomas Mejias was in top form, and played a significant part in the silencing of the Etihad faithful and sending Middlesborough into the fifth round. With City pushing players forward in pursuit of an equaliser, gaps at the back were inevitably left and Albert Adomah burst forward and found Bamford before the ball broke kindly to Kike who tucked it in the back of the net to safely secure Boro's passage through to the next round.

I haven't even touched Liverpool's draw at home to Bolton - who had a combined age of 73 years up front. With a few teams from the top half of the Premier League already out, teams such as Middlesborough may fancy themselves stretching the cup run on for a few rounds yet. Arsenal are favourites, followed by Man United and Liverpool with West Ham in fourth. Even though my team did not win, it's moments like these that make me cherish the FA Cup. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest domestic cup competition on planet earth.