National League Boreham Wood are the architects of the FA Cup Fourth Round’s biggest upset after stunning Championship Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday.
The monumental result means that ‘The Wood,’ who are yet to concede a goal in this season’s FA Cup, book an away trip to Goodison Park to face Everton in the Fifth Round.
A fairytale victory came courtesy of a fairytale goalscorer. 37-year-old club captain Mark Ricketts calmly slotted a low shot in off the post to give him just his second goal in over 200 appearances and set up one of the biggest FA Cup upsets in the tournament’s 151-year history.
The Cherries, who dominated the match, huffed and puffed and had a number of opportunities to draw level. Philip Billing was fed a one-on-one with Boreham keeper Taye Ashby-Hammond but cleared the crossbar with his attempted lob.
The best chance for Scott Parker’s side to salvage the tie came moments later and the only thing that kept the game level was Taye Ashby-Hammond and the linesman’s flag. The Boreham Wood stopper pushed Ryan Christie's effort on to the post before doing similar to Philip Billing's header. Jaidon Anthony then followed up by tucking the ball into the back of the net, but the flag was up against Billing.
The second-biggest shock of the FA Cup Fourth Round saw Nottingham Forest thrash bitter east Midlands rivals Leicester City 4-1 to set up a Fifth Round clash with fellow Championship side Huddersfield.
Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes looked a shadow of the side that won this very competition at Wembley in May, courtesy of a sole Youri Tielemans strike, and it was hard to tell which of these two sides played in the higher division at times. Forest, currently eighth in the English second-tier, were simply superb and are into the Fifth Round for just the second time in 17 years.
The City Ground erupted in the 23rd minute when Philip Zinckernagel poked in a well-worked goal to give the home side a deserved lead, but it descended into delirium just 30 seconds later as they made it 2-0. Brennan Johnson was this time at hand to punish a terrible back pass from James Justin.
The home faithful could scarcely believe what they were believing, but their afternoon got even better as returning captain Joe Worrell headed home at the back post from a James Garner corner to make it three.
Kelechi Iheanacho restored some hope for the Premier League outfit just before half-time, capitalising on a mistake from Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba, but Djed Spence restored the host’s lead in the second half, tearing through Leicester’s defence to slide the ball past Danny Ward and put the game beyond doubt.
Nottingham Forest have scored three goals in nine minutes against FA Cup holders Leicester! 🔥
Joe Worrall in dreamland!
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Elsewhere, Liverpool had no such trouble against Championship opposition Cardiff. The Bluebirds dug deep to keep the game goalless going into the break, but the Reds ran rampant in the second-half, winning 3-1 and booking a home clash with Norwich in the Fifth Round.
Diogo Jota broke the deadlock on the 60 minute mark, heading home a Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick. Liverpool new-boy Luis Diaz came off the bench to set-up Takumi Minamino for the second, before Harvey Elliott marked his return after five months out injured with a wonderful third.
Cardiff, who came into this tie severely weakened, performed admirably at Anfield and gave their travelling support something to cheer with ten minutes to go when Substitute Rubin Colwill's powerful low drive found its way past Caoimhin Kelleher.
FA Cup Fifth Round Draw
Luton Town v Chelsea
Crystal Palace v Stoke City
Peterborough United v Manchester City
Liverpool v Norwich City
Southampton v West Ham United
Middlesbrough v Tottenham Hotspur
Nottingham Forest v Huddersfield Town
Everton v Boreham Wood
