The Emirates FA Cup Third Round always brings so many surprises, twists and exciting encounters.
It is also the round where the Premier League outfits come into play alongside the FA Cup holders, with Crystal Palace looking to retain their trophy from last season.
With so many opportunities for giant killings in the FA Cup Third Round, let’s dive in to see how the Premier League teams got on.
Wrexham 3-3 Nottingham Forest (Wrexham Win 4-3 On Penalties): Forest Out In The FA Cup Third Round As Wrexham Produce First Giant Killing
The first giant killing of the FA Cup Third Round came in one of the first games of the weekend as two-time holders Nottingham Forest travelled to Wrexham.
After naming a strong line-up and starting the game relatively well, many Forest fans wouldn’t have envisioned their team being 2-0 down at half-time.
It was Liberato Cacace who struck first for the hosts as he found the bottom corner in the 37th minute.
Three minutes later, Oliver Rathbone doubled Wrexham’s advantage as they put one foot in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.
Igor Jesus halved the deficit for the Reds just after the hour mark as Forest looked to bring the tie back; however, Wrexham captain Dominic Hyam had other ideas as he headed the ball home to put the hosts 3-1 in front.
Forest had 15 minutes left of the FA Cup Third Round tie to rescue themselves. Enter Callum Hudson-Odoi as the winger scored twice to force the game into extra time.
The game eventually went to penalties with Wrexham winning 4-3 in the shootout after Arthur Okonkwo saved Omari Hutchinson’s spot kick to send the Red Dragons into the next round of the competition.
Macclesfield 2-1 Crystal Palace: FA Cup Holders Knocked Out By Sixth-Tier Macclesfield
In arguably the biggest cup upset in recent history, Macclesfield, of the National League North, knocked out FA Cup holders Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Third Round.
Having to go through three Qualifying Rounds to get into the FA Cup Proper, and then beating AFC Tooton and Slough in the Round One and Two, the Silkmen welcomed Palace to Moss Rose in the next round.
All eyes were on how the FA Cup holders would approach this game as Palace manager Oliver Glasner named a relatively strong side with the likes of Marc Guehi, Chris Richards, Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino on the pitch.
It was the sixth-tier side that took the lead just before half-time as Paul Dawson scored the opener for the underdogs.
Just after the hour mark, Macclesfield made it 2-0 as Issac Buckley-Ricketts’ tame effort trickled past Walter Benitez and into the net.
A mountain to climb, Palace made changes and got a goal back in the 90th minute through Pino, but it was too little too late as the Silkmen knocked out the FA Cup holders in what will be the story of the weekend and possibly the year!
Everton 1-1 Sunderland (Sunderland Win 3-0 On Penalties): Black Cats Through To Round Four After Penalty Shootout Victory Over Everton
In one of only four all-Premier League FA Cup Third Round ties, Sunderland travelled to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to take on Everton.
With both sides challenging for the European places in the Premier League and both dropping points in midweek, a win and a place in the Fourth Round would make for a good weekend.
On the half-hour mark, Sunderland took the lead. Enzo Le Fee bounced back after his shocking penalty miss against Brentford with a neatly taken goal that put the Black Cats 1-0 up.
With a minute remaining, Everton saved themselves from FA Cup Third Round elimination as James Garner slotted his penalty away to send the tie into extra time.
A penalty shootout followed as the Toffees capitulated, and Sunderland came out victorious, thanks to their goalkeeper, Robin Roefs, who saved all three of their penalties saved by Robin Roefs.
In the process, Everton became only the second top-flight side to lose an FA Cup penalty shootout without scoring any of their penalties in that shootout.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-1 Shrewsbury Town: Rob Edwards’ Side In Cruise Control As Wolves Hit Shrewsbury For Six
Wolves welcomed League Two Shrewsbury to the Molineux in another potential giant-killing tie in the FA Cup Third Round.
However, it would be anything but a giant killing and more of a routine win for the hosts, as they have slowly begun to regain their mojo.
Jorgen Strand Larsen was on fire as he scored twice in the first half with Jhon Arias’ goal sandwiched in between.
John Marquis managed to momentarily restore some hope for the travelling Shrews fans before the Danish striker restored Wolves’ two-goal advantage just before half-time.
Strand Larsen completed his hat-trick in the 58th minute, with further goals from Rodrigo Gomes and Tolu Arokodare securing Wolves’ place in the Fourth Round.
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Brentford: Bees Comfortably Fly Past The Owls And Into The Fourth Round
The struggling Sheffield Wednesday host the Premier League’s surprise package of the season, Brentford.
Wednesday could just hope and pray that it wouldn’t be a cricket score as the Bees have been in fine form in front of goal, and the host were happy to see that Igor Thiago was not involved in this one.
Keane Lewis-Potter, after an assist from Mathias Jensen, put the Premier League side in front just before the half-hour mark.
Brentford were very much on top, as they were predicted to be, and restricted the Owls to only a few chances.
In the 64th minute, Jensen tucked away a penalty to comfortably get Brentford the win in the FA Cup Third Round and progress them through.
Newcastle United 3-3 Bournemouth (Newcastle Win 7-6 On Penalties): Six-Goal Thriller Sees Geordies Edge Through After Penalty Shootout Drama
Only six points separate them in the Premier League, but this was a different game as a place in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup was at stake.
Newcastle welcomed Bournemouth to St James’ Park in fine form, having won their last three consecutive league games.
The encounter started in a cagey way as the first half saw no goals, one of only two games that didn’t see a goal in the first 45 minutes.
After the 50th minute, the game completely opened up and chaos ensued as Newcastle and Bournemouth started scoring for fun.
Harvey Barnes put the hosts in front, but only 20 minutes later, the Magpies were 2-1 down and chasing the game after Alex Scott and David Brooks struck for the Cherries.
Similar to the game in midweek against Leeds United, Newcastle rescued the game in stoppage time as an Anthony Gordon penalty forced the game into extra time.
In the 118th minute, the Magpies took the lead once more as Barnes scored his second and looked to have won it for the hosts.
However, there was yet another twist in the tale as Marcus Tavernier scored in stoppage time to take the game to a penalty shootout.
The shootout went to the ninth round after misses from Nick Woltemade and Bruno Guimaraes for Newcastle and Evanilson and Alejandro Gimenez for Bournemouth forced it into a sudden-death situation.
It was Bafode Diakite who missed the crucial ninth penalty for the Cherries as they were dumped out of the FA Cup and Newcastle lived to fight another day.
Fulham 3-1 Middlesbrough: Second Half Comeback From The Cottagers Sees Them Avoid Cupset
Championship high-flyers Middlesbrough travelled to the capital with the potential of giant-killing on their minds.
In an evenly contested first half, it was the visitors who got ahead through midfield maestro Hayden Hackney.
Being a goal down, Fulham boss Marco Silva made the needed changes and they instantly paid off as Harry Wilson equalised just three minutes after coming onto the pitch.
The tide from that point turned in the Cottagers’ favour as they went on to take the lead in the 77th minute through Emile Smith Rowe.
Kevin added a third in stoppage time as Fulham came from a goal down to book their place in the Fourth Round and avoid any unnecessary FA Cup Third Round drama.
Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City: Citizens Hit 10 Past Third-Tier Exeter
After a recent poor run of form, Pep Guardiola’s side wasn’t letting that creep into their chances of progressing from the FA Cup Third Round.
Third-tier Exeter had to contend with the likes of Antoine Semenyo making his debut for City, the midfield maestro Rodri spraying passes and the machine Erling Haaland who started up top for the Citizens.
The Norwegian striker had a quiet afternoon as his teammates ran riot, beginning with 20-year-old Max Alleyne who put City 1-0 up.
Not long after, Rodri added a second as own goals from Jake Doyle-Hayes and Jack Fitzwater had the hosts 4-0 up at half-time.
Seemingly with no way back for Exeter, Manchester City continued to pile on the misery as the scoring continued to get out of hand in the second half.
A Rico Lewis double, and goals from Semenyo, Tijani Reijnders, Nico O’Reilly, and Ryan McAidoo completed the scoring for City as they got 10 past Exeter.
Youngster George Birch managed to get a goal for the League One side as the Exeter fans got a chance to cheer at the Etihad even after their heavy 10-1 loss at the hands of the seven-time FA Cup winners.
Burnley 5-1 Millwall: Five-Star Clarets Through Comfortably Into The Next Round
One of the closest battles when it comes to teams from two different divisions as 19th place in the Premier League welcomed fifth place in the Championship.
The Clarets made sure that it would most definitely not be a close battle as they flew out of the traps and took a 1-0 lead after 11 minutes through Ashley Barnes.
Loum Tchaouna doubled Burnley’s advantage as Jaidon Anthony scored for the second consecutive game making it 3-0 at half-time in the hosts’ favour.
With the two sides having the same number of shots and shots on target in the first half, Millwall would feel like they had been slightly unlucky not to still be in the game and they definitely were out of sight in the second half as Burnley continued to put their foot on the gas.
Barnes got his brace and Jaydon Banel also got a goal to complete a five-star display for Burnley.
Josh Coburn managed to get a consolation for Millwall in stoppage time, but it was way too little too late as Burnley cruised into Round Four of the FA Cup.
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Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa: Villa Continue On All Fronts As Unai Emery’s Machine Seems Unstoppable
Another all-Premier League saw high-flying Aston Villa make the trip to the capital to face Thomas Frank’s out-of-form Spurs.
Both managers put out strong squads in their respective bids of avoiding FA Cup Third Round elimination and further progression in the oldest-ever cup competition.
From the off, it showed who the in-form side was as Villa dominated possession and created the better chances.
The visitors got the lead in the 22nd minute through Emiliano Buendia as the Argentine turned supplier in stoppage time of the first half to assist Morgan Rogers, who put Villa 2-0 up at the break.
Spurs got out of the blocks quickly in the second half as Wilson Odobert halved the deficit for the hosts in the 54th minute.
After the hosts looked like they were building a head of steam, the momentum stopped as yellow cards galore took over.
Villa were able to hang on and knock Spurs packing out of the FA Cup as Emery’s machine continued to steamroll over opponents.
Charlton Athletic 1-5 Chelsea: Liam Rosenior Off To A Winning Start As Blues Boss
The final game of a jam-packed FA Cup Third Round schedule saw Charlton Athletic take on Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea.
The former Hull City and Strasbourg manager would take charge of his first game and was hoping to go through to Round Four without any troubles.
After a slow start from both sides, the Blues hit the front in added time of the first half as Marc Guiu set up Jorrel Hato for the opener.
Tosin Adarabioyo added a second for Chelsea; however, the hosts managed to get back into the game and halve the deficit after Miles Leaburn’s effort hit the back of the net.
The chance of a comeback was short-lived for Charlton as five minutes later, Guiu added a third for the Blues.
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez added goals right at the end to cap off a great first game for Rosenior.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Focus Images
Recording Date: 10.01.2026
