Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United Bristol City v Crystal Palace Swansea City v Manchester United Arsenal v Norwich City Chelsea v Everton Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers Leicester City v Leeds United Bournemouth v Middlesbrough
The matches will be played week commencing October 23. A little more drama in round four wouldn’t go amiss; perhaps Bristol City, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Middlesbrough can provide it. Failing that, those three big Premier League clashes look pretty tasty too. See you here for those! Nighty night!
Here we go, then! Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson will make the draw for the fourth round. And the first tie is: Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United.
Stay awhile, please, will you? Because the draw for the fourth round is coming up soon! But while we wait, here’s the results from a night of action high on goals, low on drama, that late flurry at the Hawthorns apart:
FULL TIME: West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Manchester City
And so Leroy Sane is City’s two-goal hero. The 1970, 1976, 2014 and 2016 winners are in the hat for the fourth round, at the expense of the 1966 champs!
What a chance for West Brom to equalise! McClean shoots from 25 yards out, down the inside-left channel. His effort is deflected, but drops to Robson-Kanu on the penalty spot! He’s just got to slot the ball past Bravo, but instead he crashes an effort off the outside of the left-hand post, and City survive! In the last minute of injury time!
GOAL! Manchester United 4-1 Burton Albion (Dyer 90+1)
A consolation for Burton, and United finally concede this season at Old Trafford! Sub keeper Joel Pereira fumbles under a little pressure on his line, and Dyer smashes the loose ball home from a tight angle on the left!
A free kick for City just outside the Baggies box. A poor decision to faff about, though, and Robson-Kanu is given half a chance to attack on the break. The move breaks down for West Brom, but they’ll have five additional minutes in which to save themselves.
Just three minutes left on the clock at the Hawthorns, where the game is still in the balance. McClean threatens to break on goal but he’s disabused of that notion. Is there a surprise in this evening yet?
The Gunners are through, but that was something of a misfire. Still, in the hat is in the hat. Arsenal haven’t won this trophy since 1993. Could this be their year?
West Brom haven’t given this up by any means. Rondon flashes a header inches wide right of goal from six yards. Then Morrison threatens to break through, but can’t get anything meaningful away. A one-sided nonsense has suddenly exploded into life!
GOAL! West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Manchester City (Sane 77)
Morrison is denied by a wonder save from Bravo. A second chance for West Brom to go ahead spurned. And then City fly up the other end, Sane sashaying down the right, gliding inside, dropping a shoulder, and floating a glorious effort into the top left!
GOAL! Chelsea 5-1 Nottingham Forest (Darikwa 90+1)
With the very last move of the match, Forest embark on some triangulation down the right wing. Finally the ball drops to Darikwa six yards out, and he sidefoots confidently into the bottom right for a consolation.
At the Emirates, Mandeville dribbles in from the left and nearly Ricky Villas a goal out of nothing! Doncaster so nearly level against Arsenal! Meanwhile at the Hawthorns, the ball is slipped to the feet of Robson-Kanu, six yards out! He must score, but shanks an effort wide left of the target. Suddenly it’s Manchester City on the ropes!
GOAL! West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Manchester City (Yacob 72)
City are made to pay for their profligacy! A corner for the Baggies out on the right. The ball’s hooked into the mixer, where Jacob is on hand to sidefoot home from six yards! Where was the City defence? Not anywhere near Yacob. And we have drama! A match in the balance!
GOAL! Chelsea 5-0 Nottingham Forest (Batshuayi 85)
TV set for Michy Batshuayi, please! Kenedy hammers a shot onto the Forest cross bar from a tight position on the left. His spectacular effort drops to Batshuayi, who taps home for his hat-trick!
West Brom have been on the ropes all evening, but there’s only one goal in it at the Hawthorns. And suddenly Robson-Kanu flicks a ball down the inside-left channel to release Morrison into the City box! He threads a shot across Bravo and inches wide of the right-hand post. Then Sane romps up the other end, down the right. He’s clear, and should shoot, but squares it and the chance is gone.
A delicate diagonal Davies pass looped forward to Niasse on the left-hand edge of the Sunderland box. Niasse chests down and extends a leg, lashing a fine finish into the top right.
GOAL! Manchester United 4-0 Burton Albion (Martial 60)
A one-two with Rashford sends Martial away, down the inside-right channel. Martial slots confidently, and powerfully, into the bottom right. Manchester United’s last two games have finished 3-0 and 4-0; there’s half an hour left for a pretty pattern to develop.
Lookman very nearly makes it three for Everton against Sunderland. A couple of quick-fire snapshots towards the right-hand corner from close range. But he’s denied both times. “Ah, Nigel Jemson,” writes Andy Coupe. “A scorer of a hat-trick in this competition. The sponsors gave him a TV.” As mentioned earlier: Rumbelows, a class act.
Doncaster are threatening to give Arsenal a game at the Emirates. May very nearly tore clear of the Arsenal back line, but Maitland-Niles zipped back to deal with the danger. Meanwhile Luke Shaw is on for Manchester United, for the first time this season, and he’s quickly into the action against Burton, seeing a goal chalked off for offside.