Manchester clubs rejoice, but is there romance left in the FA Cup?

The weekend’s FA Cup third round featured EPL clubs aiming to dodge early exits. Here are five talking points.

Financial gaps killing FA Cup romance

The FA Cup is often associated with giant-slaying acts by clubs at the bottom of the English football pyramid, sometimes with a teacher in midfield and a plumber up front.

But, aside from Brentford’s surprise loss to Championship cellar-dwellers Plymouth Argyle, the “magic” felt absent this time. The truth is that the financial gap between EPL and the English Football League (EFL) has become stark.

The EPL’s domestic broadcast deal is worth £6.7 billion (S$11.1 billion), which dwarfs the EFL’s £935 million package. Even with rotated squads – Nottingham Forest made 11 changes from their last EPL match and still won 2-0 against Luton Town – the quality of the EPL’s second-string players often outclasses lower-league opposition.

When even a dire Southampton side, with just one win in 20 EPL games this season, comfortably beat mid-table Championship outfit Swansea City 3-0, you have to wonder: Is there any romance left in the FA Cup?

Future is bright at City but Pep must embrace it

Against a side owned by Manchester United’s ‘Class of 92’ such as David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers, the EPL champions showed that they, too, have a legion of rising stars.

In Manchester City’s 8-0 thumping of Salford City, 22-year-old James McAtee hit his first senior hat-trick. There were also first senior City goals for teenage midfielder Nico O’Reilly and 20-year-old striker Divin Mubama, while Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, 19, impressed in central defence.

But Pep Guardiola’s lack of faith in City’s academy talent is well-documented. McAtee’s FA Youth Cup-winning teammates Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Liam Delap now shine at rival EPL clubs, which shows the challenge of breaking into Guardiola’s high-standard set-up. Despite McAtee’s hat-trick, Guardiola remarked: “He can play better.”

Cherries can look within for striking solutions

Bournemouth’s 2025 began with misfortune as Enes Unal tore his anterior cruciate ligament and Evanilson underwent surgery for a foot fracture, leaving the team without a senior striker.

But their 5-1 win over West Bromwich Albion – who are sixth in the Championship – showed that they might not need to dip into the transfer market.

Winger Dango Ouattara, previously deployed at left-back, scored two well-taken goals as a striker, while substitute Antoine Semenyo provided a goal and an assist.

For good measure, forward Daniel Jebbison, who just returned from a loan spell at Championship side Watford, also bagged his first goal for the club.

Bayindir-style redemption arcs are what United need

Altay Bayindir, 26, emerged as an unlikely Man of the Match for 10-man Manchester United, helping to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Jan 12.

While the decision to start the Turkish goalkeeper had raised eyebrows following his mistakes in the League Cup loss to Spurs in December, he justified that call.

He made a string of key saves, including brilliantly denying Martin Odegaard’s penalty and a decisive stop in the shoot-out to thwart Kai Havertz, who was the only player who missed.

If redemption arcs like this become more frequent, Ruben Amorim could be on to something special at Old Trafford.

A blast from the past for the Toffees

You could be forgiven for thinking that time had reversed over the weekend, when David Moyes replaced the sacked Sean Dyche as Everton manager, returning to the club he led from 2002 to 2013.

While the Toffees kicked off a new era just hours after Dyche was fired with a 2-0 FA Cup third-round victory over League One Pete­rborough United on Jan 11, the attention will now turn to what Moyes can do in his second coming.

In a football world where romance is in short supply, it is genuinely endearing that the Scot will be the first to manage them at their new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, and the last at Goodison Park.

He had guided the club to nine top-eight finishes in just over a decade, despite being on a shoestring budget.

With 16th-placed Everton just one point above the relegation zone, a step backward may be the key to moving forward.