Saints beat Fulham, City hand Magpies FA Cup lesson as Chelsea survive Wrexham scare

Sunderland suffered an embarrassing FA Cup fifth round exit against third tier strugglers Port Vale, while Championship side Southampton stunned Fulham on Sunday.

Sunderland have enjoyed an impressive first season back in the Premier League, but this was a dismal defeat for Regis Le Bris’ side.

Ben Waine, a boyhood fan of Sunderland’s arch rivals Newcastle, capitalised on poor marking to head the 28th minute winner, sending Port Vale into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954.

Jon Brady’s side appear destined for relegation, but they beat second-tier Bristol City in the fourth round and produced an even more remarkable performance to make a mockery of the 56-place gap between them and Sunderland.

The giant-killing will delight their most famous fan, pop star Robbie Williams, who grew up near their Vale Park stadium in Burslem, and is now the club’s president.

It was also a memorable moment for Brady, a 50-year-old Australian who replaced the sacked Darren Moore in January and has spent his managerial career in the shadows with Brackley and Northampton.

At Craven Cottage, Ross Stewart’s ice-cool penalty in stoppage-time sealed Southampton’s 1-0 upset.

It was a bitter loss for Fulham manager Marco Silva, who paid the price for a selection gamble that backfired.

Silva made nine changes following a disappointing 1-0 defeat against West Ham in the Premier League earlier this week, but his switches failed to produce the desired result.

Southampton won it in the first minute of stoppage-time when Finn Azaz was fouled by Fulham defender Joachim Andersen and Stewart drilled his spot-kick past Benjamin Lecomte.

Relegated from the Premier League last season, they are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2022.

Southampton’s success served as a fitting tribute to the greatest day in the club’s history.

Their players wore a yellow commemorative kit to mark 50 years since they wore the same shirts when Bobby Stokes’ sealed second tier Southampton’s shock 1976 FA Cup final win against Manchester United at Wembley.

Southampton’s current crop still have a way to go to emulate the achievement of Lawrie McMenemy’s men.

But Tonda Eckert’s side are unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions as they chase FA Cup glory and a place in the Championship play-offs.

Earlier, Manchester City shrugged off 10 changes to their starting line-up to crush Newcastle 3-1 and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday as Chelsea battled past 10-man Wrexham.

Earlier, Premier League leaders Arsenal stayed on track for a historic quadruple by seeing off a feisty challenge from third-tier Mansfield to win their fifth-round tie 2-1.

Pep Guardiola’s City, who like Arsenal are still chasing glory on four fronts, were almost entirely changed from the side that drew 2-2 with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League in midweek, with only Matheus Nunes keeping his place.

Eddie Howe made a relatively modest four changes to his Newcastle team, fresh from their late win against Manchester United, with match-winner Will Osula given a rare start.

The home side began strongly at St James’ Park and took a deserved lead when Harvey Barnes finished smartly after being found by Sandro Tonali.

City were level in the 39th minute in bizarre fashion when Jeremy Doku’s dangerous ball behind the defence ran all the way to Savinho.

The Brazilian stood still and appeared to let the ball bounce off his leg into the net.

Soon after the restart City completed the turnaround when Omar Marmoush smashed the ball into the roof of the goal from close range.

The Egyptian forward then thundered home his second in the 65th minute to put his team in total control.

Agencies