Why does the nation love the FA Cup? Some may say it is the tradition, others due to it's worldwide appeal. However, the thing we enjoy most about the competition is the opportunity it gives smaller clubs to play (and on odd occassions, slay) giants of the footballing world.
The FA Cup Fourth Round games took place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We witnessed the slaying of five giants of the Premier League by lower league clubs- below, we take a look at each game.
Friday 25 January
Millwall 2 - 1 Aston Villa- Paul Lambert's side suffered a second Cup embarrassment in three days on Friday, at the hands of Championship club Millwall. Aston Villa's defensive vulnerabilites were laid bare once again, by Danny Shittu's equaliser and a last minute winner from John Marquis.
Saturday 26 January
QPR 2 - 4 MK Dons- Harry Redknapp's West Londoners crashed out of the FA Cup following a shock defeat by League One's MK Dons. Armand Traore conceded an own goals within four minutes of play and QPR found themselves 4 - 0 down early in the second half. Two goals from Bothroyd and Fabio were too little, too late.
Norwich 0 - 1 Luton- Luton Town became the first non-league club to knock out a Premiership side in the the FA Cup since 1989. The game remained at 0 - 0 until the 80th minute, where Scott Rendell struck at the near post to put his side one goal ahead. The Conference side managed to hang on for the next ten minutes.
Sunday 27 January
Leeds United 2 - 1 Tottenham- Following an early opener by Luke Varney and then some poor defense by Spurs, the Yorkshire side were 2 - 0 up by the 50th minute. A goal from Clint Dempsey eight minutes later proved to be just a consolation. The Championship side progress to the next round.
Oldham 3 - 2 Liverpool- Despite struggling in lowly League 1, Paul Dickov's side still managed to record a historic victory over one of the country's biggest clubs. Oldham took the lead twice during the game. Dickov has described the victory as "the greatest moment of his career" but now may face the sack...
