The magic of the cup
Under challenging circumstances, the FA Cup really did not disappoint this weekend.
With a number of teams depleted by coronavirus infections, some of the line-ups on display were more unrecognisable than the latest iteration of the Sugababes and it was a shame that lots of fans had to miss out on going to see their local teams playing in massive games.
Nevertheless, we still managed to see a couple of big cup-sets, a former TOWIE star coming on against Leeds United, Gareth Bale playing football right next to someone's flowerbed and a bunch of teenagers being dropped off by their mums to play against the English champions.
We call that entertainment.
1. "Can we have our ball back?"
Residents of Crosby got to enjoy watching Tottenham Hotspur playing almost literally in their back garden on Sunday, as the north London giants took on eighth-tier Marine AFC. If you noticed numbers on the fences around the pitch, those were to signal which house to knock on if the ball went over. Incredible.
View more on twitterView more on twitterDo they serve prosecco at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium?"Obstructed view"2. Vicious Vinicius
After Neil Kengni hit the bar for Marine early on, any talk of the 'magic of the cup' was quickly dispensed with by Carlos Vinicius, who scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 hammering.
When the 25-year-old opened his account by angrily smashing the ball in from half a yard out, with no challenge forthcoming, before doing the Mbappe celebration, it sort of set the tone.
No mercyView more on twitterView more on twitter
Bringing Dele Alli off for a four-time Champions League winner in the second half continued this theme of 'showing respect to the opposition.'
View more on twitter3. Devine intervention
Spurs' fifth of the afternoon came from Alfie Devine - a young man who was born the same summer that Jose Mourinho was unveiled as Chelsea manager for the first time and delivered his 'special one' speech.
View more on twitterView more on twitter4. Red Devils thrash Leeds United
No, we're not talking about Manchester United. It was the other Red Devils, League Two's Crawley Town, who overcame Marcelo Bielsa's men this weekend, in a proper FA cup-set.
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And then owned them on Twitter too...
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Crawley were so comfortable in their lead that they were even able to give a professional footballing debut to someone that some of you may recognise from elsewhere.
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- Watch Mark Wright: The Last Chance on iPlayer now
5. Kick it to the Kirby
In the Women's Super League, a number of games were postponed, but Chelsea got the year off to a good start, with a 5-0 thrashing of Reading, including four from Fran Kirby.
View more on twitter6. '21 - an album by Chorley FC
Non-league Chorley continued their fine run in the FA Cup by knocking out Covid-affected Derby County.
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Peep the reply…
7. The kids are all right
Aston Villa hosted Liverpool in the FA Cup on Friday night. With the team hit with a number of coronavirus infections, Villa were forced to field a side with a average age of 18, many of whom had to be chaperoned by their parents.
To whip out an over-used phrase, 'you couldn't write it'
The young guns put on a fine display, holding Liverpool at 1-1 until the 60th minute, with a top-drawer goal from teenager Louie Barry.
That moment, in all its majesty - one he'll never forget - was luckily capture for posterity.
View more on twitter8. Cristiano Ronaldo overtakes Pele (possibly)
Ronaldo's injury-time goal for Juventus on Sunday, against 10-man Sassuolo, reportedly helped him break another record.
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We live in expectation of a correction from the stats people at Pele's former club, Santos FC.
9. Three on the Hoppe
Meanwhile, in Germany, 19-year-old Matthew Hoppe helped to end a 30-game winless run for Schalke.
View more on twitter10. Who says politics is full of dinosaurs?
Every day on the news we see another politician showing off their literary collection in the Zoom background. It's refreshing to see former Speaker John Bercow mixing things up.
View more on twitter11. Relatable content
And, finally…
We still find these little black things on our bedroom floor
What we'd give to be able to get into a petty debate with a colleague over the 'overhead height' rule in a post-work game of five-a-side right now.
Source: bbc.com