Non-league Lincoln City and third-tier Millwall struck late, late winners as Burnley and Premier League champions Leicester City were humbled on a historic day in the FA Cup yesterday.
Sean Raggett scored an 89th-minute header as Lincoln, who reside in the fifth-tier National League, stunned Burnley 1-0 in the fifth round in one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history.
Ten-man Millwall, seventh in League One, claimed a third top-flight scalp in this season’s competition by dramatically sinking ailing Leicester 1-0 via a 90th-minute goal by Shaun Cummings.
“I’m lost for words. It’s mad. I can’t believe it!” Lincoln’s match-winner Raggett, 23, told BT Sport. “Crazy. A non-league side in the quarterfinals, in modern football. It’s unheard of.”
Eighty-one places below Burnley in the English football pyramid, Lincoln prevailed when centre-back Raggett squeezed a header over the line following a late corner at Turf Moor.
Lincoln become the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup’s last eight since Queens Park Rangers in 1914.
They are the eighth side from below England’s four fully professional divisions to have beaten top-flight opposition since World War II and only the second to have done so since 1989.
“We said it was a one-in-a-100 chance and thankfully we got that opportunity,” said Lincoln manager Danny Cowley.
“The last eight of the FA Cup sounds pretty good. We work hard on our corners and our free-kicks and we are mightily proud of the players.”
Championship Huddersfield frustrated Manchester City to take their FA Cup fifth-round tie to a replay with a goalless draw at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The Yorkshire side had a first-half strike disallowed for offside and City’s Claudio Bravo was the busier of the two goalkeepers as David Wagner’s men produced a spirited display.
But City were not overly troubled and given the addition to their fixture lists, both managers might have been left rueing making 15 changes between them.
That may be especially so for Pep Guardiola and City, who might also have to alter plans for a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi after Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Monaco.