England’s showpiece club soccer fixture will finally feature a heavyweight matchup. Each year the inevitable questions arise regarding whether or not the FA Cup has lost its magic, but the argument can be made that the tournament has seen too much magic as of late.
Chelsea await the winner of Sunday’s match between Arsenal and Manchester City to contest the 2017 FA Cup Final after defeating Tottenham 4-2 in the semis. Two first half goals by Willian were canceled out by Harry Kane and Dele Alli, but Eden Hazard scored Chelsea’s match-winner in the 75th minute. Five minutes later, Nemanja Matic secured the victory with one of the best goals you’ll ever see.
The Serbian defensive midfielder hadn’t scored a single goal this year, but his maiden strike was an absolute banger.
Unless you're holding out in some kind of doomsday bunker, or just don't follow any sports other than soccer, odds are that you've heard of Tom Brady’s Super Bowl LI jersey being stolen from the Patriots' locker room after the game.
It took a lot of investigation, including help from the FBI to find whoever was responsible for the theft, but Brady's jersey ended up being found down in Mexico. The culprit behind it appears to be Martin Mauricio Ortega, a director for the Diario La Prensa newspaper.
Sutton vs. Arsenal is not a thing anyone expected to happen at the start of the FA Cup, but after beating Cheltenham, Leeds United and Wimbledon, Sutton forced mighty Arsenal to come face them at Gander Green Lane. And man, they put on a show.
You just knew this wouldn't be an ordinary match when a man clad in just his undies and a giraffe hat ran onto the pitch.
Before and after from the Sutton United giraffe pitch invader.
The remarkable progress of non-league sides Lincoln City and Sutton United in the FA Cup will continue after Lincoln City’s shocking defeat of Burnley on Saturday. With Sutton United due to play Arsenal on Monday, we’ll soon see if two non-league sides can qualify for the quarterfinals for the first time ever.
Here are five of the most interesting characters from the sides.
Whenever a big side like Manchester United get played close by a smaller club, there's inevitably talk of the "Magic of the FA Cup", and, though that usually refers to some plucky underdog dethroning one of the elite, rich clubs, sometimes the magic of the cup is just watching Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic do something cool.
Case in point:
No 24 for Zlatan
Lovely assist from Pogba pic.twitter.com/ovQRaofihg
Burnley’s Turf Moor was witness to one of the most spectacular achievements in the 146-year history of the FA Cup — Lincoln City, a non-league side in England’s fifth division, have advanced to the FA Cup quarterfinals, an achievement that hasn’t been accomplished since 1914.