FA Cup

QPR And Bolton Avoid FA Upsets

Two big wins tonight in the FA Cup for Bolton and QPR, two sides that have been struggling for wins in the league this season.

Bolton beat fourth-tier Macclesfield 2-0 to reach the competition’s last 32. First-half goals by striker Kevin Davies and Bulgaria winger Martin Petrov set up an all-Premier League match against Swansea on Jan. 28.

QPR were not as convincing as they needed a goal from defender Danny Gabbidon in the 73rd-minute goal to beat MK Dons. The win for the first for recently-hired Mark Hughes, but he has to consider his side lucky to still be in the cup, as MK Dons were the better side for long stretches of the match.

QPR will now play Chelsea at home in the fourth-round. It will be the first match between the two London rivals since the game at Loftus Road in October that saw two Chelsea players sent off and John Terry charged with racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

Elsewhere Leicester thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 thanks to a hat trick by former Everton striker Jermaine Beckford to set up a match against fourth-tier team Swindon, which caused the biggest upset of the third round by beating Premier League side Wigan 2-1.

Millwall will host fellow League Championship side Southampton in the fourth round after winning its replay against Dagenham & Redbridge 5-0, with striker Darius Henderson also scoring a hat trick.