FA Cup roundup: Newport stun Middlesbrough to book lucrative fifth-round tie with Manchester City
The Exiles secured a well-deserved 2-0 win over their Championship visitors after hitting a late leveller in the original tie
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Your support makes all the difference.Newport will welcome Manchester City to Rodney Parade in the fifth round of the FA Cup after claiming a shock victory over Middlesbrough in a replay.
The Exiles secured a well-deserved 2-0 win over their Championship visitors after hitting a late leveller in the original tie.
Third-tier Newport have never played in round five but will break that duck when they welcome reigning Premier League champions City to south Wales.
Newport defender Mickey Demetriou admitted he was looking forward to another big tie in the next round against Manchester City.
Demetriou told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s brilliant, we thoroughly deserved it. Look what it means to the club, it’s massive. It was a sell-out.
“We’ve got Manchester City at home in the next round and what a tie it will be for us. We could have been 3-0 up by half-time and we dug deep. We showed our quality.
“It’s another big team for us to come to Rodney Parade. It will be massive for the club again.”
Second-half strikes from Nahki Wells and Matt Smith proved the difference as QPR made it through to the fifth round for the first time in 22 years with a 2-0 win at the expense of Portsmouth at Loftus Road.
In a quiet first period, Darnell Furlong’s header against the bar from Luke Freeman’s centre was the pick of the chances.
Extra-time looked a distinct possibility heading into the break, but the hosts’ top-scorer Wells broke the deadlock with 20 minutes left, capitalising on chaos at a corner to bundle in from a yard out.
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The result was then made safe seven minutes later as the talismanic Freeman delivered a sumptuous free-kick which Smith gleefully powered home to set up a home tie against Watford on 15 February.
Barnet’s FA Cup adventure came to an end as Brentford won the second instalment of the battle of the Bees 3-1.
Goals from Sergi Canos, Julian Jeanvier and Neal Maupay sent the last non-league club in the competition packing as Brentford booked a trip to Championship rivals Swansea.
There was to be no repeat of the drama of the original tie eight days earlier, a six-goal cup classic capped by a sensational free-kick from Dan Sparkes to earn the National League minnows a replay.
There was added spice to the Griffin Park encounter after Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous said he would boycott the game due to a dispute over the away ticket allocation.
Tensions also boiled over on the pitch with an ugly melee erupting on the touchline in front of the home fans.
PA
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