LONDON, Jan 7: The FA Cup sprung to life in dramatic style Sunday as Leeds United were humbled by Cardiff City and Manchester United produced a trademark late recovery to knock out Aston Villa.

Leeds, the Premier League leaders, suffered a humiliating 2-1 defeat at second division Cardiff, and Derby County lost 3-1 at home to third division Bristol Rovers, but Manchester United almost stole the limelight with a stunning display at Villa Park.

Trailing 2-0 and facing a third-round exit from the competition for the first time in 18 years, the champions scored three goals in five minutes to book their place in the fourth round.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer grabbed the first before substitute Ruud Van Nistelrooy, on the bench to rest a groin injury, netted twice in two minutes to seal a stirring comeback.

Scott Young was the Cardiff hero, smashing the ball home from close range three minutes from time to seal a famous victory over Leeds for a club lying 10th in the second division.

Leeds had looked to be on course for the fourth round when Mark Viduka put them ahead after 12 minutes, but Graham Kavanagh’s stunning free-kick nine minutes later drew the hosts level.

The Premier League side were reduced to 10 men just before halftime as young striker Alan Smith was sent off for elbowing an opponent, the sixth red card of his fledgling career.

Earlier, Bristol Rovers, 19th in the third division, also pulled off a major upset as striker Nathan Ellington bagged a hat trick to sink Derby, the Premier League’s third-bottom club.

Rovers took the lead at Derby’s Pride Park Stadium after 14 minutes when Ellington latched on to a long clearance by his goalkeeper Scott Howie to head the ball past Mart Poom. The visitors continued to hold their own and doubled their lead five minutes before the interval, Ellington’s deflected shot sneaking past Poom at the near post.

Derby threatened briefly to get back into the match, but fell further behind as Ellington controlled the ball on the edge of the penalty area before volleying it into the bottom corner of the net just after the hour.

Fabrizio Ravanelli grabbed a late consolation for Colin Todd’s men, who must now concentrate on their battle for premier league survival.

Jermain Defoe scored twice to help West Ham United to a 3-0 win over Macclesfield Town, while third division Cheltenham Town beat second division Oldham Athletic 2-1.

The biggest upset in Saturday’s matches was first division West Bromwich Albion’s 2-1 victory at Sunderland.

Eleven third-round ties were postponed over the weekend.

FA Cup third round results

Aston Villa 2 Manchester United 3

Cardiff (II) 2 Leeds United 1

Cheltenham (III) 2 Oldham (II) 1

Derby County 1 Bristol Rovers (III) 3

Macclesfield (III) 0 West Ham United 3

Played on Saturday:

Sunderland 1 West Bromwich (I) 2

Watford (I) 2 Arsenal 4

Barnsley (I) 1 Blackburn Rovers 1 Burnley (I) 4 Canvey Island (ML) 1 Charlton Athletic 2 Blackpool (II) 1 Dagenham & Redbridge (ML) 1 Ipswich Town 4 Grimsby (I) 0 York (III) 0 Leicester City 2 Mansfield (III) 1 Liverpool 3 Birmingham (I) 0 Manchester City (I) 2 Swindon (II) 0 Millwall (I) 2 Scunthorpe (III) 1 Newcastle United 2 Crystal Palace (I) 0 Norwich (I) 0 Chelsea 0 Portsmouth (I) 1 Leyton Orient (III) 4 Sheffield United (I) 1 Nottingham Forest (I) 0

Stoke (II) 0 Everton 1

Wolverhampton (I) 0 Gillingham (I) 1

Italian first division results

Atalanta 1 Chievo Verona 2

Bologna 2 Brescia 1

Fiorentina 1 Perugia 3

Inter Milan 0 Lazio 0

Juventus 3 Udinese 0

AS Roma 1 Torino 0

Venezia 3 Parma 4

Verona 1 Piacenza 0

Played Saturday:

Lecce 0 AC Milan 1

Spanish first division results

Alaves 0 Osasuna 2

Athletic Bilbao 1 Tenerife 2

Barcelona 2 Real Zaragoza 0

Malaga 2 Espanyol 0

Real Betis 1 Valencia 3

Valladolid 2 Real Mallorca 1

Celta Vigo 2 Rayo Vallecano 2

Las Palmas 0 Real Sociedad 0

Real Madrid 3 Deportivo Coruna 1

Villarreal 0 Sevilla 2

—Reuters