LONDON, Jan 3 Manchester United suffered their most embarrassing FA Cup defeat for 26 years when Leeds United pulled off a stunning 1-0 third-round victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.
A 19th-minute goal from in-form striker Jermaine Beckford gave the League One (third division) leaders a shock victory as United lost at this stage of the competition for the first time since third division Bournemouth beat them in 1984.
Beckford struck when a 50-metre ball from Johnny Howson went over the top of the champions' defence, allowing him to control it and angle a shot wide of United goalkeeper Tomas Kuszczak.
It was the first time Alex Ferguson had suffered defeat in the third round, the stage at which the top clubs enter the FA Cup, since he became United manager in 1986.
It was the first time United had lost to lower league opposition since 1984.
The third round continues later on Sunday when holders Chelsea entertain Watford and Arsenal visit West Ham United also in a London derby.
Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini, the King of the Italian Cup, took his first step towards Wembley when his Manchester City side earned a 1-0 win at Championship side Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Mancini won the Italian Cup six times as a player and four as a manager and, having overseen two league victories after replacing Mark Hughes at City, watched his new team advance comfortably with a late first-half goal by striker Benjani Mwaruwari against the toothless second division hosts.
There were no real upsets on Saturday, although Liverpool had to come from behind to draw 1-1 at Championship side Reading and Portsmouth, the Premier League's bottom team, were held 1-1 at home by Coventry City.
Last season's runners-up Everton beat Carlisle United 3-1 while Tottenham Hotspur eased past Peterborough 4-0.
Championship side Preston North End, who sacked manager Alan Irvine last week, thrashed Colchester United 7-0 with a hat-trick by Jon Parkin while Bolton Wanderers, also managerless after unloading Gary Megson, beat Lincoln City 4-0.
In two all-Premier League ties Aston Villa beat 10-man Blackburn Rovers 3-1 and Wigan Athletic defeated Hull City 4-1.
There was a hat-trick of defeats for minor league sides as Barrow went down 3-0 at Sunderland, Luton Town lost 1-0 at Southampton and York City, having briefly led at Premier League Stoke City after arriving late due to traffic, lost 3-1.
Championship side Nottingham Forest, unbeaten in 16 games, unsurprisingly drew 0-0 with Birmingham City, undefeated in 11, with the home side's Rob Earnshaw missing a penalty.
If Mancini was hoping for a special atmosphere in his first taste of the FA Cup he would have been severely disappointed by a flat occasion that attracted only 12,474 to the Riverside.
Boro barely managed a shot on goal all afternoon while big-spending City were not much better.The decisive goal was well-made though as Martin Petrov ran from his own half and timed his pass nicely for Benjani to mark his first start of the season with a confident finish.
Wembley might seem a long way away but Mancini can take heart from the fact that in the last five years the team who have knocked Middlesbrough out have reached the final - as long as nobody tells him they have all finished as runners-up.
Seven-time winners Liverpool put a full-strength team out but it was Reading, fifth-from-bottom in the Championship with just one home league win all season, who started the stronger.
They took a deserved lead after 23 minutes when Grzegorz Rasiak did well to pull a deep free kick back across the box for Simon Church to poke the ball in from point-blank range.
Liverpool equalised 13 minutes later when Steven Gerrard's cross towards Dirk Kuyt eluded the Dutchman but also wrong-footed goalkeeper Adam Federici and went straight in.
Results
Third round
Played on Sunday
Manchester United 0 Leeds United 1
Played on Saturday
Aston Villa 3 Blackburn Rovers 1
Blackpool 1 Ipswich Town 2
Bolton Wanderers 4 Lincoln City 0
Everton 3 Carlisle United 1
Fulham 1 Swindon Town 0
Huddersfield Town 0 West Bromwich 2
Leicester City 2 Swansea City 1
Middlesbrough 0 Manchester City 1
Millwall 1 Derby County 1
MK Dons 1 Burnley 2
Nottingham Forest 0 Birmingham City 0
Plymouth Argyle 0 Newcastle United 0
Portsmouth 1 Coventry City 1
Preston North End 7 Colchester United 0
Reading 1 Liverpool 1
Scunthorpe United 1 Barnsley 0
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Crystal Palace 2
Southampton 1 Luton Town 0
Stoke City 3 York City 1
Sunderland 3 Barrow 0
Torquay United 0 Brighton &
Hove Albion 1
Tottenham Hotspur 4 Peterborough United 0
Wigan Athletic 4 Hull City 1
—Reuters