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FA Cup third-round upsets: Macclesfield, Wrexham giant killers

January 10, 2026

playPhil Parkinson reacts to Wrexham's FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest (1:04)Phil Parkinson speaks after Wrexham's penalty shootout win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup. (1:04)ESPNJan 10, 2026, 09:13 AM ETEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsHere is every upset from this weekend's FA Cup third round, a notoriously tricky time for big clubs against lower-league opposition. Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace were the first Premier League teams to be dumped out of the famous competition, losing to Wrexham and Macclesfield respectively. There were more surprise results, too, with teams lower down the pyramid suffering at the hands of unfancied rivals... Macclesfield, 117 places lower than Palace, cause all-time shockMacclesfield, who are 14th in the National League North, stunningly eliminated holders Crystal Palace who are 117 places above them in the football pyramid. Macclesfield beat a young Palace side 2-1 on Saturday with goals from Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley-Richards. Yeremy Pino struck home a late free-kick to silence the home crowd but Macclesfield clung on for one of the FA Cup's biggest surprise results. Wayne Rooney was in the stands at Macclesfield watching his brother John manage the home side in a huge upset. Preston bemoan 'cow field, disgusting' in Wigan lossRyan Lowe was delighted after Wigan, of League One, upset his old club Preston, who are fourth in the Championship, with a 1-0 victory in the FA Cup third-round at Deepdale. Harrison Bettoni's deflected 75th-minute strike proved decisive, while Callum Wright also missed a penalty late on for the visitors. The Wigan boss said: "I'm pleased for our fans, pleased for our lads, the gameplan worked a treat. "I did enjoy it, of course, coming back to my old club and performing to the levels that we did, limiting them to very few chances, if any."[We] had three big chances and we should score more goals: the penalty obviously, and a couple of chances in the first half against a fantastic team who are flying high in the Championship so why wouldn't you be pleased?

FA Cup third-round upsets: Macclesfield, Wrexham giant killers

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"There were nearly 4,000 of our fans in the away end and the outsang the Preston North End fans and it was fantastic."Lowe was animated after the full-time whistle and played a parting swipe at Preston fans."It was a special moment and if [the fans] are going to give stick, you've got to be able to take it back and I relished that at the end of that game to give it back."Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom said about the pitch: "It's a cow field.
It's disgusting, that's what it is, but we have to play on it."Wrexham beat Nottingham Forest on penaltiesPhil Parkinson believes knocking Nottingham Forest out of the FA Cup will help Wrexham's push to play Premier League teams on an equal footing. Wrexham won a thrilling third-round tie in front of Hollywood co-owner Ryan Reynolds on Friday night, progressing 4-3 on penalties at the SToK Cae Ras after drawing 3-3 over 120 minutes. It was the first time Wrexham had met top flight-opposition since Reynolds and fellow owner Rob Mac took charge nearly five years ago and kick-started the Welsh club's journey from the National League to the Championship. Wrexham manager Parkinson said: "This was another test against Premier League opposition and the next stage of our development is playing against these players."If you give them an inch you're going to get punished and they were clinical in those moments.
We will analyse that and learn from it."PA Media contributed to this report.

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FA Cup third-round upsets: Macclesfield, Wrexham giant killers

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FA Cup third-round upsets: Macclesfield, Wrexham giant killers

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