Weekend Review: Punters left stunned by Macclesfield miracle  

Macclesfield FC (12/1) stunned FA Cup holders Crystal Palace (1/5) with a 2-1 victory at Moss Rose to provide the biggest shock of the FA Cup third round weekend – and arguably the history of the competition.

Goals from Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts were enough to seal the win for the National League North outfit, with Yeremy Pino’s late strike not enough to spoil the Silkmen’s big day. 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins summarised the enormity of Macclesfield’s achievement.  

He said: “Wayne Rooney’s brother John masterminded the victory in front of the ecstatic home support, and watching millions live on the BBC. It was Ronnie Radford, and the Crazy Gang beating the Culture Club, all rolled into one glorious upset.  

“In terms of history, the gap of 117 places between the sides in football’s pyramid is the biggest ever to be breached; and a day that Macclesfield fans will never, ever forget.”

The weekend commenced with Championship side Wrexham (7/2) beating Premier League Nottingham Forest (3/4) on penalties, after drawing 3-3 after extra time.  

League One Mansfield Town (6/1) also got the better of higher division opposition, beating Championship strugglers Sheffield United 4-3 at Bramall Lane.  

Elsewhere, Manchester City (1/50) thrashed third tier Exeter City 10-1 at the Etihad, with new signing Antoine Semenyo scoring on his debut.  

For the most part, Premier League sides came out on top against EFL teams.  

There were wins for Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, Leeds, Burnley, Wolves and West Ham against lower league opposition.  

In one of the few ties pitting Premier League clubs against each other, Brighton (3/1) piled more misery on managerless Manchester United with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford. 

The pressure ramped up on Spurs boss Thomas Frank as the north London side lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa (17/10).  

There was penalty shootout joy for North-East duo Newcastle (3/5) and Sunderland (2/1), with both teams needing spot kicks to overcome Bournemouth and Everton, respectively.  

Bet365’s Steve Freeth highlighted that the goal-laden weekend worked in favour of bettors, despite the Macclesfield “coupon buster”. 

He said: “The FA Cup is in rude health after a great weekend of action, highlighted by the holders being beaten by a non-league minnow for the first time in 117 years with 117 places between them. Macclesfield produced the coupon buster of the weekend against 2/11 Crystal Palace.

“It was all to play for heading into the late games on Saturday, but that’s where the tide turned in favour of the punters. The popular ‘Both Teams To Score’ accumulator landed in all five games, paying odds of 18/1. 

“Furthermore, all four clear favourites – 19/20 Bristol City, 8/11 Birmingham City, 2/5 Chelsea and 4/11 Grimsby – secured victories. The ‘Result/Both Teams to Score’ four-fold paid 142/1. With the five games producing 25 goals, you could say we had a ‘Weston Super Mare’ of a day. 

“Sunday followed a similar pattern. 1/6 Arsenal won 4-1 from behind, 4/7 Leeds won 3-1 from behind and 4/6 Norwich beat Walsall 5-1. West Ham needed extra time to see off QPR, but the 8/13 Hammers are hardly punting material right now. The final FA Cup game of the weekend saw 8/11 Manchester United knocked out of the competition by Brighton, but it was a small crumb of comfort on a losing weekend.” 

BOYLE Sports’ Brian O’Keefe explained how the weekend’s action affected the odds for the world’s oldest domestic cup competition.  

He said: “The FA Cup returned with a bang this weekend with shocks, thrashings and plenty of stunning moments setting the third round alight.  

“The shock of the weekend was undoubtedly at Moss Rose, where Macclesfield dumped current FA Cup holders, Crystal Palace, out of the cup. 

“After the weekend, Manchester City (7/2) and Arsenal (4/1) remain the favourites to win the FA Cup, with Liverpool (6/1) and Chelsea (7/1) also aiming for glory.” 

Alex Firth, senior trader at Midnite, added: “The FA Cup was the main action this weekend kicking off with Wrexham knocking out Nottingham Forest. Callum Hudson-Odoi pulled Forest out of the fire to get them back level at 3-3 in 90 minutes but the Championship side, who were 7/4 to win the tie pre-match, went on to win on penalties. 

“Saturday saw the biggest story of the weekend with National League North side Macclesfield knocking out Crystal Palace with a real, magic of the Cup giant-killing. They won 2-1 against the Premier League side having been 7/1 to win the tie and 11/1 to win in 90 minutes. 

“Aston Villa piled more pressure on Thomas Frank and Tottenham with a 2-1 win during their trip to north London – the Villains were 8/5 to win in 90 minutes. 

“Liam Rosenior tasted success in his first game in charge of Chelsea with a dominant 5-1 win over Charlton. They were strong pre-match favourites but were 8/1 to score five or more goals in 90 minutes.” 

Across Europe, Barcelona (21/20) edged out El Clasico rivals Real Madrid 3-2 to lift the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

In Germany, Harry Kane found himself on the scoresheet Bayern Munich (11/100) ran out 8-1 winners at home to Wolfsburg.  

Borussia Dortmund fell further behind the runaway leaders after drawing 3-3 away at Frankfurt.  

In Serie A, Inter maintained their lead at the top of the table after drawing 2-2 at home to reigning champions Napoli. 

City rivals AC Milan failed to capitalise after drawing 1-1 against struggling Fiorentina.  

Regarding results across Europe, Freeth remarked: “The highlight in Europe was the Spanish Super Cup Final and as usual it didn’t disappoint. Five goals, 17 shots on target with the big names turning up to the party – it was the sort of game that punters love and bookmakers hate. It was our worst result of the weekend. 

“Our customers had earlier feasted on runaway leaders Bayern Munich’s 8-1 victory (100/1) over Wolfsburg with Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Diaz all scoring and assisting. 

“Second-placed Borussia Dortmund (Evs) were involved in a 3-3 thriller at Eintracht Frankfurt, where former Chelsea player Carney Chukwuemeka scored a stoppage time equaliser.  

“Serie A gave us our best set of results on the continent. 6/5 Milan needed another 90th minute equaliser for the second game running with Christopher Nkunku rescuing a point against Fiorentina. 

“Cesc Fabregas’s Como (19/20) were held by 10-man Bologna, though they preserved their unbeaten home record thanks to a 94th minute equaliser from Martin Baturina and Udinese (9/10) also dropped points to lowly Pisa.

“Scott McTominay (33/1) is now the same price as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Balon d’Or after another masterclass from the Scottish midfielder. His brace prevented 7/10 Inter going five points clear at the top of Serie A after the 2-2 draw with Napoli.”