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FA Cup

The FA Cup on Betfair: Shocks continue, Middlesbrough join Man Utd and Chelsea in losers' club

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Joe Dyer rounds up all the action from an unbelievable weekend in the old competition

Three Premier League clubs exited the FA Cup this weekend as the underdog had his day - and then some - in the world's oldest club competition.

Middlesbrough joined Chelsea and Manchester United - defeated by Barnsley and Portsmouth the preceding day - on the scrapheap when beaten by Championship side Cardiff.

Four of the five clubs left in the competition - Barnsley, Cardiff, Bristol Rovers and WBA - have been backed at [1000.0] to win the Cup on Betfair.

Cardiff kept the shocks coming on Sunday when they humbled their more illustrious opponents at the Riverside. Dave Jones' side were matched at [7.0] on the exchange while Boro were backed at 1.69. Gareth Southgate's team touched a low of [3.5] in the FA Cup winners' market.

The correct score of 2-0 traded at a high of [50.0].

Championship strugglers Barnsley landed odds of [16.5] on Betfair when beating Chelsea to claim their second 'Big Four' scalp of the season in a day of FA Cup upset.

The 2006-07 champions were backed at a low of [1.28] to win the match at Oakwell.

But a toothless performance from Avram Grant's side resulted in a 1-0 for Barnsley - a scoreline that was backed at [34.0] on the exchange

Barnsley are no strangers to upsets of course - they conquered Liverpool in the sixth round at in-running odds of [180.0] on Betfair.

The Oakwell result brings to an end Big Four (Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd) involvement in the competition following Portsmouth's win at Old Trafford today.

The Big Four had been backed at a low of [1.15] to win the competition in Betfair's match bet against the field.

The day of shocks began at Old Trafford at lunchtime when a Harry Redknapp-managed team again knocked out Manchester United.

The 1-0 result will have knocked the short price backers who steamed into United on most markets - expecting goals and a win for the home side who touched [1.27] to make triumph in 90 minutes.

In truth, Portsmouth rode their luck - several Man Utd efforts were cleared off the goalline, the post was hit and numerous chances went wide. Manchester United did everything but score and were hit by a classic sucker punch.

A quick David James clearance from a corner caught the home defence napping. Milan Baros entered the penalty area where Thomas Kuszszak was judged to have brought him down and was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson. Backers of a red card in the match got a high of [6.6].

Sulley Muntari slotted past United captain Rio Ferdinand, who had to assume goalkeeping duties, to delight those who took odds of [29.0] for the win and [42.0] about a 1-0 Pompey victory in-running.

United's failure to score was totally unexpected - a Portsmouth clean sheet was backed at [12.0].

There was no luck for the outsiders in the final fixture of the competition. Bristol Rovers were beaten 5-1 by West Bromwich Albion in Sunday's late game.

Ishmael Miller's three goals for landed bets at [36.0] for hat-trick backers on Betfair. Six goals or more in the match was backed at [50.0].