FA Cup Fifth Round Round-up: Port Vale Stun Sunderland, Chelsea Win Wrexham Thriller and Arsenal Edge Past Resilient Mansfield

The FA Cup fifth round produced some classic ties, as giants were slain and former winners survived scares to progress to the quarter-finals.

Here’s how all the action unfolded over a memorable weekend in the world’s oldest cup competition…

Port Vale 1-0 Sunderland

League One’s bottom side Port Vale pulled off the shock of the fifth round to dump out Premier League Sunderland and reach their first FA Cup quarter-final since 1954.

Living up to their nickname, the Valiants thoroughly deserved their victory over the team ranked 57 places above them in the pyramid.

Ben Waine – a fan of Sunderland’s arch-rivals Newcastle, no less – headed in the only goal of the game just before the half-hour mark and the hosts dug in to hold on for a famous upset, having already dispatched Championship Bristol City in the fourth round.

Wrexham 2-4 Chelsea (AET)

Chelsea twice trailed at Championship Wrexham before eventually triumphing after extra time in a classic FA Cup tie.

Sam Smith gave the Welsh side the lead, only for an unfortunate own goal by goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo to draw Chelsea level before half-time.

Wrexham were in dreamland again when Callum Doyle restored their lead with just over 10 minutes of the 90 to go, but Josh Acheampong was on hand to spare the Blues’ blushes again.

George Dobson’s stoppage-time red card – which came following a VAR review – made for a nervy ending to regulation time for Welsh side, but they were able to take their Premier League visitors into an extra 30 minutes.

However, goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro – either side of a VAR-disallowed equaliser by Lewis Brunt – ultimately sealed victory for the eight-time FA Cup winners, who are into the last eight for the fifth time in seven years.

Mansfield Town 1-2 Arsenal

Arsenal overcame a stern test away to League One Mansfield Town to book their place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2020.

Quality finishes from Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze ultimately made the difference in Nottinghamshire, where Mansfield were level with the Premier League leaders for just over 15 second-half minutes through Will Evans.

The omens look good for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners: last time they made it this far in the FA Cup, they went on to lift the trophy.

Wolves 1-3 Liverpool

Liverpool avenged their Premier League loss to Wolves earlier in the week by running out comfortable winners at Molineux.

Andy Robertson scored the pick of the goals to send the Reds on their way shortly after half-time, finding the net from 20 yards, before setting up Mohamed Salah to make it 2-0 just two minutes later. Curtis Jones added a third goal, with Wolves grabbing a stoppage-time consolation via Hwang Hee-chan.

Liverpool, who could yet end this season with a couple of trophies, are through to only their third FA Cup quarter-final in 11 years.

Newcastle 1-3 Manchester City

Omar Marmoush’s second-half brace helped Manchester City get the better of Newcastle for the fourth time in five meetings this season.

Harvey Barnes had put the hosts in front, but Savinho levelled things up before half-time at St. James’ Park. Marmoush then struck to twice to ensure Man City progressed to the quarter-finals for the eighth year running.

City’s 2025/26 quadruple dream is still alive, while Newcastle’s wait for a first FA Cup success since 1955 goes on.

Fulham 0-1 Southampton

Ross Stewart’s 90^th-minute penalty sealed a smash-and-grab for Championship Southampton away to Premier League Fulham.

Much-changed Fulham had two goals disallowed and ultimately came unstuck when Joachim Andersen fouled Finn Azaz in the box.

Stewart duly dispatched from the spot to send the Saints into the last eight and extend Fulham’s 147-year wait for a major trophy.

Leeds 3-0 Norwich City

Leeds are into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 23 years thanks to a routine victory over Championship Norwich City.

First-half strikes from Sean Longstaff and Gabriel Gudmundsson put the Premier League outfit in a commanding position, before Joel Piroe made absolutely sure late on, as manager Daniel Farke triumphed against his old club.

The next challenge for Leeds is to reach their first semi-final of either major domestic cup competition since 1996.

West Ham 2-2 Brentford (5-3 on Penalties)

West Ham survived two Brentford fightbacks to advance on penalties to their first FA Cup quarter-final for 10 years.

Jarrod Bowen twice put the Hammers ahead at the London Stadium, but Igor Thiago twice levelled for the visitors – with both players notching their second goal from the spot.

Konstantinos Mavropanos dispatched West Ham’s decisive spot-kick, after Alphonse Areola had given the hosts the advantage in the shootout by saving Dango Ouatarra’s poorly executed Panenka.

The draw for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup is as follows:

Southampton vs Arsenal Chelsea vs Port Vale Man City vs Liverpool West Ham vs Leeds

The ties will be played across Easter weekend (3-6 April).