West Ham and Brentford ousted from FA Cup as 5th-tier Eastleigh’s dream of playing Man United ends

Premier League teams West Ham and Brentford exited the FA Cup on Tuesday as fifth-tier Eastleigh’s dream of hosting the mighty Manchester United in the fourth round was extinguished.

West Ham lost 1-0 at second-tier Bristol City in one of five third-round replays, with the only goal coming in the third minute following a defensive mistake from Konstantinos Mavropanos. The visitors also had Said Benrahma sent off early in the second half for kicking out at an opponent.

Brentford were beaten 3-2 after extra time by Wolverhampton in an all-Premier League matchup at Molineux. Brazil striker Matheus Cunha scored the clinching goal from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time in extra time, with the match finishing 2-2 in regulation.

Wolves will play local rival West Bromwich Albion next.

Luton were the other top-flight team in action and had to come from behind to win 2-1 at third-tier Bolton. Tahith Chong and Chiedozie Ogbene scored for Luton.

Eastleigh, who are in 11th place in the National League, were looking to set up a lucrative meeting with Man United and one of the most mismatched games in the recent history of the competition.

However, a 3-1 home loss to Newport County means it will be the fourth-tier club from Wales taking on Erik ten Hag’s team on Jan. 28. Newport, who are in 17th place in League Two, lost to Tottenham in the fourth round in 2018 and Manchester City in the fifth round in 2019.