Often derided and disrespected during the Premier League era, the FA Cup added another incredible chapter to its proud heritage yesterday as Chelsea and Manchester City were humbled by supposed inferiors.

A day after Manchester United suffered a fright in a 0-0 fourth-round draw at fourth tier Cambridge United, Premier League leaders Chelsea surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at home to third tier Bradford City.

If that was not a seismic enough shock, a couple of hundred miles north, Premier League champions City were torn apart by second tier promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough, crashing 2-0 at a stunned Etihad.

Chelsea were unbeaten in all competitions at home this season.

They boast a 100 per cent record in the league at Stamford Bridge and appeared on course for a routine win after 38 minutes with goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires.

Bradford, 49 places lower than Chelsea and with a squad made up of journeymen and bargain signings, had other ideas.

They gained a foothold when Jon Stead fired a beauty past Petr Cech before half-time.

Former Chelsea player Filipe Morais side-footed an equaliser after the break before an improbable script was completed by Andy Halliday thumping the ball past Cech with eight minutes left and Mark Yeates side-footing a fourth in stoppage time to send the visiting fans delirious.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho visited the opposition dressing room to offer his congratulations but was scathing of his side, which despite nine changes from Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final first leg draw at Liverpool, was packed with internationals.

“Me and the players must feel ashamed,” Mourinho told the BBC as his hopes of a quadruple this season were extinguished in the most unexpected circumstances.

“It’s a sporting disgrace. This happens to every team from time to time but for me it’s the first time, it’s unacceptable to lose against a team from a lower league.”

It was the first time in England that a Mourinho team lost to lower league opposition.

“The lads are absolutely bouncing in that dressing room and what they’ve done today will be remembered for a very long time,” said Bradford manager Phil Parkinson who led the Yorkshire side to the 2013 League Cup final against the odds.

Manchester City only arrived back from a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi the evening before taking on Middlesbrough and looked groggy against fluent opponents who struck after half-time through Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford and Spaniard Kike.

Bamford bundled in the opener after sloppy defending and, after Boro wasted several clear chances and Frank Lampard hit the post for City, Kike beat keeper Willy Caballero with a neat finish after a counter-attack.

City’s second home defeat in a week after losing to Arsenal last Sunday has derailed their season.

“We had six or seven clear chances to score. We played well in the first half,” said City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

“After they scored we were disordered, they had a counter-attack and they scored again late on.”

Top three out

The surprises, that begun earlier in the day when top flight Swansea lost 3-1 at second tier Blackburn Rovers and had two players sent off, continued when Southampton went down 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace, meaning the top three in the Premier League all crashed out on a remarkable afternoon.

Jeffrey Schlupp’s stoppage-time volley gave Premier League bottom club Leicester City a surprise 2-1 victory at League Cup semi-finalists Tottenham Hotspur.

West Brom avoided an upset at Birmingham City, winning the Midlands derby 2-1, but a poor day for the elite continued when Bolton drew 0-0 at Liverpool.

Results and standings

FA Cup, fourth round

Played yesterday

Blackburn 3
Taylor 23; Gestede 78; Conway 90;
Swansea 1
Sigurdsson 21;

HT: 1-1. Att: 5,928.
Red cards: Bartley (S) 7; Sigurdsson (S) 90.

Birmingham 1
Grounds 45;
West Brom 2
Anichebe 25, 35;

HT: 1-2. Att: 28,438.

Cardiff 1
Jones 25;
Reading 2
Norwood 64; Robson-Kanu 88;

HT: 1-0. Att: 11,750.

Chelsea 2
Cahill 21; Ramires 38;
Bradford 4
Stead 41; Morais 75; Halliday 82; Yeates 90;

HT: 2-1. Att: 41,014.

Derby 2
Bent 20; Hughes 82;
Chesterfield 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 28,392.

Liverpool 0
Bolton 0

Att: 43,847.

Man. City 0
M’Boro 2
Bamford 53; Kike 90;

HT: 0-0. Att: 44,836.

Preston 1
Gallagher 19;
Sheffield Utd 1
De Girolamo 68;

HT: 1-0. Att: 10,770.

Southampton 2
Pelle 9; Dann 16og;
C. Palace 3
Chamakh 11, 39; Sanogo 21;

HT: 2-3. Att: 31,320.

Sunderland 0
Fulham 0

Att: 22,961.
Red card: Rodwell (S) 66.

Tottenham 1
Townsend 19 pen;
Leicester 2
Ulloa 83; Schlupp 90;

HT: 1-0. Att: 35,548.

Playing today
Bristol City vs West Ham - 15.00
Aston Villa vs Bournemouth - 16.00
Brighton vs Arsenal - 17.00

Tomorrow
Rochdale vs Stoke City - 21.00

Next fixtures

Tuesday: League Cup SF, second leg 20.45 Chelsea vs Liverpool (1-1).
Wednesday: League Cup SF, second leg 20.45 Sheff. Utd vs Tottenham (0-1).
Saturday: Premier League 13.45 Hull vs Newcastle. 16.00 Crystal Palace vs Everton; Liverpool vs West Ham; Man. United vs Leicester; Stoke vs QPR; Sunderland vs Burnley; West Brom vs Tottenham. 18.30 Chelsea vs Man. City.
Sunday: Premier League 14.30 Arsenal vs Aston Villa; 17.00 Southampton vs Swansea.

The Championship
Norwich City 1 - Brentford 2
Watford 7 - Blackpool 2
Wigan 0 - Huddersfield 1
Wolves 0 - Charlton 0

Standings: Bournemouth 51; Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town 50; Brentford 49; Derby County 48; Watford 47; Wolves 44; Norwich City 43; Sheffield Wednesday 37; Blackburn Rovers 36; Birmingham 35; Nottm Forest, Cardiff, Fulham, Huddersfield 34; Bolton 33; Charlton 32; Reading 30; Brighton, Leeds United 29; Rotherham 26; Millwall 23; Wigan Athletic 21; Blackpool 17.

League One
Colchester 2 - Leyton Orient 0
Fleetwood 1 - Crawley 0
Gillingham 3 - Oldham 2
MK Dons 2 - Barnsley 0
Notts County 1 - Peterborough 2
Port Vale 0 - Crewe 1
Yeovil 0 - Coventry 0

Standings: Swindon, Bristol City 54; MK Dons 51; Preston North End 47; Rochdale, Fleetwood Town 37; Bradford City, Sheffield United 36; Chesterfield, Notts County, Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale 35; Peterborough, Oldham 34; Walsall 33; Gillingham 31; Coventry City 30; Barnsley, Scunthorpe United, Crewe Alexandra 29; Colchester United 27; Leyton Orient 26; Yeovil Town 25; Crawley Town 24.

League Two
Wimbledon 2 - Accrington 1
Bury 2 - Carlisle 1
Cheltenham 1 - Luton 1
Mansfield 0 - Wycombe 0
Northampton 3 - Newport 0
Oxford 2 - Exeter 2
Plymouth 1 - Morecambe 1
Portsmouth 1 - Southend 2
Shrewsbury 3 - Stevenage 2
Tranmere 1 - Hartlepool 1
York 1 - Burton 1

Standings: Wycombe 52; Shrewsbury, Burton 51; Luton, Southend 47; Newport County 46; Bury, Stevenage, Exeter City 41; Plymouth 40; Morecambe 37; Wimbledon 36; Cambridge 35; Northampton 34; Accrington Stanley 33; Oxford United, Cheltenham 30; Portsmouth 29; York, Mansfield 28; Tranmere, Carlisle 27; Dagenham 26; Hartlepool 18.