Arsenal were held to an embarrassing 1-1 draw by Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fifth round as the League One side snatched a last-gasp equaliser at Brisbane Road yesterday.
Arsene Wenger’s side had enjoyed a famous 2-1 win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday, but they were brought back down to earth in east London as Orient substitute Jonathan Tehoue cancelled out Tomas Rosicky’s opener.
Wenger made 10 changes from the line-up that beat Barca, with 18-year-old Spanish centre-half Ignasi Miquel making his debut, and Orient were never overawed against the understudies.
Russell Slade’s team had lost just one of their previous 20 matches and they went close through Charlie Daniels’s fierce first-half strike.
Arsenal midfielder Rosicky broke the deadlock with a header from Nicklas Bendtner’s cross in the 53rd minute.
But Orient earned a money-spinning replay when French striker Tehoue skipped past two defenders and smashed a powerful shot past Manuel Almunia’s weak attempted save in the 89th minute.
Whatever happens in the replay the players are due a fortnight in Las Vegas at the invitation of Orient’s flamboyant snooker promoter Barry Hearn as he had pro-mised them the trip should they either win or get a draw.
Elsewhere yesterday, Patrick Vieira fired Manchester City into the fifth round as the French midfielder’s double inspired a 5-0 rout of Notts County in a fourth round replay.
Vieira, a four-time FA Cup winner with Arsenal, was on target in each half at Eastlands and Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Micah Richards also scored late on as Roberto Mancini’s side booked a home clash with Aston Villa in the last 16.
“In the first half hour, Notts County played very well,” City manager Roberto Mancini said.
“It was an important win. I think for us it (the FA Cup) is important.
“We started the game so slowly because when you play every three days it is difficult to give 100 per cent each time. But after we scored it changed the game.”
In another fifth round tie, Bolton beat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage.
Fulham were unbeaten in their last six games, but fell behind in the 19th minute when Ivan Klasnic pounced on a poor clearance to drill a fine volley past Mark Schwarzer.
It was a good day for Klasnic, who had scored the winner against Wigan in last week’s fourth-round replay, as the Croatian striker also learned he would not face charges after he was arrested on suspicion of rape in October.
Meanwhile, at yesterday’s draw, Manchester United were paired with either Arsenal or Leyton Orient in a quarter-final clash at Old Trafford. United edged past non-league Crawley Town 1-0 on Saturday.
League Cup finalists Birmingham meet Bolton and Stoke have a home tie against either West Ham or Burnley.
Manchester City or Aston Villa will face Everton or Reading.
On Saturday, Everton knocked holders Chelsea out of the cup after a penalty shoot-out.
Summaries
FA Cup – fifth round
Fulham 0
Bolton 1
Klasnic 19;
L. Orient 1
Tehoue 89;
Arsenal 1
Rosicky 53;
FA Cup – fourth round replay
Man. City 5
Vieira 37, 58; Tevez 84; Dzeko 89; Richards 90;
Notts County 0
Today – fifth round
West Ham vs Burnley - 21.00
The draw
Stoke vs West Ham or Burnley; Man. City or Aston Villa vs Everton or Reading; Birmingham vs Bolton; Man. United vs Leyton Orient or Arsenal
Note: Ties to be played on March 12 and 13.