Once again, soccer’s top-flight League contests in both England and Scotland seem condemned to be unchallenging two-horse races. The respective managers of Arsenal and Manchester United have been told to cool down their playground animosities, and we shall see this Tuesday evening if they can manage it. The singular Alan Shearer has at last potted his 400th goal; the Geordie is an old-time English centre-forward of authentic vintage, true inheritor of the line from Bloomer and Dean through Lawton and Lofthouse. Which leaves an uncluttered stage for the ancient FA Cup competition to fill with some bold strokes of genuine theatre in the fourth-round ties this weekend. Worries about the old tournament’s status dissolved when the 31 third-round games three weeks ago were watched by 535,487, an average of 17,714 and the highest attendance since 1981.
None of the famous-for-90-minutes minnows let themselves down either, and Exeter City’s two defiantly perky performances before going out to Man U had Devon dancing.
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