The FA Cup matches of the last 16 are underway. At this stage, one of the main sensations in the history of the oldest football tournament took place.
"Ipswich Town vs Maidstone United - 1: 2. Photo: GettyimagesFA Cup, 1/16 finals
"Ipswich Town-Maidstone- 1: 2(0: 1)
Goals: Sarmiento (56) - Reynolds (43), Korn (66)
"Ipswich Town: Walton - Tuanzebe, Ball (Clarke, 57), Edmundson, Humphreys (Davies, 57) - Morsey, Taylor - Hutchinson (Burns, 69), Aluko (Chaplin, 57), Sarmiento (Boabo, 69) - Broadhead.
"Maidstone: Cowan - Hoyte, Fowler, Bone (Iandolo, 74), Appiah, Cyprianou - Berkley-Agyepong (Gurung, 63), Saul (Greenidge, 59), Korn - Reynolds (Court, 74), Duku.
On Saturday, 27 January, Ipswich and Maidstone United, teams from the second and sixth divisions of English football respectively, met. On their way to the last 16, semi-professional Maidstone went through all three rounds, while Ipswich started the tournament in the third round, defeating fourth-tier Wimbledon 3-1.
This season, Ipswich is fighting for promotion to the Premier League, ranking second in the Championship after 28 matches. Meanwhile, Maidstone, which has existed since 1992, was relegated from the fifth division of England last season.
In the first half, Ipswich fired 18 shots at Maidstone's goal, including three on target. However, the teams went into the break with the visitors' advantage: Maidstone's only shot of the half ended in a goal by forward Lamar Reynolds.
In the second half of the match, Ipswich continued to attack and quickly scored a goal: in the 56th minute, midfielder Jeremy Sarmiento equalised. However, in the 66th minute, Maidstone regained the lead with their second goal of the match. The goal was scored by midfielder Sam Korn. By the end of the match, Ipswich failed to regain the lead, failing to convert several dangerous chances.
At the end of the match, Ipswich completely outnumbered the opponent in all key components: shots on goal (38:2, 13:2 on target), ball possession (78% vs. 22%), corners (11:0) and passes (595:99). However, in the end, he was eliminated after conceding after Maidstone's only two shots in the entire match.
"Maidstone United became the first club outside the top five divisions of England to reach the last 16 of the FA Cup in 46 years. In the 1977/78 season, semi-professional Blyth Spartans did it, but eventually stopped at that stage. Ipswich won the tournament that year.
