Oldham Athletic 3-2 Liverpool
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Fourth Round Proper
4pm, Sunday 27 January 2013
Boundary Park, Oldham Athletic FC
Live on ITV1
Winning clubs receive £90,000 from The FA's Prize Fund
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By Chris Hatherall
An incredible weekend of FA Cup shocks reached a crescendo at Boundary Park on Sunday as League One Oldham knocked mighty Liverpool out 3-2 in the Fourth Round.
Hero Matt Smith scored twice for the Latics and Reece Wabara also found the net as Paul Dickov's side completed a famous giantkilling against a strong Liverpool side - who scored through Luis Suarez and Joe Allen - to earn a crack at Everton in the Fifth Round.
It would be difficult to over-state just what an amazing win this was for the home side.
After all, Dickov's men have been struggling in League One, where they have failed to win in the last nine games.
And Liverpool, 56 places above Oldham in the league pyramid, had never been beaten away from home in The FA Cup by a team at least two divisions below them since defeat at non-League Worcester City in 1959.
Add in the fact that the game's eventual hero - striker Smith - was playing part-time football with Solihull Moors just 18 months ago and you can see the tie has all the ingredients for legendary status!
And what a day for Smith, who had given up on professional football after being released by Cheltenham at the age of 18 before being rediscovered by Oldham - and who had never scored at Boundary Park before!
The forward, who took a degree in International Management with American Studies from the University of Manchester while he was out of the game, was very much the man of the moment.
He opened the scoring when Youssouf M'Changama crossed from the left and burly Smith - who is 6ft 6in tall - headed home.
Suarez, captain for the day for Liverpool as Steven Gerrard was on the bench, equalised for the Reds but the key goal came in first half injury time when Smith finished from close range following a mistake from Liverpool 'keeper Brad Jones.
Liverpool dominated for long spells after the break and had a wonderful chance to make it 2-2, which was missed by striker Borini. And Oldham took full advantage when former England U20 defender Wabara headed home a Winchester cross for 3-1.
After that it was all Liverpool, with Gerrard coming off the bench to boost their fight-back - and they were further boosted when Smith was carried off in a stretcherwith what looked like a shoulder injury. But Allen's long-range shot was all they could manage and Oldham held on for a famous victory - one which man of the match Smith will remember for ever despite his injury.
"It was a massive success for us," said Dickov. "I've been lucky enough to have a great career but this tops the lot for me."
Oldham: Bouzanis, Wabara, Mvoto, Byrne, Grounds, Croft, Wesolowski, M'Changama (Winchester 10), Simpson (Taylor 77), Baxter, Smith (Mellor 84).
Subs Not Used: Cisak, Brown, Tarkowski, Sutherland.
Liverpool: Jones, Wisdom (Gerrard 55),Skrtel, Coates, Robinson, Henderson, Allen, Sterling (Shelvey 72), Suarez, Borini (Downing 55),Sturridge.
Subs Not Used: Gulacsi, Lucas, Carragher, Fernandez Saez.
Attendance: 10,295
Referee: Lee Probert
