Day of shocks in FA Cup

Tottenham Hotspur paid for failing to take their chances as they were dumped out of the FA Cup in a 2-1 fourth-round loss at Championship club Leeds United yesterday.

In addition Chelsea scraped a 2-2 draw with League One Brentford and Liverpool were shocked 3-2 by League One Oldham Athletic.

Andre Villas-Boas' side lacked a cutting edge as eight-time cup winners Spurs were unable to pull back a two-goal deficit.

Clint Dempsey reduced the arrears just before the hour mark, but by that point the visitors were up against it thanks to goals from Luke Varney and Ross McCormack.

Leeds progressed to the last 16 despite leaving out Luciano Becchio in the wake of their top scorer submitting a transfer request.

In fact, it was Spurs who were more hampered by the absence of their high-profile forwards, as the hosts took the lead against the run of play in the 15th minute.

A pass from Leeds skipper and former Spurs midfielder Michael Brown was flicked on by El Hadji Diouf to leave Spurs full-back Kyle Naughton exposed and give Varney a clear run on goal.

The forward still had plenty to do, but he kept his composure to curl the finish past Brad Friedel for his first goal since the opening day of the season in August.

Without Emmanuel Adebayor, who is on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Togo, and the injured Jermain Defoe, Tottenham lacked a sustained threat as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dempsey both wasted early headed openings.

McCormack soon made amends for a first-half miss, grabbing Leeds' second with his fifth domestic goal of the season five minutes after the re-start.

The forward exchanged passes with Diouf and raced 30 yards into the area before cutting inside to fire a shot into the top-left corner.

Dempsey quickly halved the deficit, with his fifth goal in as many games, finding the far corner with a header from Bale's centre in the 58th minute.

Tottenham enjoyed the lion's share of possession in a frenetic finale, but became Leeds' third top-flight scalp of the campaign in the wake of League Cup victories over Everton and Southampton.

Chelsea needed an 83rd-minute equaliser from Fernando Torres to rescue a 2-2 draw at third-tier Brentford as they narrowly avoided a humiliating exit.

A penalty from Brentford starlet Harry Forrester looked destined to send the European champions out of the competition, only for Torres to deny his side's West London neighbours a memorable upset.

The League One side scored three minutes before half-time, through Marcello Trotta.

Chelsea introduced Juan Mata at half-time and within 10 minutes were level, as Oscar skipped past a couple of challenges.

Chelsea appeared to have taken control, but in the 72nd minute Chelsea keeper Ross Turnbull sent Tom Adeyemi sprawling and Forrester swept the spot-kick home.

An unforgettable victory looked to be on the cards until Torres swept home the equaliser from the edge of the box.

Two goals from Matt Smith helped Oldham to bceome the fifth lower-league side to beat a Premiership team in this round - a record. - Sapa-AFP