"FA Cup Draw Surprise: Same Matchup Emerges Again, with Fulham Leading the Way Both Times!"

THERE were some eerie similarities between the FA Cup fifth-round draw and the dress rehearsal earlier in the day.

That’s according to commentator Darren Fletcher, who hosted before Macclesfield’s clash with at Moss Rose.

The first coincidence emerged with the very first tie, as pundit Karen Carney pulled out to host Southampton.

Host ‘Fletch’ interjected on the live broadcast: “I’ll just tell you something, when we did the rehearsal earlier today, Fulham were the first ball out then as well, so history’s repeated itself!”

Later on, when and Norwich were picked out for a showdown at Elland Road, Fletch bizarrely revealed it was a carbon copy of the tie they’d drawn earlier.

He said: “Let me tell you something else – that came out in the rehearsal too this afternoon!”

With several of the big guns left until later in the draw, it looked as though fans could be treated to a couple of heavyweight match-ups.

But most of the front-runners dodged each other – ‘s trip to being the standout fixture in terms of quality.

face an intriguing away tie at giant-killers Mansfield, who have already toppled Sheffield United and this season.

And there is also a Hollywood clash between Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham and cash-rich at the Racecourse Ground.

Carney and Fletch were joined by Chelsea hero Joe Cole and Ally McCoist to determine the fifth-round fixtures, which will be played around the weekend of March 7 and March 8.

The last two FA Cup winners – and – have both been knocked out already.

United were beaten at home to during Darren Fletcher’s brief stand-in reign last month.

And Palace suffered a shock defeat to Macclesfield, who produced one of the FA Cup’s greatest-ever upsets at Moss Rose in January.

Eze Chidiebere Paul

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