There were a few upsets in this round of the cup, although 11 of the 20 Premiership sides had already been eliminated in the previous round.

Two Premierleague sides went out this time, although only one of them was really an upset.

Derby lost 1-4 away to Preston, and it's been a tradition over the years for teams at the foot of the Premier league table to lose clubs that are doing well in the Championship. This was one such case, and I think Paul Jewell will already be looking at how best to mount a challenge in the Championship next season.

The other upset, which was significantly more shocking, not just for the result, but the events of the match as well, was Sheffield United beating Man City 2-1 at Bramall Lane. City have an awful record there, having not won in 6 games, but no one could have expected to see what happen.

The incident, in case you haven't seen/heard about it yet, was caused by several balloons thrown onto the pitch by the travelling Man City fans. Joe Hart dealt with whatever crosses and shots came his way, but unfortunately failed to deal with the balloons, and they just lay around in the home penalty area. The eventual irony was of course majestic - a cross coming in from the left hit two sets of balloons in the area, the path of the ball went wonky, and it ballooned (haha) away to evade the foot of Michael Ball(oon), sitting up nicely for Luton Shelton to pop home. Jonathan Stead scored a neat second, and City were in trouble. Elano came close, hitting the post with a free-kick, but it was his second-half replacement, youngster Daniel Sturridge, who scored City's consolation with an excellent strike.

The unfortunate Man City squad had more misery heaped on them after it was found that the dressing room had been robbed, with money being stolen from the players and staff. 

Arsenal and Emmanuel Adebayor recovered from the Spurs' debacle, beating Newcastle 3-0. Keegan's men started quite promisingly, but were outplayed by the end of the encounter with two top quality goals from Adebayor, and and own goal from Nicky Butt.

Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile continued his amazing form, scoring a brace to give Man United a 3-1 win over Tottenham, and giving him 25 goals for the season. Robbie Keane had scored first for Spurs, but Carlos Tevez equalised, before Ronaldo scored a penalty and then the winner.

Chelsea had a few hiccups against a decent Wigan side, but easily prevailed as 2-1 winners, with Nicolas Anelka scoring his first for Chelsea. Shaun Wright-Phillips scored their second, and Atoine Sibierski scored a consolation. 

In other news (apologies for not going into detail, but I can't be bothered), Cardiff just edged out Hereford in a 2-1 win, Wolves absolutely hammered Championship title challengers Watford 4-1 away, and in Saturday's "fairytale" fixture of non-league Havant & Waterlooville vs Liverpool at Anfield, the Hawks actually took the lead twice before being put down 5-1.

The full list of Round 4 results is listed below. The amazing thing about this round is that all the matches were conclusive (wins), meaning no 4th round replays for the first time in 57 years.

Southend 0-1 Barnsley
Mansfield 0-2 Middlesborough
Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Barnet 0-1 Bristol Rovers
Coventry 2-1 Millwall
Derby 1-4 Preston
Liverpool 5-2 Havant & Waterlooville
Oldham 0-1 Huddersfield
Peterborough 0-3 West Brom
Portsmouth 2-1 Plymouth
Southampton 2-0 Bury
Watford 1-4 Wolves
Wigan 1-2 Chelsea
Hereford 1-2 Cardiff
Man Utd 3-1 Tottenham
Sheff Utd 2-1 Man City

When Sven Goran Eriksson's Manchester City announced that they would be signing the Brazilian Elano, most thought of him as being a gamble - an undoubtedly talented player, but one who would be expected to struggle, and take time to adapt to the Premiership (as many Latin Americans do). His dalliances with injuries, and slightish frame were also factors for doubters, as was the fact that he was basically untested at the top level apart from some apperances for the Brazilian national team.

Well, the outcome so far has been quite spectacular. Right from the start of the season, Elano has been the focal point of City's attacking play, and a big part of everything good that they're doing. He was instrumental in setting up their first goal of the season, and currently leads the Premier League's assist charts with 5 assists (tied with Cesc Fabregas). He's also scored 3 goals, and as a result, Man City have been flying - they're currently third in the league, 3 points behind leaders Arsenal, and just 1 behind bitter rival Man United (but with a game in hand).

Elano's story is an interesting one. Born in Iracemápolis, São Paulo, he joined Santos, and was an instrumental part of their title winning sides, although very much an unfeted player. Whilst Robinho, Diego, Ricardinho and Alex stole the limelight, Elano went about doing his work efficiently, achieving a reputation as a talented goalscoring midfielder with 32 goals in 3 years. Whilst his more "illustrious" teammates took off to Real Madrid and Porto, Elano saw a good opportunity to further his career at Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the many newly-rich clubs in Eastern Europe, that played in the Champions League, and where he wouldn't be too homesick with a host of other Brazilians around him. Although he struggled at first, he worked his way into the team, and became the first Ukraine-based player to be called up to the Brazil national squad when Dunga took charge. Elano started off very brightly, scoring against Argentina at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. He has since been a fixture in the Brazil squad, although not always in the first XI.

Elano's excellence as a player has a lot to do with his versatility and intelligence, as well as his willingness to work hard. While he is not Gennaro Gattuso (thankfully), he doesn't shirk his share of the work, and is more than happy to put in tackles, and stand up to them as well. Most Man City/Premiership fans might only have seen him operating on the right or in a free role, but I had the chance to watch him train and play up-close at this year's Copa America, and he's perfectly capable of playing on the left, in the middle or in a wing-back or full-back role. Had Maicon not managed to recover from a shoulder injury at the Copa, then it's very likely that Elano would have deputised. And nevermind his passing, movement. intelligence and workrate, he is also a very, very good finisher. In training, he would slot the ball crisply past the keeper almost 9 times out of 10, producing exactly the kind of finish that the situation demanded. Man City have signed the "complete" attacking midfielder.

No one should get too carried away though - the English winter still awaits (although Elano is more than well prepared for this after his sojourn in the Ukraine), but there is also the surprise factor that is still working in his favour; once opponents get to know him better, they will start to target him, and people like Robbie Savage, Lee Bowyer, and Frank Lampard are more than happy to "strategically" kick lumps out of certain key players.

Elano is lucky to have a manager of Sven's intelligence. One of the reasons that the team has gelled well, and that the new recruits have settled in almost immediately, is that Sven knows how to arrange teams to maximise their strengths, and minimise their weaknesses. He's well educated with the English game, and the first thing he did was to pair Michael Johnson and Dietmarr Hamann together in central midfield. Both of them are fighters, good defensive midfielders, and organisers and passers. When there's a fight to be had in the middle of the park, they take care of it, and when going forward, they keep it simple and basically give Elano a platform on which to showcase his talent, which he has done in abundance.