Yet there was no dream upset for semi-professional side Marine in what had been billed as the old tournament's biggest-ever mismatch against eight-time Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur as Jose Mourinho's men hammered the eighth-tier outfit 5-0.

Elsewhere, there was no problem for two of the competition favourites with Chelsea beating Morecambe 4-0 and Manchester City easing past Birmingham City 3-0.

Crawley took pride of place on Sunday, making a mockery of the 62-place gap in the English league pyramid between them and Marcelo Bielsa's much-touted Leeds.

"He was very complimentary afterwards," Crawley manager John Yems said of Bielsa, "but I suppose when you lose 3-0, you can't be anything but."

Summing up the so-called "magic of the FA Cup" - a phrase often trotted out at the third-round stage of the competition when the country's biggest teams enter - was the sight of Mark Wright coming on for Crawley as a late substitute.

The 33-year-old Wright has taken part in reality TV shows "The Only Way Is Essex," "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!" and "Strictly Come Dancing".

He has continued to pursue his dream of becoming a soccer player, and joined Crawley last month on a non-contract basis in a move that is being documented in a BBC programme.

Nick Tsaroulla had an emotional day for Crawley after the former Tottenham academy player burst through to score the second-half opener.

The 21-year-old was released from his contract by Spurs two years ago and he had to fight back the tears in his post-match interview.

"It's crazy. It's been a long hard road for me with a couple of tough years, but what a moment for me," said Tsaroulla.

Ashley Nadesan netted the second two minutes later and Jordan Tunicliffe put paid to Leeds' hopes of a comeback on 70 minutes.

One hundred and sixty-one places separate Spurs and Marine in the league pyramid, said to be the biggest gap ever between two teams in the grand old competition, and that's just how it looked.

At Marine's tight little ground in Crosby, near Liverpool, Carlos Vinicius scored a first half hat-trick for Spurs with Lucas Moura adding a superb free-kick and Alfie Devine, their 16-year-old prospect, firing in the fifth on the hour mark.

Bernardo Silva scored twice for Manchester City in their stroll with manager Pep Guardiola confirming later that striker Sergio Aguero was absent because he is self-isolating after coming into contact with coronavirus.

Mason Mount gave Chelsea an early lead against League Two Morecambe, German striker Timo Werner scored his first goal in two months with a simple tap-in and Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz both struck too.

Australian Associated Press