England FA Cup Weekend's 10 Best Players: Gunners Out, Spurs Held, Reds Romp

The magic of the English FA Cup is back—though it never really went away—and this past weekend another big team was knocked out. Arsenal become the latest victim, as they were beaten by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. 

The Gunners join Manchester United and cup holders Manchester City on the sidelines, and Arsenal supporters will have to wait another year for a trophy. 

The cup now boasts only three of England's big six: Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea. Spurs and Chelsea escaped with draws, though, and will need to win a replay to gain passage into the quarterfinals.

Everton, Stoke City and Bolton all came away convincingly against lower-league opposition. Meanwhile, Leicester City knocked off Premier League side Norwich City with a solid performance.

Here are the best players from the weekend's action.

Lloyd Dyer, Leicester City

Lloyd Dyer put in a tireless shift on Saturday afternoon at Carrow Road. Dyer was a constant presence down the left side for the Foxes. 

He repeatedly made in-roads down the left flank—putting crosses in—and nearly got a goal of his own after cutting in from the left wing. Dyer's work rate was not limited to the attack, as he continually tracked back helping out his full-back. 

Dyer has made a career of being a quality midfielder in the lower leagues. Saturday's performance showed why manager Nigel Pearson has him in the team. 

Tim Ream, Bolton Wanderers

Bolton's January signing, Tim Ream, finally got his first minutes of action for the Premier League strugglers. 

Ream repaid manager Owen Coyle with a fantastic performance, looking comfortable against Millwall's attack. Ream regularly got the best of Darius Henderson on the day, and never looked to be in trouble.

His performance will give Bolton hope they can shore up their defence, as they have given up the fourth-most goals in the Premier League this season.   

Jermaine Beckford, Leicester City

Jermaine Beckford has found his level. Beckford made the jump from League One with Leeds United to the Premier League with Everton in 2010-11, and for much of the season the gap in talent was apparent. He did perform better as the season wore on, though—Beckford tallied eight goals in 34 appearances for the club.

Beckford may not have gotten a goal in Leicester's win at Norwich, but he was a handful for the Canaries defence all day long. 

It was Beckford's flick on to strike partner David Nugent that led to the game winner. He nearly got on the score sheet himself when he struck the crossbar. Leicester have been good value thus far in the FA Cup, and they will face Chelsea or Birmingham in the quarterfinals. 

Stevenage F.C.

League One side Stevenage secured a replay against Tottenham Hotspur after picking up a scoreless draw with the Premier League club. 

Stevenage is 47 places below Tottenham in the English league structure, but looked the better side early on as they peppered Spurs' goal.

Stevenage is trying for their third promotion in three years, and were a positive change from many of the lower-league sides who seem overwhelmed against bigger clubs.

However, the minnows held their nerve and will now face Spurs in a replay at White Hart Line.

Colin Doyle, Birmingham City

Birmingham City came away from Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw, and will host Chelsea in a replay to determine who will move on to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. 

Goalkeeper Colin Doyle was beaten in the second half by a Daniel Sturridge header, but he was brilliant nonetheless.

Doyle saved a Juan Mata penalty in the first half only moments after Birmingham took the lead. He produced another fantastic save on a David Luiz free kick as Chelsea bombarded the Birmingham goal.

Doyle held up to Chelsea's pressure and helped his club preserve the draw.

David Murphy, Birmingham City

David Murphy turned in a solid performance at left back for the Blues on Saturday. Murphy was constantly bombing down the left flank in the first half, loading pressure on to the Chelsea defence.

Murphy took Chelsea's right-sided players out of the attack in the first half as he pushed forward. However, Murphy tired in the second half—though he remained solid in defence—and was not able to freely get forward.

In the first half, Murphy got Birmingham's goal after a goal-mouth scramble when the ball fell to him at the back post to lash home. Murphy continues to be a solid left back for last season's Carling Cup winners. 

Peter Crouch, Stoke City

The tall Englishman was a handful all day long for Crawley Town. Peter Crouch got Stoke's second goal of the day, heading home a Glenn Whelan free-kick.

Crouch was fortunate not to get on the score sheet in the first half with an own goal as he deflected the ball onto his on cross bar. Crouch atoned for his almost-error by holding the ball up well and bringing the midfield in the attack as the game wore on. Stoke handled Crawley rather easily, and Crouch gave their defence plenty to worry about.

Crouch will now face his former club Liverpool in the quarterfinals as Stoke attempt to make back-to-back FA Cup finals.

Stewart Downing, Liverpool

Stewart Downing's performance against Brighton was one of the best he has put in at Liverpool. The midfielder—signed for nearly $35 million last summer—has produced the most chances in the Premier League that have gone unconverted this season.

On Sunday, however, striker Andy Carroll was finally able to put a Downing cross away, giving Downing his first assist as a Red. 

Downing was good all day long down the left wing, putting Brighton's defence under pressure with early crosses. 

Liverpool will now host last season's beaten finalist Stoke, and prior to that will take on Cardiff City in the Carling Cup final. 

Stephane Sessegnon, Sunderland

Stephane Sessegnon has been Sunderland's best player all season, and he looks like a player that should be playing in an Arsenal kit rather than Sunderland red and white. 

Sessegnon continually pressured and hurried the Gunners' back line and was the player who started the counter-attack that resulted in Sunderland's second goal after picking up the ball in his own half and racing toward Arsenal's penalty area. He then feed the ball to Sebastian Larsson, whose shot was deflected into the back of the net.

The Black Cats revival under Martin O'Neill continues, and they now face Everton with Wembley in sight.

Royston Drenthe, Everton

Everton got a steal when they signed Royston Drenthe on loan from Real Madrid. Blackpool had no answer for Drenthe's pace down the right side on Saturday, and his speed simply destroyed a chop-and-changed Blackpool defence. 

Drenthe got Everton's first goal after drifting in from the right side, picking up the ball and curling it home. He had a hand in the second as he sent in the corner that was converted by Denis Stracqualursi minuted later.

Drenthe's ability to switch flanks and run at opposing full-backs helped to neutralize Blackpool's attack. In the end, Everton should have had four or five, but still won comfortably thanks to the work rate of their on-loan midfielder.