George Elokobi toasted the magic of the FA Cup after a 2-1 win at Ipswich, but insisted he always believed Maidstone could produce one of the great upsets in the competition’s history.
National League South side Stones were playing their seventh FA Cup tie this season after entering in the second qualifying round and, despite facing 38 shots at Portman Road, they stunned the Sky Bet Championship promotion hopefuls.
Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Colovan was the initial star with a string of first-half saves before Lamar Reynolds dared the 4,472-travelling support to dream with a superb lob in the 43rd minute.
When Brighton loanee Jeremy Sarmiento levelled for 1978 FA Cup winners Ipswich, Kieran McKenna’s men were expected to overpower the Kent club, but third-round hero Sam Corne had other ideas with his left-footed strike enough to earn etch Maidstone’s name in FA Cup folklore.
Ex-Wolves defender Elokobi said: “We had to be resilient for 98 minutes and I drummed this into our players.
“We prepared right and told them to enjoy the occasion because they are already history makers in the eyes of the world, eyes of the people who watch football and to take every bit of the glory today.
“When we set off this morning on our walk, we saw the fans at the pub and waved to them. That’s how we wanted to approach today. To make it historic, to have memories to look back to and again the magic of the FA Cup is making us dream again.”
Ipswich hit the post twice inside eight minutes through Sarmiento and Omari Hutchinson before Colovan denied Nathan Broadhead and Hutchinson.
Sarmiento went close again with a deflected effort and after Sone Aluko dragged wide from close-range, Maidstone sent their fans into pandemonium.
After an Ipswich corner had been cleared, Liam Sole found Reynolds, who collected the ball and scooped over Christian Walton for a memorable first goal for the club.
Sarmiento equalised soon after half-time with a curled finish, but Maidstone remained full of belief and grabbed a 66th-minute winner with another breakaway effort when Reynolds teed up Corne and he rifled in from 12-yards.
Covolan tipped Conor Chaplin’s 84th-minute effort onto the crossbar before Stones survived eight minutes of stoppage time to become only the 11th non-league outfit to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
“If you know George Elokobi, he is a believer. I am a believer,” Elokobi insisted.
“Every project I embark on as an individual and with my management team, we believe and we believed we could truly come here and compete against a fantastic Championship side.
“In our preparations we have showed every bit of respect to Ipswich Town. We normally train on 3G but we hired a grass pitch and looked at the dimensions of the Ipswich pitch.
“We also created what we would come up against, wave of attacks, so our defenders and the entire team could be resilient. Everyone knew what their jobs were and knew we had to run a little bit more than we have ever done.
“Let’s be honest nobody believed we could pull the shock out like we did against a great Ipswich side, which we watched on Monday play against Leicester.
“We knew we was coming to a tough place but it was about installing belief in them today.”
All eyes will now be on who Maidstone, – who reformed after being liquidated in 1992 – draw in Sunday’s draw.
Elokobi added: “If we can have another big tie away from home then the magic of the FA Cup is still alive. Whichever club we draw, we will take it.
“The community will be looking forward to who we draw next. Again this is the magic of the FA Cup and to be in the hat for the fifth round is truly amazing. I am really proud and honoured to be the manager leading this.”
Opposite number McKenna paid tribute Elokobi’s team.
“Look, first of all full credit to Maidstone. It’s a fantastic day for them, they worked ever so hard for it and of course they rode their luck, but they showed great spirit,” McKenna acknowledged.
“We really didn’t want to be on the end of one and prepared well and did some good things, but that’s cup competitions.”
Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure
Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.
In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.
He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.
"It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.
"It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."
Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.
Lindstrom joins Everton on loan from Napoli
Everton have completed the loan signing of Jesper Lindstrom from Napoli, the club confirmed on Friday.
Lindstrom will join the Toffees for the 2024-25 season with the deal including an option to make the move permanent at the end of the campaign.
The 24-year-old becomes the fourth addition at Goodison Park following the arrivals of Tim Iroegbunam, Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Harrison.
Lindstrom arrives after a difficult season with Napoli, playing just 416 minutes in 22 league appearances for the Serie A side.
The Denmark international arrived in Naples from Eintracht Frankfurt where he scored 14 goals in 80 appearances, helping the German side lift the Europa League in the 2021-22 season.
“I feel very good. It’s amazing to represent Everton," Lindstrom said in his first interview with the club.
"This is a big club, with big history, a good stadium and, as I’ve seen, very good facilities as well. I’m very, very happy to be here and I feel like this is a good fit.
“I actually heard of Everton’s interest a while ago – not only from now but previously. England is very similar to Denmark so I will feel at home quickly.
“I’ve spoken to the manager. It sounds as though he likes the way I play football and I can be a good fit for the team with my speed, so now I want to deliver."
The search for another attacking option out wide had been the priority at Everton, having seen Arnaut Danjuma return to Villarreal following the completion of his loan deal, and the sale of Lewis Dobbin to Aston Villa.
Everton managed 40 goals last season, the second worst in the Premier League ahead of Sheffield United (35), and Dyche believes Lindstrom has a lot to offer in the final third.
"Jesper is a player with very good ability who can operate in a number of different attacking roles, which will benefit us heading into the new season," said Dyche.
"He joins us with a range of different experiences. He is hungry and eager to succeed with us, and that's a strong starting point as we look to add more productivity to our attack."
Maguire labels England criticism 'ridiculous' following Euro 2024 display
Harry Maguire has defended his England team-mates after their performance at Euro 2024, labelling the criticism as "a bit ridiculous".
England reached back-to-back European Championship finals but suffered the same outcome in Berlin as they did at Wembley three years ago.
The defeat against Spain saw Gareth Southgate become the first head coach in the history of the tournament to end up on the losing side in two finals.
Southgate called time on his eight-year tenure in charge of the Three Lions two days after the tournament ended, winning 59.8% of his 102 games in charge.
Despite this, underwhelming performances in Germany saw cups thrown towards the former England head coach as supporters jeered the players.
Southgate came under fire for his defensive approach, though only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) have overseen more England goals than his 213.
However, Maguire has come to the defence of his team-mates.
“Yes, performances might not have been amazing but it is tournament football," Maguire told BBC Sport.
"It is not as expansive. There are far less risks taken. You can’t afford to make mistakes or get caught going out in a full press. You saw throughout the tournament there were not many high-scoring wins.
“I just don’t know what the media or fans expected of this team. Was it to go and beat Serbia 4-0 in the first game and then beat Denmark 3-0? Did they think it was just going to be a walk in the park?”
Under Southgate's stewardship, England reached more major tournament finals in four attempts (two) than they did in their first 23 appearances at the World Cup and Euros (one).
Maguire played 63 times during Southgate's time in charge, a total only bettered by Harry Kane (81), Kyle Walker (70), Jordan Pickford and John Stones (both 68).
Maguire was forced to miss the tournament having picked up an injury in May, forcing him to miss Manchester United's FA Cup success against Manchester City.
Euro 2024 was the first major tournament he has missed during his international career, having become a mainstay in central defence alongside Stones.
Maguire's 17 appearances at major tournaments saw him keep seven clean sheets, but he insisted that missing out on Euro 2024 was difficult for him to comprehend.
"To miss out was tough," said Maguire.
“It has been really frustrating, working all season to get myself mentally and physically at the top of my game and be in a position to feel I could really make a difference for Manchester United and my country."
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