LONDON — Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal will all play Premier League opposition away from home in the third round of the FA Cup. Sunday's draw paired United, the current leader of the Premier League, with West Ham; while Chelsea, the defending champion, is pitted against Southampton. Arsenal must travel to Swansea, which beat Arsene Wenger's side 2-0 Saturday, while the other all-Premier League match is Queens Park Rangers at home to West Bromwich Albion. Also, Liverpool was drawn away to either Lincoln or Mansfield, who both play in England's fifth tier, Manchester City will be at home to second-tier club Watford, and Tottenham was paired with Coventry in a repeat of the 1987 final. The matches will be played in the first weekend of January. Norwich downs Sunderland Norwich withstood a second-half fightback by struggling Sunderland to claim a 2-1 win in the Premier League Sunday, extending its unbeaten run to eight matches. Cameroon center back Sebastien Bassong finished from close range to put Norwich ahead in the eighth minute, with midfielder Anthony Pilkington making it 2-0 in the 37th with a confident strike. Sunderland hit back through Craig Gardner's low strike from outside the area in the 44th and applied heavy pressure after the break, with Gardner striking the post, Matt Kilgallon missing an open goal and Stephane Sessegnon denied in a one-on-one situation. Sunderland remained fourth from bottom, with two wins from 14 games. Norwich climbed a place to 12th, level on points with Liverpool and seven clear of the relegation zone. On Saturday, Manchester United opened up a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a remarkable 4-3 victory at struggling Reading where all the goals came before halftime. MK Dons emerge victorious Built up as one of the biggest grudge matches in FA Cup history, Sunday's meeting between MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon appeared to pass off peacefully away from the pitch but with late drama on it. It was the first match between the two sides whose fierce rivalry was sparked by a controversial decision to uproot the original Wimbledon FC 90 kilometers from south London to Milton Keynes, a commuter town north of the capital. Fans angry with the relocation formed AFC Wimbledon in 2002 and a contest 10 years in the making was set up when it was paired with MK Dons in the second round of the FA Cup. MK Dons won 2-1 with a dramatic injury-time goal. — Agencies
