Peterborough United are into the hat for the fourth round for the Emirates FA Cup after beating Preston North End.
Peterborough United dumped Sky Bet Championship side Preston North End out of the Emirates FA Cup after a comfortable 2-0 victory at the ABAX Stadium with Martin Samuelsen and Conor Washington on target.Graham Westley's men were in front inside the opening seven minutes as West Ham United loanee Martin SAMUELSEN fired home from 25-yards into the bottom corner with his left-foot for his first goal in the competition and second in succession following his stunner at Sheffield United in the league last weekend.
Eoin Doyle squandered a good opportunity to level the scores for North End after exchanging passes with Joe Garner, but he skied his effort over when well placed.
Joe Garner saw a back post header tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Ben Alnwick before Adam Reach dragged a shot wide from a corner kick.
At the other end, Posh continued to be a threat with Erhun Oztumer firing over the bar from distance. Chris Forrester was booked for kicking the ball away and Ricardo Almeida Santos also went into the book for persistent fouling.
Preston made a change at the break with Paul Gallagher introduced for John Welsh who was suffering with a dead leg.
Josh Brownhill fired over the bar from distance for Preston before Posh doubled their lead as Conor WASHINGTON nodded home a superb header after an excellent cross from right-back Michael Smith.
Marcus Maddison and Souleymane Coulibaly were introduced from the substitutes bench and nearly combined to make it 3-0 as Maddison saw a shot blocked and then Almeida Santos somehow contrived to miss a simple header from close-range.
Centre back Tom Clarke saw a header cleared off the line by a well positioned Michael Smith while Alnwick denied Garner who also found the pole behind the goal with a volley.
Posh were a threat on the counter attack with Samuelsen going close to adding a third before referee Mr Harrington brought an end to proceedings as Posh secured a passage into Monday night's fourth round draw.
Posh: Alnwick, Smith, Almeida Santos, Baldwin, Wilson, Beautyman, Forrester, Samuelsen (sub Fox 90min), Angol (sub Coulibaly 72min), Oztumer (sub Maddison 72min), Washington. Unused subs: Henry, Lopes, Addison, H. Anderson.
Preston: Kirkland, Vermiji, Cunningham, Clarke, Doyle (sub Hugill 75min), Garner, Browne, Welsh (sub Gallagher 46min), Huntington, Reach, Brownhill (sub Robinson 56min). Unused subs: Woods, Kilkenny, Wright, Hudson.
Half-time: Peterborough United 1-0 Preston North End
Full-time: Peterborough United 2-0 Preston North End
Attendance: 7,665 (589 Preston fans)