Bradford City: How the Bantams Have Shocked Premier League Elite in the Cups

Bradford City have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals after claiming another notable Premier League scalp.

This time it was Sunderland who fell to the League One giant-killers in a 2-0 defeat at Valley Parade. The Bantams have now seen off five top-flight teams in cup competitions in just over two years.

Here's the rundown on the Premier League clubs who fell to Phil Parkinson's team.

Wigan Athletic were involved in their perennial struggle to remain in the Premier League when Bradford arrived at the DW Stadium in October 2012.

But Roberto Martinez's Latics could not find a way past their lower-league rivals in the chase for a place in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals.

After 120 minutes, the tie finished 0-0 and the game was decided in a 4-2 penalty shootout win for the Bantams.

Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke was the hero when he saved Jordi Gomez's spot-kick after Shaun Maloney had blazed over the crossbar.

Few people gave Bradford a chance of progression beyond the last eight of the Capital One Cup when they were paired with Arsenal.

But Parkinson's team had other ideas and stunned Arsene Wenger and the Gunners at Valley Parade in December 2012.

Garry Thompson looked to have earned the West Yorkshire team a 16th-minute lead, but Thomas Vermaelen's equaliser two minutes from the end could have broken the confidence of another team.

But not Bradford, who saw off the Premier League team in a famous 3-2 penalty shootout win in which Vermaelen missed the crucial spot-kick.

The Capital One Cup triumphs over Wigan and Arsenal had been achieved in one-off games, so surely Aston Villa could ensure a place in the final in a two-legged affair?

Bradford claimed a superb 3-1 win at Valley Parade in the first leg. Goals from Nahki Wells and Rory McArdle had given the Yorkshire side a 2-0 lead before Andreas Weimann hit back for Villa and Carl McHugh restored the two-goal advantage for the home team.

Villa had work to do to reach the Wembley final against Swansea City, but a 2-1 win at Villa Park was not enough, and the Bantams, who were in League Two at the time, were handed an unbelievable day out at Wembley in which they eventually lost to Michael Laudrup's side.

For most giant-killers, their moment in the spotlight ends after just one shock result, but not Bradford, who were now in League One.

After that run to the Capital One Cup final in 2013, it was not expected that the club would enjoy such a moment again in the near future. An FA Cup fourth-round pairing at Premier League leaders Chelsea in January 2015 seemed to offer only a financial windfall for the Bantams.

But after going two down at Stamford Bridge, Parkinson rallied his team, and goals from Jon Stead, Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates produced, arguably, the biggest FA Cup shock of all time as Bradford ran out 4-2 winners.

Bradford were paired with either Fulham or Sunderland at Valley Parade following the Chelsea win, and not many football fans saw another upset on the cards—least of all the television companies, who chose not to screen the fifth-round tie live.

It was a decision the broadcasters would come to regret after Sunderland saw off the Cottagers to claim their place in the last 16.

It was an afternoon to forget for the Black Cats and manager Gus Poyet, as the Bantams opened the scoring in the third minute after John O'Shea deflected Billy Clarke's strike past his own goalkeeper, Vito Mannone.

And Stead ensured Bradford would be in the quarter-final draw in the 61st minute as he continued his run of scoring in every round of the FA Cup.