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From the category archives:
Frank Lampard’s second-half winner gave Guus Hiddink the FA Cup in his final game as Chelsea manager after a 2-1 win over Everton at Wembley.
Everton had scored the fastest goal in the history of the cup final after just 25 seconds when Louis Saha’s left-footed strike flashed past Petr Cech. But Didier Drogba powered in a headed equaliser before the break, and Chelsea dominated the second period with Lampard’s 72nd-minute winner taking the trophy.
Arsenal took a belated place in the FA Cup quarter-finals after a comfortable 3-0 defeat of Burnley, while Everton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 for a semi-final berth.
A postponed match in a previous round meant the Arsenal against Burnley tie was put off until quarter-final weekend, and once the encounter began the Gunners ensured no repeat of their League Cup elimination by the second-tier club, taking a 25th-minute lead with Carlos Vela’s deft chip. Eduardo da Silva, making his second appearance of the season having returned from long-term injury with two fourth-round replay goals against Cardiff City three weeks ago, made it 2-0 with a volley early in the second half and late on Emmanuel Eboué secured victory and a quarter-final against Hull City on 17 or 18 March.
Manchester United eased into Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final draw after two Carlos Tévez goals inspired a 4-0 success at Fulham and title rivals Chelsea will join them following their 2-0 victory at Coventry City.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who host FC Intern Milan on Wednesday locked at 0-0 in their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie, were in control at Craven Cottage after Tévez struck before the interval with a far-post header and 25-metre drive. Wayne Rooney and Ji-Sung Park rounded off the scoring with clinical curling efforts to keep the Old Trafford outfit on course for five trophies this season.
Middlesbrough grabbed their first win in six games to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals. Gareth Southgate’s men cannot buy a victory in the Premier League.
But Boro followed up their fourth-round success at Wolves last month by comfortably seeing off West Ham.
Stewart Downing’s fifth-minute free-kick set the hosts on their way. He left Hammers keeper Rob Green sprawling with a pin-point shot into the top corner from 25 yards.
It was almost a carbon copy of Matt Taylor’s effort in Bolton’s weekend defeat of Gianfranco Zola’s men.
Bobby Zamora fired Fulham into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup — and a home showdown with Manchester United. The goal-shy striker ended a 1,763-minute Premier League drought against West Brom on Sunday.
And, just 48hours later, Zamora was at it again, hitting an 81st-minute winner for his second goal in as many games — his best run since April 2007.
Boss Roy Hodgson said:
Leon Besy looks like an extra from Phantom of the Opera with his protective face mask. On Tuesday night he came out to haunt Blackburn, kicking them out of the FA Cup and setting Coventry up with a home tie against Chelsea — the first time they have qualified for the last eight since 1998.
And Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman, who arrived a year ago, admitted: “It’s the tops. It was the best game and the best night since I’ve been here.
Eduardo da Silva scored twice in his return to Arsenal after a nearly one-year layoff caused by a broken leg, leading the Gunners over Cardiff 4-0 Monday night and into the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Eduardo scored in the 20th minute with a header off a cross from Carlos Vela, then beat goalkeeper Tom Heaton with a penalty kick in the 60th after he was brought down by Gavin Rae.
After the first goal, Eduardo ran toward a corner, fell to his knees and smiled before being teammates enveloped him. Arsenal fans erupted into celebrations and sang Eduardo’s name.
Christopher Samba took advantage of a mistake by Coventry goalkeeper Andy Marshall to earn Blackburn a last-gasp 2-2 draw in their FA Cup fifth-round clash at Ewood Park. Samba pounced to level the scores in stoppage time after substitute Keith Treacy’s speculative shot had come back off Marshall’s chest.
Second-half strikes from Aron Gunnarsson and Michael Doyle had earlier turned the tie on its head after Roque Santa Cruz gave Rovers a second-minute lead. Gunnarsson equalised just after the hour mark, crashing the ball home from long range after Daniel Fox’s cross had been headed to only partial safety. And with 14 minutes to go Doyle’s deflected effort looped over goalkeeper Paul Robinson, but Samba spared Rovers’ blushes.
A look at this weekend’s games in the F.A. Cup and English Premier League.
Swansea v Fulham
Swansea are as good a football team as most in the Championship. They are in form and won’t change the way they play. Fulham are a good side and quite strong away from home, but I’m going for an upset here and a home win.
Verdict: 2-0
Sheff Utd v Hull
These are two sides with other distractions as Sheffield United chase promotion and Hull look to ensure survival in the Premier League. United are a tough act at home so I’m going for a Championship victory, although it won’t be the biggest disappointment for Hull.
Verdict: 2-1
Teenager Dan Gosling struck two minutes from the end of extra time to give Everton a 1-0 replay win over Merseyside rivals Liverpool and book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
In a typically tight first period, the most significant moment came when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was replaced in the 16th minute after suffering a hamstring injury. However, there were few openings at either end with both sides closing down space quickly and denying their opponents any time on the ball. The best chance of the second half fell to the home side’s Leon Osman who smashed against a post after Tim Cahill’s neat lay-off put him one-on-one with Pepe Reina.
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