28/01/2019

FA Cup Roundup | 28th January

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Written by: Samuel Hodgkiss Twitter: @samuelhodgkiss With the Premier League not in action this weekend, the FA Cup took centre stage with some mouth-watering all Premier League ties, as well as a few cup upsets involving Everton and West Ham United. This week’s action however kicked off with the Semi-Final second legs of the Carabao Cup, which saw Manchester City progress to the final with relative ease after their 1-0 victory over Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium, to make the tie on aggregate an astonishing 10-0. A well-taken goal from Sergio Aguero was all it took on the night for a City side filled with world-class talents, despite the aggregate going into the game. In the other tie, Chelsea progressed to the final after beating Spurs 2-1 on the night at Stamford Bridge, setting up a penalty shoot-out where Chelsea came out 4-2 winners on penalties. N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard scored two first-half goals to overturn the lead Spurs gained in their home leg at Wembley and change the course of the tie in their favour, however a goal early in the second-half by Fernando Llorente set up an exciting end to the game. All in all, crucial penalty misses by Eric Dier and Lucas Moura allowed for David Luiz to step up and slot his penalty away to send Chelsea to the final. Chelsea will now face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley on 24^th February. Onto the weekend and the FA Cup, the most anticipated draw in the 4^th Round was played out on Friday evening at the Emirates, as Arsenal hosted Manchester United, a fixture which has given the FA Cup some of its most iconic moments. Manchester United came out 3-1 winners, extending the winning run for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to 8 out of 8 in all competitions. A goal on his return to the Emirates from Alexis Sanchez started things off, with Jesse Lingard scoring another just minutes later, followed by a cheeky moonwalk celebration which seemed to go down as a hit on social media. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored to get Arsenal back to within 1 before half-time, however an error late on by Petr Cech was latched onto by Anthony Martial who slotted home an easy finish to all but seal the tie. Things also went from bad to worse for Emery and his men, as centre-backs Lorient Koscielny and Sokratis were both removed from the game due to injury, leaving Arsenal with a defensive shortage going into a busy February period.

Elsewhere in the FA Cup, there were shocks for Premier League sides Everton and West Ham United. Everton travelled away to Millwall in what looked to potentially be a tricky fixture in hostile conditions at The Den, and this proved to be correct as they found themselves losing 3-2 to the struggling Championship outfit. A last-minute goal from Murray Wallace sealed the tie, although sadly it was unsavoury behaviour outside the ground which caught more of the headlines. On the other side of the capital, Premier League outfit West Ham were also on the wrong side of an FA Cup upset, losing 4-2 away at AFC Wimbledon, who are currently rooted at the foot of League One. The Dons took a 3-0 lead in the game, however a triple substitution by Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini helped his side bring the score back to 3-2, but a late goal by Toby Sibbick gave Wimbledon breathing space to safely progress into the 5^th Round, the furthest they have gone in the cup since their reformulation in 2002. In the all Premier League ties this weekend, Manchester City, Watford and Crystal Palace were all victorious. Guardiola and his Manchester City side east passed Burnley with a 5-0 at the Etihad, with Burnley manager Sean Dyche saying he thinks City could win it all this season as he said: “Who is going to stop them winning everything if they’re in that mood?”.

Watford came out 2-0 away at Newcastle, which now sees The Magpies dismal recent run in the FA Cup continue, having not passed the 4^th Round of the Cup since Mike Ashley took over the club back in 2008, and as a club since 2006, which has further angered fans about the issues at the club to do with the finances for buying players. Crystal Palace beat Spurs 2-0 in the other all Premier League tie, which saw Spurs be eliminated from 2 domestic cups within the space of 4 days. Goals from Connor Wickham and Andros Townsend saw Palace go 2-0 up within 35 minutes. To add even more despair for Spurs, Kieran Trippier blazed a penalty wide just before half-time to add to Tottenham’s sorrows. After their success in midweek in the Carabao Cup, Chelsea came through 3-0 winners in the FA Cup over Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. In what was to be honest a very, very dull affair, well taken goals by Callum Hudson-Odoi and Willian eased Chelsea into the 5^th Round. The game also saw Gonzalo Higuain make his debut for the club after his January loan move from Italian giants Juventus.

The final game which saw a Premier League team in action was Wolves, who had to fight a hard battle to overcome a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 against League One Shrewsbury at New Meadow. A last-minute headed goal from Matt Doherty earned the replay at Molineux, although Shrewsbury can go into the game filled with confidence after their 3^rd Round victory in a replay away at Stoke City. As for Liverpool, the weekend off from playing football has allowed Jurgen to have a warm-weather training camp out in Dubai, a pleasant change in weather from the cold and damp conditions they are used to at Melwood. Liverpool, along with the rest of the league will be involved in midweek fixtures, taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. The leaders will host Leicester City at Anfield on Wednesday evening, with title chasers Manchester City travelling away to St. James’ Park to play Newcastle on Tuesday evening. In news away from the football pitch, the tragic news about Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala impacted fans from all over the world and united the community together. The awful incident over the English Channel has given people a chance to reflect on matters bigger than football, and on behalf of everyone at The Redmen TV, I would like to offer our condolences to the families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson. All Premier League games in midweek will pay their respects to Sala and Ibbotson by holding a minute silence in their honour. Written by: Samuel Hodgkiss Twitter: @samuelhodgkiss