FA Cup Quarter Finals [2015]

The final ties in the FA Cup are ultimately the most important. Four teams can show their worth and get the chance to play in the biggest stadium in England, at Wembley. There were some great ties on show this weekend, but would they produce the performances and the results that would turn the eyes of fans across the country?

The weekend started off with a game between the dark horses of the competition, Bradford, against Championship side Reading. Both teams showed a lot of commitment and character within the game, as would be expected with a prize like a semi-final at Wembley at stake. Bradford were definitely the brighter of the two sides and almost clinched a winner through Oliver Norwood with only a few minutes left on the clock, but it just wasn't meant to be. The affair was quite scrappy in the beginning, but the League 1 side were certainly ready for a tie like this. Both sides had some good chances that they just couldn't make the most of, earning them a replay at Reading, and a chance for both teams to make history. End score: 0-0.

Saturday evening saw a Midlands derby take place between Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion. The sides met earlier in the week in a Premier League tie, and this saw Villa battle to a 2-1 win. This game started slow and took a while for both sides to grow into. The passing was quite sloppy and there was no cutting ball when it got into the final third. West Brom did have a couple of good chances, one from Brown Ideye and the other from Joleon Lescott. They didn't get the opener they desperately chased, and instead Fabian Delph took the opportunity he was presented with to put Villa ahead just into the second half. Scott Sinclair doubled the lead for Villa 5 minutes from time and put the tie beyond the opposition. Both teams finished the game on 10 men as the game finished extremely scrappily. Claudio Yacob saw red for what looked like a two footed stamp on a Villa player. Teenager Jack Grealish saw got his second yellow for what the referee judged to be a dive, but this red card didn't affect the result of the game. End score: 2-0.

Liverpool hosted Blackburn in the only kick off on Sunday. Blackburn kept up a spirited performance throughout the game, keeping a good shape and having some of the best chances throughout the first half, especially through Rudy Gestede. The game started in the worst possible way for Liverpool as Martin Skrtel hit the ground and was out cold for about 5 minutes, he was eventually was stretchered off the field, but not before giving a thumbs up to the surrounding crowd to show he was okay. Kolo Toure, his replacement, had one of the best chances of the game as he saw his header rattle the post but not hit the back of the net like he had hoped. Blackburn did well for themselves though, with Gestede proving to be too much to handle in many cases, but the Liverpool defence managed to keep him out. The replay between the two will hopefully prove to be another tight encounter. End score: 0-0.

Easily the tie of the round was between Manchester United and Arsenal. Both sides were quite sloppy in possession throughout the game, but some good sets of play were put together to create some chances. Arsenal did well to push forward as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ran at the United defence and took three players out of the game, leaving Nacho Monreal in lots of space in the box to calmly slot the ball past David de Gea who was coming out to close him down. The lead only lasted 4 minutes though, as United pushed forward and got Angel Di Maria on the ball. His inch perfect cross was met by the head of Wayne Rooney whose shot was too fast for Wojciech Szczesny to get his hand to. It was a feisty affair, not short of passion as would be expected in a game between these two sides, and it took a poor back pass from Antonio Valencia to present former Manchester United player, Danny Welbeck, with a chance to round off the game. This wasn't the end of the tale though, as Di Maria was later booked for simulation and in a moment of madness tugged on the referee's shirt, resulting in a red card being produced seconds after his booking. This set Arsenal on their way to their second FA Cup semi-final in the same amount of seasons after a brilliant contest between the two. End score: 1-2.  

Two replays still to go ahead after four of the teams failed to score on their first try. Both were good contests the first time round, so who knowswhat will happen and who will be facing the two Premier League clubs at Wembley soon. Only time will tell I guess...

FA Cup Fifth Round [2015]

The fixture list for this weekend of FA Cup action doesn't look nearly as exciting as the last one. It also probably won't have as many results as exciting as the last round. Chelsea, Manchester City, Southampton and Swansea were all dumped out of the competition; three by lower league teams. The surprises from the last weekend don't look like they will be repeating themselves this time out, but there are still three of the big boys in the competition, including the holders, that clubs are just waiting to shock.

The weekend started with an all Premier League tie, a 4-0 thrashing and a red card for fighting. If this is anything to go by, it looked like it was going to be a good weekend of football. West Brom looked to be in control from the beginning and didn't leave time for anyone to doubt them as they went in at the break 2-0. Although West Ham did have chances to try and get a foothold, possibly even a goal in the game, they just couldn't manage it. West Brom got their third just before the hour mark and this did prove to be the final hit for West Ham. The red card did come for the West Ham substitute, Morgan Amalfitano. Ten minutes after he was introduced into the game, he got booked for hacking down Chris Brunt and then seconds later pushed Brunt away by the face right in front of the referee, giving him no choice but to produce a red card. The final goal was scored minutes after this, sending West Brom comfortably into the quarter final. 

Derby County played host to Reading in an all Championship tie and it looked like it would be a good game. Towards the end of the first half, Derby had Stephen Warnock sent off for his second booking, possibly making the game slightly more difficult for themselves. It did take Reading until the second half to capitalise on this, but even then, their lead didn't even last 10 minutes. Both sides wanted the winner in this game, but the sides were pretty level, which could have sent them towards the first replay of the weekend. Then, finally, 8 minutes from full time, Reading finally managed to get the winning goal. Yakubu had only been on the field 10 minutes before he directed his shot into the back of the net, leaving Derby to bow gracefully out of the competition. End score: 1-2

Looks like there were a lot more surprises on the way. Blackburn Rovers hosted Stoke City and the game looked to going well for the Premier League side. The visitors were leading within ten minutes and a lot of people thought that would be it. Blackburn had other ideas though; namely Joshua King. The forward scored a hat-trick in the match, effectively ending Stoke's cup run all on his own, but that isn't the full story. He got the first goal, and played a big part in the second. Stoke had Geoff Cameron sent off deep into first half stoppage time after he pulled back King in the penalty area, leading Blackburn to convert the penalty and take the lead in the game. Stoke were up against it in the second half, but Blackburn easily dispatched the 10 men as King finished off his hat-trick. End score: 4-1

Two Premier League sides down this weekend already, will there be anymore to follow?

The final kick off on Saturday saw Crystal Palace face Liverpool, who have struggled in recent visits to Selhurst Park. That run looked like it would be continuing as well when Palace took the lead 15 minutes into the game. Liverpool could do nothing to break down the Palace defence in the remaining time in the half, but the second half looked to be a turning point for them. They got a goal in the opening moments of the half, which looked to build their confidence and also give them the boost that they needed. Not long after, they got their second and this proved to be too much for Palace. Liverpool had very much been in control from the beginning of the game, and now had the result to match their game. End score: 1-2

Aston Villa against Leicester proved to be a very dull start for the games on Sunday. The first half was slow, hardly any chances were created and the players just looked like they would rather be anywhere but on that field. Leicester did have the better chances of the half, forcing Shay Given to pull off some great saves to stop them from getting the breakthrough. Tim Sherwood gave his first half time team talk at Villa and sparked some much needed life into his team. Although the beginning of the second half was slow, Villa did find the breakthrough they needed on 70 minutes after pushing forward for most of the half. Given was still pulling off superb saves which ultimately allowed Villa to take the lead. They got their second through substitute Scott Sinclair not long before full time and he looked to have put Villa through to the quarter finals. However, Leicester weren't giving up yet and got a consolation goal in added time, but couldn't find another to take them through for a replay. 

Next up came Bradford City, Chelsea's downfall, who hosted Sunderland. Sunderland didn't make it easy for themselves either. Within the first 5 minutes, they were already behind and it had come through an own goal. If this didn't already look a big test after the last round, it was certainly beginning to look difficult for them now. None of the Sunderland players had a particularly good game and they were only making it easier for Bradford to get their foothold in the game. Just after the hour mark, Bradford got their second, and winning, goal in the match, which was ultimately the thing that finished off Sunderland and the game. Yet another Premier League side out to Bradford! Surely, they're looking forward to see who else comes out of the pot in the draw tomorrow night. End score: 2-0

They would probably fancy their chances against the holders Arsenal if you asked them. They welcomed Middlesbrough to the Emirates who dispatched of Manchester City in the previous round. It was a game that Arsenal looked comfortable in from kick off, and to the viewer, it looked like there could only be one result. Middlesbrough were finished off within two minutes on the half an hour mark by Olivier Giroud through two very well taken, clever goals. It was a game plan that was well worked for Arsenal and proved to be too difficult for the opposition to handle. In the end, an easy game for the holders who once again see their name go back into the draw. End score: 2-0

Now all that's left of the weekend is the game between Preston North End and Manchester United tomorrow night which is played right before the draw. Preston are doing well in the league and could prove to be worthy opponents for the side currently sitting third in the Premier League. Will there be one more surprise left in the cup this weekend? I guess only time will tell...

FA Cup Fourth Round [2015]

It is back again! Onto another round of the FA Cup which gives us all the surprises that a football fan could possibly want and ask for.

The early kick off on Saturday is where the first shock came from when Blackburn Rovers welcomed Swansea City. Early in the game, Kyle Bartley got sent off which made it look like Swansea would have a mountain to climb, but they still managed to take the lead. However, this seemed to be a turning point for Blackburn. Just after the opener, the home team got one back, and the second half proved to be great for them. They managed to get the two goals that finished the game for them without too much of a problem. The game was over, yet Gylfi Sigurdsson still got sent off in added time for a bad foul. End score: 3-1.

That meant that one more Premier League team were knocked out, but how many more would follow? Quite a few is the answer, and they're all the big boys of the league!

I'll start with Chelsea. They looked to have an easy match on paper; top of the Premier League playing against a League 1 side. It started out that way as well. Chelsea took a 2-0 lead in the first half and it seemed like that would be the end for Bradford. They fought back though and managed to pull it back to 2-1 just before half time. Even still, people argued that Chelsea would win the game due to the quality in their squad. However, the next goal didn't come until the 75th minute when Bradford got their equaliser. This prompted Jose Mourinho to bring on one of the big names, Eden Hazard, to try and win them the game. Instead, the opposite happened. Bradford went 3-2 up and was defending like their lives depended on it. When news of another goal came through, many people would have imagined a Chelsea equaliser, but instead saw the name of Mark Yeates on screens. End score: 2-4. Onto the next?

Manchester City had a tricky home tie against Middlesbrough, who have the best defence in the Championship this season. Surely, they wouldn't have been able to keep out the likes of Sergio Aguero though, right? Wrong. They threw their bodies on the line in order to stop City from scoring. The half time score was 0-0 and to people not watching the game, it sounded like City were going to come out for the second half and score their winner. Not even 10 minutes into the second half though, Middlesbrough took the lead. Just like in the Chelsea game, Manuel Pelligrini brought on the likes of Frank Lampard and Fernandinho hoping that they could get the winner. Lampard did hit the crossbar but that was City's closest chance. To add insult to injury, Middlesbrough got the deciding goal in stoppage time. End score: 0-2.

The game between Southampton and Crystal Palace started strongly and added a number of goals to the total tally scored over the weekend. The home side took the lead on 9 minutes before Palace replied almost instantly. Give it 5 more minutes and Southampton had taken the lead once again through a Scott Dann own goal. It didn't take Palace long to reply once again. The final goal of the match did come in towards the end of the first half and it was Chamakh with his second goal of the match. No goals in the second half, meaning the end score was: 2-3. 

Next we go onto the game between Tottenham Hotspur against Leicester City. A penalty kick for Spurs opened the scoring, making this, once again, look like a game where the higher team would have been preferred if their league positions were anything to go by. Form was clearly pushed out the window in this match though. It did take Leicester until the 83rd minute to get their equaliser and the game looked to be heading towards a replay until a mistake from Michel Vorm which gave Leicester their winner. End score: 1-2.

Manchester United and Liverpool were also two teams to struggle against lower opposition. United were the visitors to Cambridge United on Friday night and they had a hard time breaking down their stubborn defence, meaning Cambridge earned a well deserved replay at Old Trafford. Liverpool also had the same problem as United did; they wasted their chances and struggled to break down Bolton's defence. End score for both: 0-0.

The second to last game of the weekend (Stoke play Rochdale tomorrow night) saw Brighton host Arsenal, the holders. Arsenal started the game quickly and brightly, scoring their first goal within the first 2 minutes. They also added a second towards the end of the first half, making it look like the game was already over. Brighton did start the second half brightly, pulling a goal back and throwing everything they had at Arsenal. Again, Arsenal seemed to settle nerves through a brilliant goal, restoring their two goal lead. Brighton once again did get a goal back and wouldn't give up; pushing towards Arsenal, hoping to at least earn a replay at the Emirates, but it just wasn't meant to be. End score: 2-3.

Half of the Premier League teams have already been knocked out of the competition over the two weekends and that could be added to depending on Stoke's result tomorrow night. Not many big names to look out for in the draw now, but many people are now very wary of the lower league teams... Don't you just love the FA Cup?