FA Cup
MAN UNITED SET TO REENACT CUP-WINNING ERA
Manchester United have proven themselves as regular trophy winners since 1990 and haven’t gone more than three years without winning silverware since then. They have not gone longer than three years without a trophy since 1990, when Sir Alex Ferguson began his amazing medal haul with the FA Cup.
This year proves very crucial for what is believed to be the biggest football club in the world as they clash with Chelsea in today’s semi-final duel in the quest to winning the trophy.
According to Sunday Mail. in terms of job security, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer doesn’t need to win this Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final, or the Europa League , or finish in the Premier League top four.
Unlike David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, United chief executive Ed Woodward can see an overall progression under the Norwegian and he will get next season in charge no matter how this one ends.
But in terms of pride and prestige, the semi-final against Chelsea is a massively important game for a club which prides itself on being the biggest in the world and which calls its home stadium The Theatre of Dreams.
They need something in the trophy cabinet fresher than the 2017 Europa League and Solskjaer, having played his entire United career and then started as a coach under Fergie, recognises that better than anyone.
‘It’s our duty and responsibility as Manchester United players and staff to go for trophies,’ he said ahead of his Wembley showdown with Frank Lampard. ‘I’ve never seen anyone celebrate a trophy more than our gaffer [Ferguson]. I remember him coming to watch my first game as reserve team manager in the Lancashire Senior Cup against Liverpool. ‘He was knocking on my door at half-time because we were 1-0 down! He wanted, he needed to win that game. We turned it around in the end and seeing his smile after that was worth it. It was a big thing for our club and the players to get in the winning habit.
‘You need to win trophies when you are Man United. That is what we have done over history. That is our aim.
‘We have come a long way in the last 18 months, starting with the football culture. I feel we have to back it up with trophies.
‘I have memories walking out at the old Wembley for the 1999 final against Newcastle. A fantastic experience. We want them again.’
The prognosis for Solskjaer didn’t look so bright in January after a 2-0 home defeat by Burnley. Since then, Bruno Fernandes has come in and inspired a 19-match unbeaten run. Paul Pogba is back on the pitch after injury and 18-year-old Mason Greenwood has been assimilated into the first team to record another success story for the academy.
United have beaten Chelsea twice this season, 4-0 and 2-0 – and knocked them out of the Carabao Cup 2-1 – but with only a point separating the clubs in the Premier League, Sunday afternoon could be much closer. There are even signs of some needle reminiscent of a period when they were rivals at the top of the European game, most notably contesting the 2008 Champions League final.
Lampard’s observation on Friday that Chelsea will have to be careful with their challenges on United players in the penalty area has opened up a can of worms. VAR has disallowed seven goals scored against United this season while Fernandes is in the spotlight for going to ground too easily.
Other clubs and commentators are muttering darkly about United receiving favouritism, something Solskjaer sharply retorted on Saturday.
‘It looks like there is an agenda,’ said the Norwegian. ‘I will defend my players 100 per cent. They are not divers, none of them try to con the referee at all. It looks like people want to influence whoever’s making the decisions. I hear people talking about luck, but let’s talk about the red card (Oriol) Romeu should have had against us when he got Greenwood crippled against Southampton. Maybe that would have helped us.
‘It’s the same when Mark Noble should have been sent off half a yard in front of me against West Ham earlier in the season when he absolutely battered (Aaron) Wan- Bissaka.’
It would be neat symmetry if Solskjaer’s first prize at United should be the FA Cup, just like Ferguson 30 years ago.
The Scot was also chasing club ghosts at the time, in his case Sir Matt Busby, and had an almighty scare in his semi-final against Second Division Oldham at Maine Road, winning the replay 2-1 with a Mark Robins goal deep into extra-time, after the first tie was 3-3.
‘If they had claimed the winner instead of us, it would have been totally deserved,’ admitted Sir Alex in a book years later. ‘But I’ll be eternally grateful that they didn’t!’
The semi-finals that year were historic in other ways too. It was the first time the two games were split for television on Sunday rather than both played in the traditional Saturday 3pm kick-off slot.
The first sign of what was to come with Manchester United and the power of TV dominating football for the next quarter-of-a-century.
Ferguson’s pre-match interview was insightful, painfully aware that a club of United’s stature needed cups being held aloft.
‘I’m sorry to say the semi-final is the highlight of my career here,’ said Ferguson to the watching millions on television.
For all the progress Solskjaer has made at Old Trafford, he’ll feel the same. Beating Chelsea on Sunday has to be just the start.
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to cruise into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Champions Liverpool played well in the opening half-hour with Mohamed Salah wasting an early chance, but once Haaland had scored from the spot in the 37th minute after a foul on Nico O’Reilly, their resistance crumbled.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk conceded the penalty with a rash challenge, and there was little the Dutch defender could do as City played scintillating attacking football for the remainder of the game.
His blond hair swinging behind him in a ponytail, Haaland netted his second two minutes into first-half stoppage time with a well-placed header from an excellent Antoine Semenyo cross.
Semenyo got on the scoresheet himself five minutes after the break, latching on to a ball in behind from Rayan Cherki and chipping it beautifully past Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Haaland completed his treble with a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 57th minute.
Liverpool’s woes continued when Mohamed Salah, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season, capped off a poor performance by having his penalty saved by James Trafford, snuffing out any faint hopes Liverpool might have had of a comeback
As the game turned into a victory parade, many Liverpool fans started heading for the exits, and City manager Pep Guardiola rang the changes, replacing Haaland with Omar Marmoush, the Norwegian striker receiving a standing ovation as he left the field.
In the other quarter-finals, Chelsea take on Port Vale and Southampton host Arsenal later on Saturday, with Leeds United travelling to West Ham United on Sunday.
The semi-finals will take place at Wembley, and Haaland is relishing a return to the stadium.
“First half, we struggled a bit, but then we after around 30 minutes we kept going and in the end it’s an amazing game. Another Wembley trip for us is amazing and important,” he told broadcaster TNT.
“I think (my form this season) has been a bit too much up and down, which is not good enough. I cannot keep on thinking about what I could have done differently or what didn’t happen, or what happened. I have to think about the next game.”
-Reuters
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Arsenal will be without injured England attacker Noni Madueke when they face Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final, but Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber may return from injury, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Madueke was among the 11 Arsenal players who withdrew from international duty last month over injuries and fitness management, as the club eye their first Premier League title since 2004.
“When you have to communicate the state of every player, we are always honest and a medical decision had to be made. That was clear what the conclusion was,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“It makes us so proud that we had that many players in the national team. Players are desperate to play for their nation. I know how important it is to them. We are fully supportive of that and when we can do it, we do it.”
Madueke picked up a knee injury during England’s friendly with Uruguay, missing the game against Japan. But Arteta said his condition was not as bad as a knee injury that kept him out for six weeks.
Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Timber, Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were unavailable for their countries.
Arteta did not disclose how many of them will be available for Saturday’s game, as Arsenal look to shake off last month’s League Cup final loss to Manchester City with a return to Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.
“We’re in a position right now where we need to make the strongest line-up we possibly can to win every competition,” he said. ” We are two or three games away from the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.”
-Reuters
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Manchester City will look to secure a historic eighth straight semi-final appearance in the FA Cup when they face Liverpool on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola said.
City beat Arsenal to win the League Cup before the international break, and Guardiola is hoping his team maintain the momentum as they fight to add the FA Cup and Premier League to this season’s trophy haul.
“Once you finish one, it is the next one,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“Tomorrow we have the chance to reach an incredible milestone, to make eight semi-finals in a row. It’s never happened… it is a prestigious competition, and one of the toughest, special opponents for all of us, Liverpool.”
City have dominated English football with six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups since Guardiola joined in 2016, but Liverpool have been a constant thorn in his side throughout his coaching career.
As a coach, Guardiola has only nine victories and seven draws in 26 matches against Liverpool, his worst win rate against a Premier League club.
City have beaten Liverpool twice in the Premier League this season, but had to dig deep for a late comeback when they won 2-1 at Anfield in February.
“So many times they have been the rival, the biggest, biggest one… top contender, top class players, all of them. Hopefully we have to perform in the level we did against Arsenal to reach the next step,” Guardiola said.
The manager also praised Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who has announced his departure in the summer.
“Absolutely. One of the greatest. The numbers, the consistency. What a player… absolute legend, of course for Liverpool, but (also) for the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola, however, avoided commenting on his own midfielder Rodri, who said he was open to a move to Real Madrid when his contract with City runs out at the end of this season.
“No clue, no opinion… because I know the intention of the club, I know the intention, I think, of him, but I don’t know,” Guardiola said.’
-Reuters
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