FA Cup
LAMPARD FUMES OVER ‘COMPLACENT’ CHELSEA AFTER FA CUP LOSS
Frank Lampard accused his Chelsea flops of complacency after they blew the lead in Saturday’s (Aug 1) FA Cup final defeat against Arsenal.
Lampard’s side made the perfect start at Wembley as Christian Pulisic fired them ahead.
But Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised from the penalty spot before half-time and made it 2-1 with a fine finish after the interval.
“We started well for 10 or 15 minutes, scored a goal and had other chances. From that point, we can only blame ourselves in football terms,” Chelsea boss Lampard told the BBC.
“We decided to take control as in being complacent, let’s try and play short passes like it is a bit of a stroll. A final can never be a stroll and we allowed them back into the game.”
Lampard had tried to get his players to refocus, but he conceded Chelsea have been hampered by a lack of cutting edge and defensive mistakes all season.
They weren’t helped by the extremely harsh second half dismissal of midfielder Mateo Kovacic and injuries to Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Denied his first trophy as Chelsea boss, Lampard couldn’t hide his frustration.
“All I can do form the sidelines is shout. There are elements in our game that we have worked hard on all year, but that is in you as a group,” he said.
“We were slow, we played back on ourselves, invited pressure, then didn’t really know where to go from that. We didn’t play well enough to win a final.
“It doesn’t help to have two hamstrings (Azpilicueta and Pulisic) and a dislocated shoulder (Pedro), then Willian got injured yesterday and had to pull out.”
Despite their Cup final misery, Chelsea had already achieved their main aim by qualifying for next season’s Champions League via a fourth place finish in the Premier League.
Lampard’s season isn’t over as Chelsea travel to Bayern Munich on Aug 8 for the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
But the Blues trail 3-0 from the first leg and Lampard did not want to think about that daunting task just yet.
“I’m not even thinking about next week. It’s the end of a long, long season and it was the tipping point for us,” he said.
-AFP
The first weekend of semi-automated offside decisions in English soccer descended into confusion on Saturday as Bournemouth had a goal ruled out after a record eight-minute VAR check.
Bournemouth, who eventually beat Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on penalties in the FA Cup fifth round after a 1-1 draw, thought they had doubled their lead when defender Milos Kerkez scored in the 35th-minute goal.
However, new technology could not be used because the six-yard area was too crowded and VAR officials had to revert to manually drawing lines before disallowing the goal.
Fellow defender Dean Huijsen was adjudged to have been in an offside position as Kerkez’s effort brushed his shoulder before going in to the net.
The VAR check was further complicated as VAR officials Timothy Wood and Darren England also had to also examine the possibility of hand balls prior to the tight offside call.
Both sets of fans voiced their disapproval at the interminable wait, chanting “it’s not football any more” and “this is embarrassing”.
Referee Sam Barrott, who eventually announced the decision to the crowd via a microphone, had to explain to the respective managers and players what was happening during the delay.
-Reuters
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FA Cup giant-killers Plymouth Argyle drew Premier League champions Manchester City on Monday as the second-tier side’s fifth-round reward for a shock defeat of Liverpool at the weekend.
Holders Manchester United will host Fulham at Old Trafford in one of at least three all-Premier League clashes, with League Cup finalists Newcastle United at home to top-tier rivals Brighton & Hove Albion.
Bournemouth will host Wolverhampton Wanderers in another all-top-flight encounter.
Struggling Plymouth caused one of the great upsets of the FA Cup on Sunday when they beat a second-string Liverpool 1-0, ending the Premier League leaders’ hopes of a quartet of trophies this season.
The Pilgrims are bottom of the Championship but City, who reached the fifth round with a 2-1 win at third-tier Leyton Orient on Saturday after going behind early on, have been misfiring this season.
There will be a fourth all-Premier League clash if Nottingham Forest avoid trouble at League One (third tier) Exeter City on Tuesday, with Ipswich Town awaiting the winners.
Aston Villa, who ended Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes on Sunday, host second tier Cardiff City.
The fifth round matches will be played on the weekend of March 1 and 2.
Last 16 draw:
- Preston North End v Burnley
- Aston Villa v Cardiff City
- Doncaster Rovers or Crystal Palace v Millwall
- Manchester United v Fulham
- Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion
- Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle
-Reuters
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A much-changed Liverpool were dumped out of the FA Cup by struggling second-tier side Plymouth Argyle, who pulled off a stunning 1-0 fourth-round win at Home Park on Sunday that put an end to the visitors’ hopes of a quadruple.
The hosts took the lead in the 53rd minute after they were awarded a penalty for a handball by midfielder Harvey Elliott and Ryan Hardie stepped up to send Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way.
Premier League leaders Liverpool were bereft of ideas and had just one shot on target in the opening half, with Plymouth keeper Conor Hazard making a diving save in the 36th minute to keep out James McConnell’s long-range shot.
Ahead of the Merseyside derby against Everton on Wednesday, Liverpool made wholesale changes with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Alexis Mac Allister among the big-names rested and left at home.
Liverpool, who were also forced into an early change when defender Joe Gomez went down injured, failed to create many chances in a scrappy encounter as Plymouth, who sit bottom of the second-tier Championship, gradually grew in confidence.
Arne Slot’s side switched gears after going down but Hazard proved to be the hero for Plymouth as the Northern Irishman brilliantly kept out Diogo Jota’s volley in added time, as well as a header from Darwin Nunez.
With Liverpool top of the Premier League, having strolled into the Champions League’s last 16 and reached the League Cup final, some fans and pundits had begun to speculate about a potential quadruple.
Plymouth’s remarkable victory, however, brought a shuddering halt to talk of clean sweep of silverware for Slot’s side, who had only lost three games all season, prior to Sunday.
Meanwhile, there was no surprise in the other FA Cup fourth-round tie with Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers beating second-tier Championship side Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park.
There was little to separate the two teams in the opening minutes before Wolves hit Blackburn with two rapid-fire goals through midfielder Joao Gomes in the 33rd minute and seconds later via forward Matheus Cunha.
Blackburn defender Dominic Hyam had the ball in the back of the net in the 19th minute, but his celebrations were cut short when the linesman’s flag went up for offside.
-Reuters
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