FA Cup
LATE GOALS SPARE MAN CITY A SHOCK FA CUP DEFEAT
Fourth-tier Cheltenham Town came within minutes of one of the great FA Cup shocks before Manchester City scored three late goals to win an absorbing fourth-round tie 3-1 on Saturday (Jan 23).
Alfie May looked poised to write his name into the competition’s folklore when he pounced to put his side ahead in the 59th minute at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.
Cheltenham, 72 places lower than City in the standings, were holding on and edging towards a fairytale win but reality returned when Phil Foden equalised in the 81st minute.
Three minutes later Gabriel Jesus put City in front and Ferran Torres added a cruel third with the last kick.
Some say the romance of the world’s oldest knockout competition has been diluted in recent times.
But this tie had everything apart from, sadly, a baying crowd because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There were incredible goalline clearances, near misses, throw-ins launched like grenades and even a five-minute delay in the first half as fireworks exploded above the stadium.
In the end it was a relieved Pep Guardiola whose side’s 10th successive win in all competitions set up a last-16 tie away to Championship high-flyers Swansea City.
“We came here with humility and had the quality to make the difference,” Guardiola said.
“They used their quality in the box, they are taller and better than us there and we showed clips on how to solve it. It is difficult to control that.”
For Cheltenham manager Michael Duff, it was a case of what might have been.
“I’m incredibly proud. The players they brought on from the bench and the way they celebrated the goals tells you something. They know they’ve been in a game. They’ve done that to better teams than us,” he said.
Guardiola made 10 changes to the side that beat Aston Villa in City’s last Premier League game but his starting side still looked fearsome with the likes of Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Benjamin Mendy and Fernandinho all included.
Jesus almost gave City the lead inside the opening minute when he tried to dink a shot over home keeper Josh Griffiths.
But Cheltenham were far from overwhelmed and posed plenty of problems at the other end with their direct style.
Home skipper Ben Tozer produced an incredible goalline clearance to somehow keep out Mendy’s thunderbolt while at the other end May forced a near-post save from City’s American reserve keeper Zack Steffen.
Foden wasted a good chance and Griffiths made good saves from Torres and Mahrez.
Tozer’s enormous throw-ins had unsettled City all night and when he launched another one into the mixer just before the hour mark it caused chaos and the ball squirmed through to May who prodded the ball high into the net.
It was the first goal City had conceded in around 500 minutes.
Foden, City’s outstanding player, rescued them with a controlled volley from substitute Joao Cancelo’s deep cross for his ninth goal of the season.
When Jesus finished from close range from Fernandinho’s delivery, Cheltenham’s gallant attempt was over.
-Reuters
Manchester City F.C. completed a domestic cup double on Saturday after a late strike from Antoine Semenyo secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea F.C. in the FA Cup Final.
The decisive moment arrived in the 72nd minute when the Ghana international produced a clever finish from close range, turning sharply before back-heeling the ball beyond Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez after an inviting cross from Erling Haaland.
Semenyo’s goal transformed what had been a tense and cautious contest into an entertaining finale as both sides pushed aggressively in search of goals during the closing stages.
City nearly doubled their advantage when Rayan Cherki forced an excellent save from Sánchez, while Matheus Nunes struck the post as Pep Guardiola’s side intensified the pressure.
Chelsea also searched desperately for an equaliser but were unable to break through City’s disciplined defence.
The triumph handed Manchester City their eighth FA Cup title and completed an impressive domestic cup double following their League Cup success earlier in March.
For Semenyo, the winning goal marked one of the biggest moments of his career, with the forward delivering when it mattered most on English football’s grandest domestic stage.
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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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