Chelsea recovered from conceding the quickest goal in the 128-year history of the FA Cup final to overcome Everton 2-1, strikes from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard earning a fifth success for the London club.
The final has not seen a major upset since 1995, when Everton beat Manchester United 1-0 to claim their last piece of silverware, but the possibility of an upset improved greatly when Louis Saha scored after just 25 seconds at Wembley. Chelsea, under Guus Hiddink for the last time before he returns to his role as Russia coach, battled back, though, and claimed the trophy for the second time in three years with a goal in either half.
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FA Cup Final Tickets - Buy Everton v Chelsea FA Cup Final Tickets
If the FA Cup really is the epitome of footballing romance then Everton captain Phil Neville will climb the steps under the Wembley arch on May 30 and collect football’s most famous domestic trophy.
Nothing against Chelsea. You have to respect their power and organisation and the splendid job done by Guus Hiddink since he took over from Luiz Felipe Scolari, even if the lingering fallout from their Champions League exit against Barcelona earlier this month still leaves a bitter taste.
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Tim Howard saved two spot-kicks as Everton ended Manchester United’s hopes of a quintuple of trophies, winning 4-2 on penalties after a goalless two hours at Wembley to reach their first FA Cup final since overcoming the Red Devils in the 1995 showpiece.
Tim Cahill missed first for Everton before Howard saved Dimitar Berbatov’s effort. The U.S. goalkeeper then did likewise from Rio Ferdinand, after Leighton Baines had scored, and both sides converted their subsequent kicks to leave Phil Jagielka with the honour of deciding the tie in favour of the Merseysiders.
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Didier Drogba’s strike six minutes from time earned Chelsea a 2-1 victory against London rivals Arsenal in the first FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and ended the Gunners’ hopes of a first domestic trophy since 2005.
Having prevented Arsenal from falling behind early on when he raced back to clear Drogba’s goal-bound header, Kieran Gibbs teed up the opener for Theo Walcott on 18 minutes, floating a ball to the far post for the England striker to place a side-foot volley across Petr Čech. Chelsea had played their part in an open contest, though, and equalised a quarter of an hour later when Florent Malouda collected Frank Lampard’s raking crossfield pass, cut inside Emmanuel Eboué and beat Łukasz Fabiański at his near post. The pace was unrelenting and moments later Nicolas Anelka capitalised on Abou Diaby’s hesitancy and curled a shot against the post.
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Arsenal came from behind to beat Hull City 2-1 at the Emirates and book an FA Cup semi-final date with Chelsea at Wembley. - Buy Arsenal – Chelsea Tickets
Furious Hull manager Phil Brown launched a blistering attack on referee Mike Riley as he claimed that Hull were robbed of their Wembley dream. The Tigers boss was livid after William Gallas headed an 84th-minute winner from a clearly offside position.
Yet linesman Andy Garratt, who had earlier ruled out a Nick Barmby effort for a much more marginal decision, kept his flag down.
Brown fumed:
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Manchester United will face Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals next month. The other last-four tie will see Chelsea take on the winners of the one remaining quarter-final, Arsenal v Hull. Both games will take place at Wembley, one on April 18 and the other the following day.
The United-Everton tie will be a repeat of the 1995 final in which the Toffees recorded a shock 1-0 win thanks to a Paul Rideout goal. However, they have beaten United just once since that game 14 years ago. - Buy Manchester United – Everton Tickets
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FA Cup Semi Final Tickets
April 19 Manchester United v Everton - Buy Manchester United – Everton Tickets
Manchester United kept up their bid to claim all the major prizes this season by crushing Fulham 4-0 at Craven Cottage to march into the FA Cup semi-finals.
The sixth-round trip to London looked like a tricky assignment for Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering side. But they simply brushed the Cottagers aside with a supremely dominant display.
After an even opening spell United went ahead on 20 minutes when Carlos Tevez headed home at the back post from a corner. And 15 minutes later the Argentine doubled both his tally and United’s lead with a superb 25-yarder into the top corner of Mark Schwarzer’s net.
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This weekend is the quarter finals of the FA Cup. The four big guns all avoided each other in the draw and should all proceed to the semi-finals. Here is a preview of this weekends games.
Coventry v Chelsea
I am a long-time Coventry City fan, and when the draw was made I thought that the Sky Blues might be able to pull the upset on a Chelsea team that was not playing well.
Well all that has changed. Guus Hiddink has revitalised Chelsea and striker Didier Drogba in particular. Drogba is looking like one of the bets strikers in the Premier League again and I think that Chelsea will have too much for the Coventry.
Predictions:: 0-2
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Everton knocked Liverpool out of the F.A. Cup on Wednesday 1-0 as midfielder Dan Gosling produced something special late into extra time. The 19-year-old from Plymouth, in only his fifth appearance for the club, scored in the 118th minute to finally break the spirit of 10-man Liverpool.
On Monday Liverpool sold forward Robbie Keane back to Spurs basically because Benitez had not wanted him in the first place. The move left Liverpool short of goal scorers and the karma gods must have been smiling when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard limped off after only 16 minutes holding his hamstring.
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The FA Cup on Saturday was not a happy day for the billionaires from Manchester City and Chelsea. First, former European Champions Nottingham Forest spanked the moneybags from the blue side of Manchester 3-0. Before the game City paraded their new signing Wayne Bridge.
City are out of the cup and two points above the drop-zone, which is not what the Abu Dhabi United Group expected when they bought the club in August. You have to wonder how much longer they will give Mark Hughes to turn City’s fortunes around?
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