English FA Cup 5th Round Review
Published 2/19/2007 8:57:51 AM by Staff from PremierLeague.com
Manchester United 1 Reading 1
Manchester United and Reading bosses Sir Alex Ferguson and Steve Coppell defended their squad rotation policies after seeing their sides play out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fifth round.
Ferguson insisted his team selection was right even though, in addition to suspended striker Wayne Rooney, he left out a host of key men including Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand, while Henrik Larsson and Paul Scholes were only introduced late on once Brynjar Gunnarsson had levelled Michael Carrick's first-half opener.
Louis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo and Park Ji-Sung all missed good chances, while stand-in Reading keeper Adam Federici - one of seven changes in Coppell's line-up - denied Ronaldo and Larsson with brilliant late saves.
"We have not got a big backlog of fixtures and we have got a terrific squad. We rested six players today and those who came in have all proved their worth," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "I thought it was a good team performance, we played some fantastic football at times, and it was a fantastic cup tie."
Having switched to a 5-4-1 formation and included several fringe players plus long-term injury victims Dave Kitson and Bobby Convey, Royals boss Coppell was far more forceful in backing the men who have taken the Berkshire outfit to the brink of their first quarter-final appearance since 1927.
"I cannot quite understand why people were questioning my team selection," said the former Manchester United FA Cup winner. "These are the same lads I played in the previous round and included five internationals and someone - Adam Federici - who will probably be Australia's next goalkeeper. "I think it was disrespectful to question their ranking within my squad."
Watford 1 Ipswich 0
Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd admitted Damien Francis' late winner for the Hornets had been harsh on Coca-Cola Championship side Ipswich Town.
Francis struck with just three minutes remaining to give Watford a 1-0 win on a day that also saw Danny Haynes have a goal ruled out for offside with the score at 0-0.
Boothroyd said: "I won't sit here and say we were great because we weren't. Ipswich were the better side for 85 minutes - which is a bit of a problem when you play for 90.
"I feel for Ipswich in many ways but we know what that's like. Numerous Premiership managers have said that to me. We took our chance at the end, we are in the next round and that's what counts."
Chelsea 4 Norwich City 0
Jose Mourinho watched his Chelsea side complete an ultimately comfortable 4-0 win over Norwich City - but still blasted the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch.
The match was the last before the relaying of the playing surface, despite a performance that was sparked by a goal from Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 38th minute. Didier Drogba added the second six minutes after the break with his 26th of the season and two goals in stoppage time from substitutes Michael Essien and Andriy Shevchenko completed the rout.
"This was the last game for this pitch," said Mourinho. "(Sunday) it is taken up. I hope the next pitch is better for the game against Porto. The competition needs a proper pitch. We want a good pitch from now until the end of the season.
"We are disappointed with the pitch and I told people one or two months ago that the pitch was very bad. I have other things to do but if they need any help I am ready for it because we are desperate to get rid of this pitch."
Middlesbrough 2 West Brom 2
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate admitted West Bromwich Albion had been good value for their 2-2 draw at the Riverside Stadium, but warned his side would be ready for their third successive replay in this season's competition.
Julio Arca and Ayegbeni Yakubu - with a penalty - twice fired the Teessiders in front only for Diomansy Kamara and Kevin Phillips to earn the Baggies a second chance.
He said: "West Brom are a team that is playing with a lot of confidence. They have good pace up front and they posed us some difficult questions.
"Credit to them, they played very well. They had nothing to lose in coming here. Expectation was for us to take off from the other night (Tuesday's penalty shoot- out win over Bristol City), and it did not quite happen for us. "We have had plenty of replays, so I suppose the chairman should be happy. But we need to get through to keep him really happy. The important thing for us to remember is we are still in it."
Blackburn 0 Arsenal 0
Mark Hughes praised his Blackburn Rovers side after they held Arsenal to a goalless draw, in the process becoming the first visiting team to keep a clean sheet at the Emirates Stadium in domestic competition.
Brad Friedel made a stunning double save from Thierry Henry and Justin Hoyte in the last three minutes after Arsenal were denied a penalty when Jeremie Aliadiere went down under Stephen Warnock's challenge.
Hughes said: "I thought our performance merited a good deal of credit. We had six or seven senior players out injured or rested and the last time we came here we lost 6-2.
"We certainly didn't want that happening again and we did well to restrict a very good Arsenal side to just a few chances. Brad Friedel made some terrific saves at the end but for the most part he was not very busy. "We have had nine of our last 11 games away from home and have done really well. It is another game now but we are glad to still be in the hat."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: "I am still confident we can qualify for the quarter-finals. "Blackburn defended with great heart - too much some times but it is not necessarily more difficult for us to qualify away from home. We should have won, of course, but we were too slow to start and missed our opportunities at the end. Their goalkeeper made two or three very good saves."
Tottenham 4 Fulham 0
Two stunning volleys from Robbie Keane helped Tottenham Hotspur into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a comprehansive 4-0 win over luckless Fulham.
Keane struck early on to stun Chris Coleman's side, then doubled the lead with 22 minutes remaining, profiting both times from flick-ons by strike partner Mido.
Dimitar Berbatov sealed Spurs’ first win at Craven Cottage for nearly five years with two late strikes. Fulham’s misery was compounded in stoppage-time when substitute Vincenzo Montella was dismissed for a clash with Keane. The match had all the intensity expected of a London derby, but it had not established a pattern when Spurs stormed ahead in the sixth minute.
Keane’s first was route-one simplicity. There was a hint of offside when Paul Robinson punted the ball out of defence and Mido flicked on, but the Ireland international timed his own run to perfection and raced beyond Zat Knight to smash his volley beyond Jan Lastuvka.
His second was almost a carbon copy, sending the vociferous away support into raptures. Berbatov had started the match on the bench but was brought on in the 73rd minute to immediate effect. Five minutes later he was on the score sheet, firing against the post before slotting in the rebound. The Bulgaria striker then lobbed in with a minute remaining after Keane had flicked the ball through to him.
Manchester City 3 Preston North End 1
Earlier in the day Stuart Pearce saw his Manchester City side stage a rousing comeback against Preston North End to book their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win at Deepdale.
Michael Ball's first goal for the club, Georgios Samaras' deflected shot and Stephen Ireland's stunning volley sealed an emphatic victory.
Yet City boss Pearce must have feared the worst when David Nugent opened the scoring for the Coca-Cola Championship side. The goal came when Michael Ricketts rose to meet Danny Pugh's well-worked corner. His header was superbly parried by Nicky Weaver but Nugent reacted fastest to score his 17th goal of the domestic season.
City drew level in the 34th minute with Ball’s first goal since his arrival from PSV Eindhoven in the January transfer window. Hatem Trabelsi began the move by picking out Bernardo Corradi who turned quickly only to see his sizzling shot come back off the post. Ball rattled in the rebound via both goalposts.
City pressed on and went ahead in the 84th minute when a shot from Samaras took a double deflection to leave Lonergan stranded, the final touch coming off left-back Matt Hill.
Ireland wrapped the game up in stoppage time with a stunning volley from the edge of the area after Corradi's earlier volley had been blocked by the luckless Preston defence.
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