FA Cup Round-up: Sat 24th Jan

Tommy Platinum · 01-24-2009, 04:45 PM

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FA Cup round-up

Swansea City cast themselves as the FA Cup's fourth round giant-killers as they returned from Portsmouth with a scalp, while Kettering Town were hugely unfortunate as they suffered late heartache against Fulham.

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Doncaster Rovers were resilient as they held high-flying Aston Villa to a goalless draw at the Keepmoat Stadium, while Burnley left it late to earn a replay at West Brom.

Elsewhere it was a case of Premier League progression as Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Hull City and all won through to the fifth round.

FA Cup holders Portsmouth's struggles continued at Fratton Park as first half goals from Nathan Dyer and a penalty from Jason Scotland, who has now scored eight times in his last eight games, secured an impressive 2-0 win on the South Coast.

Tony Adams' side looked to respond in the second half but had no answer to Roberto Martinez's stylish Swans.

Kettering Town were excellent at home to Premier League Fulham but ultimately had their resolve for a replay ended by a late rally from Roy Hodgson's side.

Simon Davies' fine 12th minute volley for Fulham tempered expectations, but by half-time Conference club Kettering were dreaming of the fifth round as Craig Westcarr's deflected free-kick restored parity.

Danny Murphy restored Fulham's advantage in the 77th minute before Westcarr must have thought he'd stolen the headlines with a second leveller from the penalty spot.

Class eventually prevailed though as goals from Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora in the last two minutes secured a 4-2 victory.

Hull City paraded new boy Jimmy Bullard before their game against Millwall and an excellent day for Phil Brown's side was concluded with a 2-0 win, secured by Michael Turner's header from Andy Dawson's pinpoint delivery and Ian Ashbee's fine strike from range.

Chelsea had to fight hard at Stamford Bridge but ultimately did enough to beat Ipswich 3-1 in the capital. Luiz Scolari's side looked in complete control when Michael Ballack converted Ashley Cole's ball into his path in the 18th minute, but Ipswich fought back manfully as Alex Bruce lashed home at the far post when left unattended before half-time.

It was left then to Ballack to silence the Chelsea sceptics when he bent home a fine free-kick, before Frank Lampard's effort eased the Blues home.

At Molineux, Afonso Alves gave Middlesbrough a half-time lead courtesy of a cool finish but Wolves drew level at the break as Sam Vokes struck to restore parity. An evenly fought contest was decided late on when the previously peripheral Marvin Emnes netted a winner.

An entertaining game ensued at The Hawthorns as Burnley secured a replay thanks to Martin Paterson's last minute leveller.

A Graham Alexander penalty put Owen Coyle's Clarets into the lead but West Brom were ahead by the break as Robert Koren's volley and Do-Heon Kim's deflected free-kick did the damage. All looked lost for Burnley but in the game's dying embers Paterson struck from close range.

Sunderland and Blackburn could not be separated in a 0-0 stalemate at the Stadium of Light.

An all Championship affair at Bramall Lane went the way of Sheffield United as they saw off Charlton 2-1, while Watford chalked up a pulsating 4-3 victory over Crystal Palace at Vicarage Road.

Fellow Championship side Coventry would have been content enough to take a replay from their trip to Torquay, as the home side had a number of chances to convert a goalless stalemate into a scalp, but did one better than that as Elliot Ward struck late on for Chris Coleman's side.

Saturday's action kicked-off at Victoria Park as West Ham successfully negotiated a potential banana skin to beat Hartlepool 2-0.

A Valon Behrami low drive from just inside the box was followed by a controversial Mark Noble penalty, within a space of a minute, on the stroke of half-time.

Late Kick-off:

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Berbatov strike sinks Spurs

Former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov netted against his old side to send Man United through to the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Saturday.

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Roman Pavlyuchenko put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute with a glancing header from a Tom Huddlestone cross.

But Paul Scholes got the equaliser for the Red Devils after 35 minutes when his long range effort was deflected by Huddlestone into his own goal.

Berbatov then got the winner a minute later with a pin-point strike after being picked out by an exquisite pass by Michael Carrick, himself a former Spurs player.

Despite having 10 senior players missing, United remain on track for an unprecedented quadruple after this victory, although for Tottenham the true test of the week will come against Stoke on Tuesday while Sir Alex Ferguson's team tackle West Brom.

Youngsters Fabio, on his debut, and Danny Welbeck both impressed, while Carlos Tevez buzzed about in his usual enthusiastic style and Berbatov, so hated by the visiting fans, seemed to have all the time in the world.
Deft header

Still, when Nemanja Vidic got himself in a muddle and allowed Pavlyuchenko to give him the slip and turn home a deft header, United must have been slightly concerned.

The trouble for Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was his side still had 85 minutes to hold out, although having survived a quarter-final pummelling to emerge victorious with eventual tournament winners Portsmouth on the same ground last term, he knew it could be done.

But as the chances piled up, it was beyond imagination that Tottenham could survive. How cruel, though, that one of their old boys should wreak the havoc.

Michal Carrick's move north from White Hart Lane created none of the animosity Berbatov's did. But in the same quiet way, Carrick has gone on to become one of the most influential members of Ferguson's squad.

When he spotted Scholes lurking with menace on the edge of the box, he coolly rolled a corner into the veteran's path. The shot was pretty fierce and once it had flicked off Huddlestone, Ben Alnwick did not have a hope of keeping it out.

A minute later Carrick floated a pass over the Spurs defence. Berbatov's first-time control was awesome and his second touch was a precise shot into the bottom corner that again left Alnwick flailing.

Transformed

In the blink of an eye, or two Carrick passes, the tie had been transformed.

Not though United's injury woes as Fabio collapsed in agony in the early moments of the second period after he had landed awkwardly following an aerial duel with Spurs substitute Giovani dos Santos.

The young Brazilian hobbled off, almost certainly making it an entire team Ferguson will be missing at West Brom on Tuesday.

Fabio was replaced by Richard Eckersley, while United's next substitution heralded the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo, who headed straight for the dressing room after wishing Zoran Tosic the best of luck on his debut.

At the same time, Redknapp replaced David Bentley with Jermain Defoe.

Welbeck then joined United's walking wounded late on and a late penalty shout was the best Spurs could muster.

-skysports.com

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I was at our game today. I thought Spurs were pretty poor but I was certainly worried when we went 1-0 down before I had even taken my seat. The second goal coming so soon after the (admittedly fortunate) equaliser pretty much ruined the match from a neutral's perspective. Great to see Berbatov continuing to prove his worth in the famous red shirt. He was always going to score against Spurs. Tosic and Fabio, two players I have not seen much of to date, looked good, and I thought we were pretty good in general, if unspectacular.

God · 01-24-2009, 04:50 PM

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Great to see Berbatov continuing to prove his worth

When did he start? He does probably the least amount of work of the entire starting 11.

Tommy Platinum · 01-24-2009, 04:57 PM

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Originally Posted by Papa Smurf
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When did he start? He does probably the least amount of work of the entire starting 11.

Yeah but he's a touch of class and is scoring crucial goals and providing crucial assists. He actually worked quite hard today too.

The Phantom · 01-24-2009, 05:58 PM

I expected the Jacks to win in Portsmouth today. They've been on a good run lately, and have been playing well. Hopefully Cardiff can win tomorrow and fly the flag for Wales (although I highly doubt it).

A Good win for United, wasn't pretty, but it was job done. Assuming Villa get through their replay, I fully expect us to draw them. We always get them at some stage!!

King Steventon · 01-24-2009, 06:04 PM

fucking lol'd at Spurs's terrible performance today. Don't know how the awful ITV commentators came to the conclusion that it was close at the end when Spurs were all over the place and Tehran couldn't keep hold of the ball to save his life.

Tommy Platinum · 01-24-2009, 06:34 PM

Yeah Spurs were terrible after they scored. They only needed a goal to force a replay at White Hart Lane but they didn't show any signs of getting one. I thought we were in for a fight but I was amazed how easy the second half seemed.

FA Cup Round-up: Sat 24th Jan

This is a discussion on FA Cup Round-up: Sat 24th Jan within the European Sports forums, part of the Sports Forums category; FA Cup round-up Swansea City cast themselves as the FA Cup's fourth round giant-killers as they returned from Portsmouth with ...