Showing posts with label Fa Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fa Cup. Show all posts

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Fa Cup Results

Holders Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round with a 2-0 victory at Preston North End on Saturday while Jermaine Beckford's last-gasp penalty earned Leeds United a 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur.
Burnley were the day's Premier League fall guys, losing 1-0 to Championship (second division) Reading while Wigan Athletic escaped humiliation by the skin of their teeth, drawing 2-2 at League Two (fourth tier) Notts County after trailing 2-0.
Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers needed a late equaliser to draw 2-2 at home to Championship side Crystal Palace and Fulham had some tricky moments before winning 3-1 at the lowest-placed survivors Accrington Stanley.
League Cup finalists Aston Villa had to work hard to advance with a 3-2 defeat of third-tier Brighton & Hove Albion at Villa Park while Birmingham City stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 with an impressive 2-1 win at Everton.
In another all top-flight clash hard-up Portsmouth guaranteed some welcome income with a 2-1 home win over Sunderland.
Five-times winners Chelsea took the lead when Nicolas Anelka shot powerfully past goalkeeper Andy Lonergan in the 36th minute before doubling their advantage when Daniel Sturridge finished from close range two minutes after the restart.
OPEN GOAL
Championship side Preston, managed by Darren Ferguson, son of Manchester United boss Alex, missed a gilt-edged chance when Darren Carter shot over an open goal in the first half.
"We found it hard in the first half but that's what the FA Cup is all about," Chelsea captain John Terry told ITV. "It has been an amazing day. When you come to grounds like this it's what the Cup is all about, smaller clubs giving their all."
Leeds brought a noisy travelling army of fans to White Hart Lane as the once-mighty Yorkshire side who now play in the third tier of English football attempted to shock eight-times Cup winners Tottenham as they had done 11-times winners Manchester United in the third round.

It looked as though substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko's 75th minute goal had won an exciting tie for Tottenham but Beckford tumbled over the outstretched leg of Michael Dawson in the fifth minute of stoppage time and then showed nerves of steel to send his penalty high into the net past Heurelho Gomes.

Beckford's scrambled effort just after the break had brought Leeds level after Peter Crouch had given Tottenham a halftime lead despite a missed penalty by Jermain Defoe.
"It could have been a penalty, it was a tight one and I certainly wouldn't question the referee," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp told reporters.
"We should have been able to see the game out. We had the game in the bag and it's disappointing."
Leeds manager Simon Grayson praised Beckford who recently withdrew a transfer request. "It took an eternity for the referee to give the penalty and then there was a pause before he took it so he showed good mental strength to score it.
"It just shows what confidence he has in his own ability," Grayson said, adding that only a "silly money" offer would tempt Leeds to sell their top striker in the transfer window.
Championship strugglers Reading did manage a repeat performance. After beating Liverpool in a replay at Anfield in the previous round, an 88th-minute goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson dumped Burnley out of the competition.
Two sides battling for promotion back to the Premier League met at the Hawthorns where West Bromwich Albion beat Championship leaders Newcastle United 4-2.
After two successive Premier League defeats by Arsenal, Owen Coyle enjoyed his first victory as Bolton Wanderers manager when his side beat Championship team Sheffield United 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium.

Beckford keeps Leeds Cup dreams alive

Beckford added the spot-kick to the equaliser he had got early in the second half to cancel out Peter Crouch's opener. Roman Pavlyuchenko came off the bench to fire Spurs back in front but Beckford drew a foul from Michael Dawson in the sixth minute of stoppage time to win a dramatic late penalty.
Beckford, who scored the winner against Manchester United in the last round, held his nerve in front of the travelling Leeds supporters to fire the spot-kick into the top corner and book a replay at Elland Road.
Both sides had been on disappointing runs since their respective third round wins at the start of January. Leeds had not won a match since their famous victory at Old Trafford, while Spurs followed a 0-0 home draw with Hull by losing at Liverpool in midweek.
The visitors weathered the early Spurs storm, and it was not until the 42nd minute that the home side made their breakthrough. Gareth Bale beat Jason Crowe down the left wing and cannily pulled a pass back to Niko Kranjcar on the edge of the box. The Croatian's shot was saved by the foot of Leeds keeper Casper Ankergrem, but Crouch was on hand to fire home from close range.
Tottenham fielded an attacking line-up, with a midfield featuring Kranjcar, Luka Modric and former Leeds trainee Danny Rose, who was handed a first Tottenham start against his former club.
The 19-year-old made his presence felt after just eight minutes when Michael Doyle upended him inside the Leeds box and referee Alan Wiley pointed to the spot. Jermain Defoe, who missed a stoppage time penalty against Everton last month, saw his tame spot-kick saved by the impressive Ankergrem.

Defoe should have had the chance to atone for that miss midway through the half when he was brought down by Crowe as he lined up a strike, but this time the referee waved play on despite the defender not getting a touch on the ball.
Leeds began to grow in confidence as the half wore on, and Beckford had two good opportunities to once again shock Premier League opposition. The striker fired one low shot wide of the far post before drawing a decent save from Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.
However, Beckford was not to be denied his headlines, and on 52 minutes he was in the right place at the right time to score from close range after Leigh Bromby had knocked Robert Snodgrass's corner into the Spurs six-yard box.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp threw the dice, first adding steel to his midfield by replacing Rose with Wilson Palacios before bringing on strike duo Robbie Keane and Pavlyuchenko.
The Russian, widely expected to be on his way out of White Hart Lane after falling out with Redknapp, took less than five minutes to put Spurs ahead again. He dummied over Bale's pass and Defoe played the ball back into his path for him to lift a neat finish over Ankergrem to restore Spurs' lead with 15 minutes remaining.
However, Leeds showed all of their fighting spirit to rally late on and, after Dawson had already made one inch-perfect tackle on Beckford in the box, the Spurs captain slid in to make another challenge on the striker that referee Wiley deemed a foul.
Beckford made no mistake from the spot, hitting the top corner to register his 22nd goal of the season and keep his side's Cup dreams alive.