Barnsley v Cardiff City

                          West Bromwich v Portsmouth

I was hoping for a Tykes v Bluebirds final. Oh well, either one verses the Baggies will be a fantastic final. I would love to see a League Championship final at Wembley and any of those four clubs would be good to have as they all have played entertaining football so far in the tournament. Nothing against Pompey, they are a good side, but they have not played all that well in the competition and are lucky to be in the semi-finals.

There has been some complaining on the airwaves that there will be no interest by the public in seeing any of these clubs in the final. Last year’s final was BORING and it had Manchester United and Chelsea. If the two finalists play the entertaining game we’ve seen recently I’ll pony up the cash for the PPV.

My final pick………. Barnsley v West Brom.

It’s been a bit of a week and I’ve fallen way behind with all of the action. So I’ve bundled this exciting week together.

Champions League:

AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal- The Champions League holders came into the second leg in great position. They were returning home with a 0-0 aggrigate, and they usually play well at home in CL matches that matter. Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Addebayor scored late in a match that could have gone either way down to the very end to end the Italian side’s dreams of a repeat.

Barcelona 1-0 Celtic- The Spanish giants came home with a 3-2 aggrigate over the Scottish champions and even Gordon Strachan felt that his side had quite a hill to overcome to advance. Three minutes into the second leg Xavi popped in a Silvinho cross and put the match to bed early. The victory was costly for Barca as Lionel Messi was taken off in the 35th minute with a hamstring injury that will keep him out of action for awhile.

 Sevilla FC 3-2 Fenerbahce- I had a feeling that Fenerbahce were going to make the second leg interesting, but I wouldn’t have guessed how interesting it would be. Leading the aggregate 3-2 the Turkish club saw their hopes sink after 10 minutes when Sevilla snatched two quick goals from Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita. Fenerbahce drew the aggregate through Deivid’s twelve yard strike. Frederic Kanoute put the Spanish hosts ahead again just before the half with a deflected volley. Sevilla’s hopes of an outright victory died when Deivid scored off of his own rebound to tie the aggregate score at 5-5 in regulation. Volkan Demirel saved from Julien Escude, Ivica Dragutinovic and Dani Alves in the shootout to win (fittingly) 3-2 on penalties.

 Manchester United 1-0 Olympique Lyon- Cristiano Ronaldo scored a beauty from an Anderson rebound to send the English champions through to the quarter-finals. Lyon made them work for it as they had in France for the first leg. United were holding a 1-1 aggregate score and could have easily sat back for a goal-less draw, but they came out fired up and could have had a sizable lead by halftime. They were unable to find the net until the Portuguese winger found the mark in the 41st minute. Lyon tried to come back and could have knotted the score late as Kader Keita hit the post. Manchester United equaled Juventus’ 11 year old record for consecutive home wins in the Champions League with this result.

FC Porto 1-0 Schalke 04- Porto won the battle, but lost the war against visiting Schalke. The German club had a 1-0 lead on aggregate coming to Estadio do Dragao and looked set to advance until Lisandro Lopez scored in the 86th minute to send the Porto supporters into a frenzy. Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer made two huge saves in the shoot-out to see his side advance 4-1 on penalties.

Real Madrid 1-2 AS Roma- Real went down 2-1 in Rome in the first leg and faced an uphill battle to begin with at home. The task became massive when defender Pepe was sent off for his second bookable offense in the 71st minute. Two minutes later Roma made them pay with a header by Rodrigo Taddei. Raul tried to right the ship as he scored from Robinho’s through ball in the 75th, but it was Roma’s night as Mirko Vucinic’s diving header found it’s target in the dieing seconds of the match. I wonder how many away fans the Roman ultras will hospitalize in the quarter-finals? Rome’s finest don’t seem to care.

Chelsea 3-0 Olympiacos- The Blues cruised in this match with first half goals from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, and an early second half strike from Salomon Kalou. I had hoped for more from the Greek side as they had been gritty in the first leg in Athens. Sadly they never showed for the return leg in London. The Blues made it three of three for the Premiership so far with Liverpool in great shape to make it a foursome against Inter this week.

FA Cup:

Manchester United 0-1 Portsmouth- Sometimes the better side doesn’t win and sometimes the referee makes a game changing decision, but United need to suck it up and realize that whinging about it isn’t going to change things. The Red Devils had so many chances to score there just isn’t enough time to list them. They lacked the killer instinct that they have showed in recent weeks. Tomasz Kuszczak was harshly judged by Martin Atkinson when he was red carded for “bringing down” Milan Baros in the box. I saw the replay and he got the ball first, but Baros sold it and got the penalty. Rio Ferdinand pulled on the keeper’s jersey and stepped up for the penalty. He guessed right on the direction of Sulley Muntari’s shot he just couldn’t get to it. The Nigerian’s goal sends Pompey into the semi-finals.

BARNSLEY 1-0 CHELSEA!!!!!- The Tykes earned this victory over the Blues. Chelsea were without Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Paulo Ferreira and Ashley Cole, but with the star power that Avram Grant has at his disposal there are no excuses. Barnsley’s attack repeatedly exposed the Chelsea defense. If they’d have taken advantage of their breaks the score line would have been ugly for the Premiership side. Kayode Odejayi made history when Marciano van Homoet crossed it in and the Nigerian striker cut the ball off before it got to Carlo Cudicini and headed it into the net. Whoever gets the Tykes in the semi-finals will fall if Barnsley play like they have against Chelsea and Liverpool.

MIDDLESBROUGH 0-2 CARDIFF CITY!!!!!- Cardiff City always looked like the winner in this match and that was without the goals. Boro only had the Cup to play for, but they played like they weren’t that interested. Peter Whittingham got on the end of a ball that Middlesbrough couldn’t clear and with some fancy footwork he curled the ball into the top right hand side of the net in the 9th minute. Roger Johnson scored a fantastic header from a great Whittingham cross in the 23rd minute to finish the hosts off early. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink showed that he is not a player to ignore as he came frighteningly close a couple of times. So far the FA Cup final I’d love to see is Barnsley vs. Cardiff City. They have both proven against the big boys.

Bristol Rovers 1-5  West Bromwich Albion- This may have been the “least interesting” of the FA Cup matchups, but I don’t think so. The Rovers are the lowest ranked team left in the Cup so a Final appearance for them would be monumental. West Brom started the scoring early as  James Morrison sent a rebound into the roof of the net in the 17th minute. Ishmael Miller doubled the tally on the half hour mark as he got on the end of a long ball and sent the ball into the upper left of the goal. Bristol Rovers refused to cash it in as Danny Coles finished off a cross in the 31st minute to stay in the match. The Baggies ended the Rovers dream with two more goals from Miller and one from Kevin Phillips. So the semi-finals will be dominated by the League Championship with Portsmouth as the lone Premier League representative.

Premier League:

Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United- Liverpool took advantage of a reeling Newcastle and kept Kevin Keegan winless since his return Tyneside. If he doesn’t do something soon they will have to fight their way out of the relegation zone. Jermaine Pennant, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard all found the twine for the Reds in a match that the Geordies never really threatened in.

 Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 West Ham- Couldn’t pass this one up as the newly minted Carling Cup holders got back on track and dominated a feeble Hammers side. Dimitar Berbatov netted twice in the first 11 minutes to set the tone for the match. Gilberto scored his first for the Spurs and Darren Bent made a rare appearance on the score-sheet to round out the beating.

Wigan Athletic 0-0 Arsenal- Not an exciting match although it had it’s moments. The Gunners needed three points from this match and to drop two to Wigan leaves the door open for Manchester United who have a game in hand and should be a bit angry with the way they left the FA Cup this weekend. Wigan did a good job of containing Arsenal, but they just didn’t look like they had a plan for actually scoring against the league leaders.

The draw has been announced and the ties are going to be interesting:

Barnsley v. Chelsea

If the Tykes play with the passion that they showed against Liverpool they have a great chance against the holders. The element of surprise is gone however and Avram Grant will not want to go down the same road as Rafa Benitez. Chelsea have a cadre of better strikers and they have something the Reds didn’t, Michael Essien. When he sets his mind to taking over a match he’s a right terror. Barnsley do have something over the Blues though, they have absolutely NOTHING to lose in this match. no-one expects them to win, they shouldn’t have gotten this far, blah, blah, blah. The fact is that if they win they will go down in history as giant killers of the highest order, but if they don’t they’ve achieved more than they could have hoped already.

Barnsley have a back line that plays with reckless abandon, giving Luke Steele extra confidence in goal. Where they lack though is in the attack. There goals against Liverpool came from the defenders. That’s not a bad thing, but is brings into question their vulnerability to counter attack by a very quick Chelsea squad.

The Blues rested some of their top players against Huddersfield and they never really needed them. Grant won’t hesitate to bring them in for this game as they are the holder’s and can’t afford to crash out to a League One side.

Bristol Rovers v. West Brom

Bristol came out quickly against Southampton and they will need to repeat the feat when the Baggies come calling. West Brom showed an ability to score at Coventry City with five goals in the score column. Rovers will need to be tight defensively or stay home for the semis. West Brom didn’t outplay the Sky Blues in any aspect but the scoreline so they too will need to be vigilant. This match could send a League One side on so it holds the underdog interest for me.

Sheffield United/Middlesbrough v. Cardiff City

Hard to pick out the impact for this until the host side is settled. I think that Cardiff would beat Sheffield United but lose to Middlesbrough. Odd I know. However, there is a difference between the Riverside and Bramall Lane as we’ll see in the replay. Boro will play better at home and move on to host the Bluebirds. For their part Cardiff City have done well in the tournament so far, they just don’t have enough to beat Boro.

Manchester United v. Portsmouth

This match will be good. Pompey have shown an ability to beat the Red Devils, therefore they will not go into Old Trafford all nervy. BUT, if United comes out like they did against Arsenal and Portsmouth repeat their performance against Preston this match could get UGLY early. Sir Alex sat out some of his big timers against the Gunners. Don’t look for him to change things up too much for Harry and the lads. United will be ready for this tie and Rooney should give them fits from the start. I’m glad that Manchester United drew a Premiership club for this round so they won’t be looking past a team that could shock them. They will be concentrating on the task at hand when Portsmouth come to town so this should be a great game.

TYKES LIVE LARGE AT ANFIELD! I said when the draw came out that if Barnsley caught Liverpool just right they could surprise them and they did. Luke Steele kept the visitors in this match with some stellar keeping in the last 20 minutes of the game. He should be buying a few pints for the defenders that saved him a few times. Stephen Foster, Bobby Hassell and Robert Kuzluk threw themselves at anything that headed towards the net and were very frustrating for the Reds attack down the stretch.

Dirk Kuyt started the scoring with a 32nd minute goal and it looked like the rout might be on. Liverpool pushed constantly for the insurance goal, they just couldn’t find the solution to the Barnsley defense.  Foster tied the match early in the second half with a nice goal off of his noggin. Martin Devaney sent in a cross with very little space and found the defender for the goal. Rafa Benitez was forced to bring on Harry Kewell and Steven Gerrard to salvage the game, but even they couldn’t solve the riddle of Steele. It looked as though this one was headed for a replay until Brian Howard kept his head, created space for himself, then fired home the shot of the round as he sent Barnsley to the quarter-finals and Liverpool out of yet another competition. Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley!

Saints go marching home. Bristol Rovers have now beaten clubs in every division of English football from the Blue Square Premier to the Premier League. This was probably the easiest of the lot. The Rovers only faced one dangerous shot from Southampton all day and that one would only have counted on a rugby pitch. The only goal of the match was a snapshot of Soton’s day. Rickie Lambert’s free kick deflected off of Saint’s defender Jermaine Wright and into Kelvin Davis’ net. Southampton never really looked to threaten the League One side and deserved to hang their heads at the final whistle. Bristol Rovers 1-0 Southampton.

Lampard sinks Huddersfield at the Bridge. Avram Grant started a good side for this match with John Terry coming back from his broken foot. However, it was recent returnee Frank Lampard who welcomed himself back to the lineup with two goals and an assist. Huddersfield were scrappy and actually gave the Blues some concern at the half when they tied the score at 1-1. Chelsea showed that they are the FA Cup holders though in the second half with two scores and cruised into the quarters. Chelsea 3-1 Huddersfield.

Bluebirds nip Wolves early at Ninian Park. The Welsh contingent for the quarter-finals is ready to go, after their early goals by Peter Whittingham and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink made the rest of the game moot.  Wolverhampton did well when they played Cardiff City in Wales earlier in league play. They just didn’t have the same spark today. Cardiff City 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Baggies rock the Ricoh Arena. The Sky Blues beat Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup and Manchester United in the League Cup, both were away games for Coventry City. So hosting West Brom in the 5th round should have been easy….right? Apparently the Baggies didn’t get the memo. The stats were even in all aspects of the game, except one. Goals by Chris Brunt, Roman Bednar (2), Ishmael Miller and Zoltan Gera had the City faithful seeing blue in the end. Coventry City 0-5 West Brom.

Beating at Old Trafford! No one would have predicted that when the top two teams in the country got together on Saturday night that it would be such a lopsided affair. Arsenal had some injuries for this match, but the team that Arsene Wenger put on the pitch would be a starting lineup that many Premiership clubs would love to have.

The Red Devils out-shot the Gunners 5 to 1 and at times Jens Lehmann had to be wishing that he were riding the bench for this one. Arsenal were down 2-0 in the first 20 minutes and could have been up by more. Sir Alex Ferguson started Nani and Anderson in the midfield and was well rewarded. These two were involved in all four goals today. Speaking of involved, where has this Darren Fletcher been? Two goals by the Scotsman brings his season total to…two. Welcome back Fletch!

On the ugly side, Emmanuel Eboue was sent off very early in the second half with a bad challenge on Patrice Evra. Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher, De Silva Eduardo, Emmanuel Adebayor and Gilberto Silva all saw yellow cards in the second half.

Both clubs have big Champions League matches this week so thankfully there were no major injuries for either of them.

More matches Sunday and the draw for the next round is Monday so the fun continues.

I thought it might happen. Two Premiership teams getting put together was highly probable and is great news to lower level teams in their hopes to progress to the quarter-finals. But, Manchester United vs. Arsenal…this one’s going to be good. Yet another opportunity for the top two teams of this season to get another shot at each other. And neither of these teams is going to play their B squad for this match! Old Trafford should be raucous with the recent history between these two. There is a lot of respect for each other, but the competitiveness between them is razor sharp.

Middlesbrough will go to Bramall Lane to take on Sheffield United. I don’t think the Boro supporters will be bringing balloons to the match, do you? If the Blades come out as fired up as they did against Manchester City they’ll take another Premiership scalp.

Liverpool host Barnsley which should be easy for the Reds, but the Tykes could catch them just right and add to the Anfield woes this season.

Huddersfield will make the pilgrimage to Stamford Bridge to take their shot at Chelsea. Good luck! Drogba will be back and Anelka will be even more comfortable. I’d like to see the Terriers knock off the Blues, I just think they’ll need a miracle to do it.

Deepdale will be host to Portsmouth when they head to Lancashire to face Preston North End. The Lilywhites are struggling to stay in the Championship next season. So they have something to prove to themselves and their supporters. Milan Baros will be available for Portsmouth, their African contingent will be back and Pompey are still in the running for a UEFA Cup slot. So PNE will face a monumental task to move on.

The Saints should have a new manager when they head to Bristol so there’s no telling how they might play. I would love to see Southampton in the finals. They haven’t been the same since Matt Le Tissier graced the Dell. Sorry Rovers, but the Saints will go marching through.

Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion may be at opposite ends of the Championship, the Cup is a different game though.

Finally, Cardiff City will play host to Wolverhampton. The Bluebirds and Wolves are as evenly matched as the Red Devils and Gunners so this match should be quite good.

They work full time jobs, practice a couple of times a week and dream as big as anyone. Chasetown FC is the lowest rated team to reach the 3rd round of the competition and this Saturday they will host League Championship side Cardiff City at The Scholars Ground. I love underdog stories like this. On Monday the Chasetown players will go back to their day jobs and how great would it be to have a tale of victory for them to enthrall their co-workers? These guys don’t play for big money contracts or television endorsements. They play because they love the game.

Manager Charlie Blakemore took the lads to the Wolverhampton Wanderers training facilities to ready them for the game. His enthusiasm for his players and how far they’ve come was great to see. If they lose to City there won’t be any whinging from Blakemore, he’s excited to have his team here. “I have been watching the FA Cup since I was a little kid,” he told PA Sport. “There’s a magic about it. I remember watching Hereford beating Newcastle when Ronnie Radford scored that goal. I think ‘crikey, I wonder in years to come whether people will remember Chasetown doing the same thing’.” Good luck Scholars!

It’s not as big of a mismatch, but The Potters will host Newcastle United at Britannia Stadium on Sunday. Even with the backing of the big boss a loss to the League Championship side would probably be the end of Sam Allardyce’s reign Tyneside. This isn’t just another game in the greatest tournament in football, it could be the keystone match of the season for the Geordies.

The Hatters will host Liverpool Sunday and it could be their last at Kenilworth Road. If they don’t find a buyer by Monday they will go into receivership. Their players have not been paid and many could be gone before the end of the month. This game is an opportunity for Town to keep things together for a little longer. Sadly I don’t think it is going to happen. Rafa Benitez can’t afford to get bounced by Luton. The ice is getting a bit thin for the Spaniard so charity is not in the cards.

There are a few chances for upsets this weekend, there always are. But, that’s what makes this the best cup tournament in the world.