FA Cup
Football’s greatest comebacks, featuring Liverpool, Barcelona and Camp Nou in 1999
When players are being taught the basics of the game as youngsters, one of the key messages is to play until the final whistle. That point certainly rings true at professional level, with fans taking a dim view of teams who throw in the towel too early. One of the most thrilling aspects of football is when a team recovers from an impossible position to win a game. With that in mind, we take a look at ten of the best-ever comebacks. Manchester United vs Bayern Munich – Champions League – 1999 Recovering from one goal down is common in football, but the manner of United’s comeback in the 1999 Champions League Final was extraordinary. Bayern took an early lead through Mario Basler and looked on course to lift the prestigious trophy as the game headed into stoppage time. However, goals by Tedd...
FA Cup semifinal draw: Man City and Chelsea to face off
From 736 entrants overall, just four now remain in this season’s FA Cup. The path to domestic glory in the world’s oldest cup competition became clearer over the weekend as eight became four. Southampton and Manchester City secured their place in the Semi-finals on Saturday, while Chelsea and Leicester City completed the set with victories on Sunday. At half-time in Leicester’s victory over Manchester United, the draw for the penultimate round was made. 2020-21 FA Cup Semi-final draw Leicester City (Last Semi appearance in 1982 at the Old Wembley) Vs. Southampton (First FA Cup Semi-final appearance since 2018) Chelsea (2019-20 runners-up) Vs. Manchester City (Second FA Cup Semi-final running) To be played on the weekend of 17th/18th April 2021 – The date of each individual g...
‘Outstanding’, ‘True potential’: Some Leicester fans react to 24-year-old’s display vs Man United
Some Leicester City were delighted with the display of Kelechi Iheanacho during yesterday’s 3-1 triumph over Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-final. The Nigeria international has been in peak form since becoming a regular starter alongside Jamie Vardy last month and he scored twice against the Red Devils. The 24-year-old took advantage of Fred’s poor backpass to goalkeeper Dean Henderson to open the scoring midway through the opening half. United levelled the scores through Mason Greenwood before the interval, but the Foxes stepped up and dominated the proceedings after the break. Youri Tielemans continued his fine campaign with a superb 30-yard run, bypassing several opposition players before firing his shot past Henderson. Vardy thereafter missed an easy chance to make it 3-1. Ihe...
‘A liability’, ‘Very poor’: Some Man United fans react to 28-year-old’s display vs Leicester City
Some Manchester United fans were angry and disappointed with the performance of Fred after they were eliminated in the FA Cup quarter-final by Leicester City on Sunday. The Brazilian has been a regular in the centre of the park alongside Scott McTominay this term, but he had a poor showing against the Foxes yesterday. The 28-year-old gifted the Foxes with the opening goal in the 24th minute as his weak backpass for Dean Henderson was intercepted by Kelechi Iheanacho to score an easy goal. The Red Devils went into the half-time interval at 1-1 after a Mason Greenwood equaliser, but the Foxes took the lead moments after the restart. Youri Tielemans scored after a stunning 30 yard run and both Fred and Nemanja Matic could not stop him in his stride as he slotted the ball past the goalkeeper. ...
Joao Virginia posts message on Instagram after Everton defeat vs Man City
Everton lost 2-0 against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final at Goodison Park on Saturday. Late goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne broke Everton’s resistance and kept their hopes alive for a historic quadruple. Toffees’ goalkeeper Joao Virginia took to social networking site Instagram to send a message to Everton fans. The 21-year-old, who made his first senior appearance against Burnley after Jordan Pickford got injured, started the match against Pep Guardiola’s side. The young goalkeeper was simply superb during the game, making some brilliant saves. In the second half, he scrambled down to tip a Raheem Sterling effort around his left post. Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for the youngster after the game. The Italian said that he had no doubt over Virginia...
Ancelotti confirms five Everton players out of Man City clash, 26-year-old available to play
Everton will take on Manchester City in the FA Cup sixth-round clash at Goodison Park on Saturday. Ahead of the match, Carlo Ancelotti has given the latest team news update, and Everton fans won’t be too happy about it. Jordan Pickford is injured and he is out of tomorrow’s game. He hasn’t been picked for the England national team squad as well. Second-choice goalkeeper Robin Olsen is also out injured for this game. In his absence, Joao Virginia, 21, is expected to start. Olsen out of tomorrow’s game. Gbamin will train with the team next week. James too — Patrick Boyland (@Paddy_Boyland) March 19, 2021 Everton fans will be relieved to see that Jean-Philippe Gbamin has finally returned to training after a long injury lay-off, but he won’t feature against City. The 25-year-old def...
Can Everton take advantage of Pep’s rotation and beat Man City this weekend?
Manchester City travel to Merseyside this weekend to take on Everton at Goodison Park with a place in the FA Cup semi-finals up for grabs. This tie comes just a month after the two sides last met in the Premier League, a comfortable 3-1 away win by a rampant City side in the midst of their record-breaking winning run broken recently by rivals Manchester United. Everton The Toffees come into the clash as underdogs having lost their last two Premier League games in succession to on Chelsea (2-0) and Burnley (2-1) respectively, and haven’t beaten City in any competition since January 2017. An unexpected win for Carlo Ancelotti’s side would mean qualification for a first FA Cup Semi-final and a first trip to Wembley since 2016 – excluding when Tottenham Hotspur used the national stadium as the...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no sympathy with David Moyes for Manchester United failure
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not sympathise with former Manchester United manager David Moyes for his short tenure at Old Trafford. Moyes was sacked just 10-months after replacing Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary Scot who identified him as the club’s next manager. The 57-year-old is now leading West Ham in an impressive charge for the European places, after spells at Real Sociedad and Sunderland. Moyes’s West Ham side travel to Old Trafford on Sunday evening, and would go within three points of Solskjaer’s Reds with victory. Solskjaer praised Moyes for his turnaround in East London but refused to have sympathy for the manner in which he lost a ‘dream job’. “I don’t think you can feel sorry for someone who has managed Manchester United,” he said in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by ...
Manchester City in bizarre spat with Opta
Manchester City are in another battle with stats boffins Opta over Pep Guardiola’s managerial record. But Opta acknowledged Saturday’s 2-1 win over West Ham as the moment Pep reached his double ton. The Athletic report that City officials made the case in a meeting with Opta. The report adds that games that are decided on penalties are what’s causing the stats imbalance. Opta and City also held differing views over their incredible winning streak. The stats experts said that the win against Swansea made it an English record of 15 wins in a row in all competitions. But City think they already hold the record when they won 20 in a row during a dominant 2017-18 season. However, one of those games was won on penalties against Wolves in the Carabao Cup. Opta stats recorded that as a draw, which...
Chelsea boss takes blame for Hakim Ziyech struggles at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has shouldered the blame for Hakim Ziyech’s stalled progress at Stamford Bridge, challenging the midfielder to fight for his place in the team. Morocco international Ziyech, who signed in July, has only featured twice so far under Tuchel, leading to suggestions the former Ajax star could seek a summer exit. But Tuchel is adamant he will need to call on Ziyech as the hectic season unfolds. “It is my fault actually, not his,” Tuchel said on Friday. “It is my hard decisions at the moment as well for Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi and for Christian Pulisic sometimes in the half positions where we seem the strongest. “It is the same for Hakim at the moment and for some other players — there were hard decisions to make. It is never easy but it is a good thing, we have...
Former Arsenal player tells Chelsea boss to ‘sit down and keep quiet’
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown says that Thomas Tuchel should “sit down and keep quiet” when Chelsea are playing. Keown, who commentated on the Blues’ FA Cup victory at Barnsley on Thursday, was unimpressed with Tuchel’s animated behaviour on the touchline. “Tuchel has come through the door and he’s had five very good results,” he told talkSPORT. “Chelsea showed a different side to their game last night with some character. “But you’ve got to limit the messages that come across. He was up on his feet, he was really angry last night. “It’s one of those, ‘boss, can you just keep quiet because I need to concentrate, it’s a difficult pitch here. I’m over the white line, let me play’. “I thought he got the balance a little bit wrong. Look, I’ve not done the job and it must be really frust...
Penalty Kings Part I: The Jorginho jump
Although facing a goalkeeper from 12 yards with no-one else in your way might not seem too daunting a task to most, Manchester City fans will lead you to believe that it is one of the more difficult aspects of the game. Recently, İlkay Gündoğan (who was – and still is – in the form of his life) joined an elite club of Cityzens who have a penalty success rate of less than 70% in the Premier League, including Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez. Welcome to the club bro https://t.co/h0qs8pp7fF — Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) February 7, 2021 On the other hand, the likes of Jorginho and Bruno Fernandes (who are dubbed ‘penalty merchants’ by the same fans that watch their team attempt to send spot-kicks into lower Earth orbit) have scored 44% of their combined c...
