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Tottenham beats Fulham to reach FA Cup semifinals
Source: Agencies |
March 25, 2010, Thursday
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TOTTENHAM staged a second-half comeback to reach the FA Cup semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Fulham yesterday and stayed fourth in the Premier League after Manchester City was beaten 2-0 by Everton.
After trailing through Bobby Zamora's first-half goal, Spurs hit back after the break with substitutes David Bentley and Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring before Eidur Gudjohnsen sealed the replay victory.
At the same time, Tottenham's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were boosted by City's loss, with the north London club remaining two points ahead of the fifth-place team with eight matches to go.
Aston Villa is a further two points adrift in seventh after being held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland.
In the title race, Chelsea moved to within a point of leader Manchester United by cruising to a 5-0 victory over bottom-place Portsmouth.
While Portsmouth is consigned to relegation after being docked nine points for seeking bankruptcy protection, it does have an FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham to look forward to on April 11 at Wembley Stadium.
"Portsmouth will have a go at us - they were well smashed up tonight, but Chelsea had to win," said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, who won the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008. "Everyone will love to see Portsmouth get to the final (because of its financial problems). I accept that. If I was not the manager of Tottenham or Portsmouth, I would. They have been through the mill this year."
Tottenham had never lost to Fulham in the FA Cup, but the visitors went ahead in the 17th minute when Zamora netted his 17th goal of the season. After being released by Duff, the former Spurs forward slid the ball past Heurelho Gomes, with England coach Fabio Capello watching in the stands.
Spurs made a double change at the break and switched formation. Midfielder David Bentley replaced Niko Kranjcar on the right and Tom Huddlestone came on for Benoit Assou-Ekotto, whose place at left back was taken by Gareth Bale and Luka Modric took his spot in midfield.
The changes paid off within 90 seconds as Bentley curled in a free kick that flew past Mark Schwarzer in a crowded penalty area.
Spurs defender Vedran Corluka limped off with a twisted ankle shortly afterward and was replaced by Roman Pavlyuchenko, whose arrival saw Wilson Palacios move into the back four.
Pavlyuchenko made a quick contribution by volleying home Bentley's cross to put the home side in front. Gudjohnsen ensured the trip to Wembley by latching onto Modric's ball and rounding Schwarzer.
Adding to the celebratory mood at White Hart Lane was Man City's failure to dislodge Spurs from fourth spot by falling at home to Everton.
Cahill headed Everton in front in the 33rd after latching onto Leighton Baines' cross. Big-spending City's first home loss of the season was confirmed when Mikel Arteta netted Everton's second in the 85th.
In a fraught conclusion to the match, both managers - City's Roberto Mancini and Everton's David Moyes - were sent off after confronting each other.
"Tottenham will be delighted that the two of us (City and Villa) have dropped points but we all have some tough fixtures ahead," Villa manager Martin O'Neill said. "It is going to be really tight and there will be many twists and turns in the final part of the season before things are settled."
At Fratton Park, a blunder by David James gifted Chelsea the lead in the 32nd. James raced out to make a routine clearance after Deco tried to play through Didier Drogba but the England international completely missed the ball, leaving the Ivory Coast forward to tap into an empty net.
Portsmouth's night got worse before the break when Ricardo Rocha clashed with Florent Malouda and was carried off with a suspected fractured cheek bone.
Chelsea took control in the second half with Malouda grabbing two before the hour mark, Drogba adding another before setting up Frank Lampard's header in stoppage time.
Aston Villa's hopes of breaking into the top four are fading having drawn seven of its last 10 games.
John Carew, who scored a late equalizer in Saturday's 2-2 draw, rescued another point for Villa by canceling out Fraizer Campbell's goal for Sunderland.
At Ewood Park, David Dunn scored twice against former club Birmingham to clinch a 2-1 victory that moves Sam Allardyce's team 14 points clear of the relegation zone with seven games to play.
After trailing through Bobby Zamora's first-half goal, Spurs hit back after the break with substitutes David Bentley and Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring before Eidur Gudjohnsen sealed the replay victory.
At the same time, Tottenham's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were boosted by City's loss, with the north London club remaining two points ahead of the fifth-place team with eight matches to go.
Aston Villa is a further two points adrift in seventh after being held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland.
In the title race, Chelsea moved to within a point of leader Manchester United by cruising to a 5-0 victory over bottom-place Portsmouth.
While Portsmouth is consigned to relegation after being docked nine points for seeking bankruptcy protection, it does have an FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham to look forward to on April 11 at Wembley Stadium.
"Portsmouth will have a go at us - they were well smashed up tonight, but Chelsea had to win," said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, who won the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008. "Everyone will love to see Portsmouth get to the final (because of its financial problems). I accept that. If I was not the manager of Tottenham or Portsmouth, I would. They have been through the mill this year."
Tottenham had never lost to Fulham in the FA Cup, but the visitors went ahead in the 17th minute when Zamora netted his 17th goal of the season. After being released by Duff, the former Spurs forward slid the ball past Heurelho Gomes, with England coach Fabio Capello watching in the stands.
Spurs made a double change at the break and switched formation. Midfielder David Bentley replaced Niko Kranjcar on the right and Tom Huddlestone came on for Benoit Assou-Ekotto, whose place at left back was taken by Gareth Bale and Luka Modric took his spot in midfield.
The changes paid off within 90 seconds as Bentley curled in a free kick that flew past Mark Schwarzer in a crowded penalty area.
Spurs defender Vedran Corluka limped off with a twisted ankle shortly afterward and was replaced by Roman Pavlyuchenko, whose arrival saw Wilson Palacios move into the back four.
Pavlyuchenko made a quick contribution by volleying home Bentley's cross to put the home side in front. Gudjohnsen ensured the trip to Wembley by latching onto Modric's ball and rounding Schwarzer.
Adding to the celebratory mood at White Hart Lane was Man City's failure to dislodge Spurs from fourth spot by falling at home to Everton.
Cahill headed Everton in front in the 33rd after latching onto Leighton Baines' cross. Big-spending City's first home loss of the season was confirmed when Mikel Arteta netted Everton's second in the 85th.
In a fraught conclusion to the match, both managers - City's Roberto Mancini and Everton's David Moyes - were sent off after confronting each other.
"Tottenham will be delighted that the two of us (City and Villa) have dropped points but we all have some tough fixtures ahead," Villa manager Martin O'Neill said. "It is going to be really tight and there will be many twists and turns in the final part of the season before things are settled."
At Fratton Park, a blunder by David James gifted Chelsea the lead in the 32nd. James raced out to make a routine clearance after Deco tried to play through Didier Drogba but the England international completely missed the ball, leaving the Ivory Coast forward to tap into an empty net.
Portsmouth's night got worse before the break when Ricardo Rocha clashed with Florent Malouda and was carried off with a suspected fractured cheek bone.
Chelsea took control in the second half with Malouda grabbing two before the hour mark, Drogba adding another before setting up Frank Lampard's header in stoppage time.
Aston Villa's hopes of breaking into the top four are fading having drawn seven of its last 10 games.
John Carew, who scored a late equalizer in Saturday's 2-2 draw, rescued another point for Villa by canceling out Fraizer Campbell's goal for Sunderland.
At Ewood Park, David Dunn scored twice against former club Birmingham to clinch a 2-1 victory that moves Sam Allardyce's team 14 points clear of the relegation zone with seven games to play.
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