EPL, Premiership, English Premier League

Manchester City has a total of 8 appearances in the final with 4 FA Cup wins. The last FA Cup win for Manchester City was in 1969 against Leicester City. Their most recent FA Cup final appearance was against Tottenham in 1981.

Manchester City FA Cup Appearances and Wins:

Liverpool midfielder John Arne Riise gave Chelsea the advantage in this game with a last minute own goal against Liverpool. Dirk Kuyt scored in the 43rd minute in a scrappy mess that described the entire game. Petr Cech did have to produce multiple fine saves to deny Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. 5 minutes into overtime Salomon Kalou quickly crossed the ball; it bounced into the 6 yard box in front of Riise. Riise had the opportunity to kick the ball but for some absurd reason decided to try to head the ball out, instead it quickly shot past the Liverpool keeper. Riise certainly needed to clear the ball as Drogba was right behind him and certainly would have put it in but his absurd header cost Liverpool dearly. Liverpool had the lead for over 45 minutes and were looking to get away with a game at home without giving out ‘away’ points for Chelsea until the ridiculous clearance. It could cost Liverpool dearly, momentum will certainly be for Chelsea as they are playing at home with the away goal advantage.

Chelsea could be out of the title race as they recently tied Wigan 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. They needed the win to compete with Manchester United for the League Title. Chelsea should have been ahead in the 5th minute when Salomon Kalou crossed the ball to Nicolas Anelka, who headed the ball wide. Minutes later, Essien provided a great through ball to Anelka but Wigan’s keeper Chris Kirkland quickly picked it up. Wigan fired back in the 19th minute with a back heel pass from Palacios Valencia who shot near post; Cech proved that even with his handicap (he received 50 stitches due to a collision with Tal Ben-Haim during practice and wore a protective mask during the game, Cudicini was out with a hamstring injury) he could produce fine saves.

While Chelsea was unimpressive in their game play they still pressured Wigan consistently until in the 55th minute Cole crossed the ball to Anelka who neatly gave it to Essien who capitalized. Cole’s presence was felt the moment he came in at half-time replacing Malouda. Cole almost scored again minutes later but missed by a few inches on a fierce shot. Unfortunately for Chelsea, Emile Heskey volleyed the ball into Chelsea’s goal in the 90th minute leaving them no time for vengeance.

Avram Grant was optimist that multiple wins could give Chelsea the edge. “Pressure can affect anybody. It can take you forward in a positive way but also you can see that even big players under pressure cannot play like they used to. It can be any team, any player. If we win every game I think we will win the title. But it’s not easy to win all the games. I said a week ago I didn’t believe Man United and Arsenal would do it, it’s not easy. I can’t say we are the best in England but I don’t think there is a team stronger than us. I will not say we are the best in the world, even though we want to be, but I can say when we have all our players I don’t see a team stronger than us.”

“I have told the players it has been a very difficult year and I don’t know if other clubs could have done what we have with all the injuries to big players, with the African Cup of Nations and with all the problems we have had. The atmosphere is good and we come to the last stage of the season with a very good opportunity to do the best things - we don’t want to miss it. The players know it’s a big opportunity and if I may say so, we deserve it after what we had this year.”

With only 4 games left, Chelsea now has 75 points to Uniteds 80. Chelsea’s hopes now remain on the game they will play against United Saturday, April 26th. Hypothetically, if Chelsea won they could have 78 points to Uniteds 80; then Chelsea would have to hope that United would lose a game.

• Manchester United’s last 4 games include Chelsea, Blackburn, West Ham, and Wigan.

• Chelsea’s last 4 games include Everton, Manchester United (at Stamford Bridge), Newcastle, and Bolton

This seasons FA Cup has been a tumultuous one with multiple upsets. Barnsley (away) played Liverpool and knocked them out before the quarter finals (2-1). Manchester United beat Arsenal 4-0 only to lose to Portsmouth 1-0 in the quarter finals. Chelsea decided to follow suite and decided to lose in the quarter finals to Barnsley (0-1).

In the Semi-Finals:

• West Brom vs. Portsmouth - West Brom is 4th in the Champions League and Portsmouth is 6th in the EPL.

• Barnsley vs. Cardiff - Barnsley is 17th (46 points) in the Champions League and Cardiff is 14th (49 points).
  The games are scheduled for April 6th.

Meanwhile the questions over whether Cardiff would be eligible for European Competitions (UEFA Cup) hangs in the air. Traditionally Welsh teams are not allowed to join European competition unless through their own competitions. ”Historically, the understanding of the FA has been that Welsh clubs were ineligible for the UEFA Cup should they have won the FA Cup. In light of Cardiff City’s success in reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, the Football Association is considering its position on European qualification for the winners of the FA Cup. The question of eligibility for Welsh clubs has not arisen for many years so it is only now appropriate for us to look at the issue afresh.”

Cardiff is also in a financial lawsuit over €24 million for loans to Swiss Investment Bank Langston.

Despite Manchester leading the semi-final game with twice as many shots, corners, a complete squad and about 25% more possession, they were unable to produce any results. The last time Portsmouth had won at Old Trafford was in 1957; while Portsmouth played well they were only barely able to prevent Manchester scoring. They were rescued by excellent defending, solid saves from David James (Portsmouth goalkeeper), and multiple unlucky, failed strikes by the Man. U players. At half time Ferguson made an unusual move and substituted out goalkeeper Van Der Saar and put in substitute keeper Kuszczak. This proved to be unfortunate because in the 77th minute Baros was awarded a penalty kick and Kuszczak a red card for tripping Baros in the penalty box. Defender Rio Ferdinand was put in goal and was unable to stop the penalty kick by David Nugent on March 8th.

Simon Davey, the Barnsley manager said that playing Chelsea on the 8th (away) for the FA Cup quarter finals would be a “good reward”, that is, for having beat Liverpool (2-1) a week earlier. “It’s a fantastic draw. To win at Anfield on Saturday and then pit our wits against another fantastic club with world class players - it will be another great occasion for everybody concerned.” Avram Grant started an almost complete first string team with Anelka playing instead of Drogba. Even though Chelsea had 2 times as many shots on target and corners they were unable to capitalize. Barnsley took advantage and during the 66th minute Kayode Odejayi headed a ball into the back of the net.

Barnsley is in 19th place in the Championship (English 2nd division); almost in relegation.