-February 19, 2011
-Stamford Bridge — London
-Referee: P. Dowd
Anelka & Cole Miss From The Spot As Holders Crash Out Of FA Cup
Info : Chelsea's quest to lift three consecutive FA
Cup titles is over after Everton came from 1-0 down in extra-time to
level the score before sending the holders out on penalties in the
fourth round replay at Stamford Bridge.
Everton made the sharper
start, pressing Chelsea high up the field to regain possession. This
was reflected in the first chance of the game when the ball broke to
Leon Osman on the left hand side of the pitch; he wasn’t closed down
and allowed to try his luck from 25 yards. His shot was low and firm,
but zipped straight into the midriff of Petr Cech who collapsed on top
of the ball to smother it.
The visitors continued to push
forward without threatening the Chelsea goal. Leighton Baines attacked
down the left wing and crossed towards the back post where Seamus
Coleman headed it back across goal towards the penalty spot. John Obi
Mikel was on hand to clear but was barged in the back by Marouane
Fellaini and the referee blew for a foul as Osman rattled a snapshot
beyond the right-hand post.
Chelsea took 20 minutes to create
their first meaningful attempt on goal and even that came from the head
of an Everton player. Ashley Cole bought a free-kick on the left flank
and Frank Lampard duly whipped an in-swinging cross into the penalty
area where Phil Jagielka could only get a glancing header onto the ball
to direct it onto the right-hand post. It rebounded back out into the
box where John Terry flung himself at it, but could only send it over
the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
The hosts built on this
pressure with Salomon Kalou attacking the byline before cutting the
ball back to Lampard who had taken up an inside position just outside
the six yard box. After seeing his first attempt blocked, the
Englishman shaped to shoot on the follow up only to see a host of
bodies charging out to block and quickly shifted the ball back out to
Florent Malouda who was arriving at the edge of the box.
Malouda
struck it first time but Tim Howard got down well to block with his
legs and it came out to the edge of the box where Ashley Cole
controlled before laying it off for Didier Drogba. The Ivorian took a
touch before going for goal but drilled his shot wide of the left-hand
post.
Chelsea continued to turn the screw with their best chance
of the game so far coming just after the half hour mark. Drogba did
well to control on his chest before flicking the ball past Jagielka and
sliding the ball into the box for Malouda who had got goal side of his
marker. The Frenchman held off the defender and got his shot away, but
couldn’t get it up and over Howard who had closed the angle quickly to
deny Chelsea the lead.
The home side had a penalty claim waved
away at the brink of half-time. Kalou played a first time pass through
for Ramires to chase down the far side and as the Brazilian raced into
the right-hand edge of the penalty area Howard charged out to meet him.
Ramires got to the ball first and pushed it away from the keeper and
put his heels together to go down as Howard came in.
The
referee took a look at his assistant, who had an excellent view, and
promptly took out his yellow card to book Ramires for simulation. It
was a marginal call and the fans voiced their displeasure with the
officials as they brought the half to a close.
 |
| (Chelsea's Michael Essien and Everton's Seamus Coleman in action) |
Chelsea continued the second half where they
left off, almost immediately creating a chance to break the deadlock.
Drogba drew a foul high on the left and whipped the free-kick in
towards the far post. Howard wasn’t distracted by the runners, and
Kalou couldn’t quite get his head onto it as the ball ran through for
the Everton keeper to collect comfortably.
Everton then had two
quick fire chances in succession. The first came from a free-kick swung
in from the left by Baines, it arrived at the front post where Osman
managed to get his head to it but his touch wasn’t deft enough and he
diverted it straight into the arms of Cech.
Moments later the
visitors created a chance down the right, with Mikel Arteta profiting
from Lampard’s lax attempt to clear before picking out Jermaine
Beckford in space in the middle. His cross was slightly behind the
27-year-old but Beckford had time to control. Instead, he went for goal
first time and his attempt was always rising as it flew way over the
crossbar.
Chelsea then turned on the style with a lovely passing
move starting from the right flank. It was played inside to Kalou who
played it towards the byline first time for Ramires, who got his head
up and spotted Lampard in front of his marker at the near post. The
Brazilian cut it back and Lampard hit it first time, forcing a smart
save by Howard to push it past the right-hand post.
The hosts
nearly found a way through from the resultant corner, with Branislav
Ivanovic ghosting in at the back post completely unmarked. His attempt
was from close range, but Howard was in a good position and managed to
get a block onto it and keep the score level.
As extra time
loomed, Chelsea continued to press forward in search of a decisive
goal. Lampard tried to play Malouda in behind Everton’s defensive line
but the pass was poor and the Frenchman had to check back, allowing the
visitors to get men behind the ball to cover. Malouda laid it off to
Lampard on the edge of the box and the English international got his
shot all wrong, sending it flying over the crossbar.
Everton had
the ball in the back of the net with one minute to go. They worked a
free-kick on the left cleverly, with Arteta playing the ball inside to
Baines who skipped past an onrushing defender before playing the ball
through towards Fellaini who had made a run across his marker. The
Belgian saw his initial shot saved but he pounced onto the rebound to
put it beyond Cech and into the back of the net.
As he peeled
away to celebrate the crowd jeered in delight as they saw the assistant
raise his flag for offside. It was the correct decision and soon after
Phil Dowd brought the 90 minutes to a close.
Carlo Ancelotti
withdrew Malouda in favor of Nicolas Anelka at the start of extra-time
and soon after David Moyes responded with a defensive change, bringing
on John Heitinga in place of Osman. This set the tone for the balance
of play, with Everton lining up a defensive wall in front of their
penalty box in order to restrict Chelsea chances.
Drogba had the
next attempt on goal, with Anelka receiving the ball on the left hand
edge of the box before feeding it inside. They eventually worked it to
Drogba on the far edge of the area who went for goal with a snapshot,
but it was rushed and sailed safely over the bar.
Chelsea found
a way through towards the end of the first half of extra time, Anelka
did brilliantly to wrestle the ball off two Everton defenders on the
right before a bit of skill saw him break free of their attention
before crossing into the middle. Drogba mis-controlled but Lampard was on hand to drill home past Howard to give Chelsea the lead.
Everton
had already used up all their substitutes so couldn’t inject a fresh
impetus from the bench. They spent much of the last 15 minutes trying
to go long towards Fellaini but this didn’t result in any chances on
goal as Chelsea had looked to have successfully absorbed the late
Everton pressure.
The visitors had one last chance to drag
themselves back into the tie when they were awarded a free-kick on the
edge of the penalty area one minute from time. Arteta and Baines
stood over the ball and it was Baines that stepped up to strike. His
shot cleared the wall and Cech was helpless as it zipped straight into
the top right-hand corner to send the tie to penalties.
Baines
went from hero to villain for his side as he stepped up and saw his
weak penalty saved with Cech diving to his left to push it wide of the
target after Lampard had converted the first penalty. Drogba and
Jagielka scored to leave it at 2-1 before Howard saved Anelka’s
attempt. The Frenchman went high to the keeper’s right but didn’t have
the power to send it beyond Howard who got a hand to it.
Arteta
levelled for his side as he hammered it high into the top left-hand
corner of the goal before Essien made no mistake to hand the advantage
back to Chelsea. Heitinga kept his cool under the pressure and found
the side netting to bring Everton back on level terms before Ashley
Cole blazed over with his side’s final penalty of the five.
Captain
Phil Neville stepped up to send his side through to the fifth round
with an expertly dispatched penalty, hammering it into the top
left-hand corner to dump the holders out of the FA cup in the fourth
round.
Sources : http://www.goal.com
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