In a weekend split down the middle between both BPL and FA Cup fixtures, they certainly lived up to their billing in regards to entertainment and unpredictability. Lets get right into it with recaps for both the BPL fixtures and the FA Cup quarterfinal matches.
BPL
Wayne Rooney set a BPL record this weekend becoming the first player to register double-digit goals and assists on five occasions – an incredible achievement for a player who has been stunning for the duration of his career. His Man United side dispatched West Brom at the Hawthornes 3-0, though the match was quite an even affair and the scoreline must have West Brom feeling a little hard done. Goals from Rooney, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck sealed all three points for the Red Devils. Cardiff City compounded Fulham’s disastrous campaign even further with a 3-1 win at home. A Steven Caulker brace and a Sascha Reither own-goal sunk a Fulham ship that has been foundering for the duration of the campaign – on loan German youngster Lewis Holtby bagged the consolation goal for the Cottagers. Southampton are trying to get back on track after their comfortable 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in the capital, in what has been an up and down campaign for the south coast side. Jay Rodriguez scored the only goal of the match which gives the Saints further breathing room in the middle of the pack. Two low-scoring sides lead to a low-scoring draw after Norwich City and Stoke City shared the points. Bradley Johnson opened the scoring early in the second half only for it to be cancelled out by a Jonathan Walters spot-kick. Lastly, Chelsea put Tim Sherwood’s Spurs side to the sword with an overwhelming performance and a 4-0 final score line. Goals from Samuel Eto’o, Eden Hazard and a brace from Demba Ba completed the rout which see’s Spurs winless at Stamford Bridge in the entire Premier League era.
Implications: The weekends matches did not see a great amount of movement in the BPL table. United’s win see them hop up to 6th, gaining ground on 5th place Spurs and level on points with 7th place Everton. Cardiff are still in the relegation zone, but a run of decent results could see them out before seasons end. Soton are firmly in control of a top-10 finish as they sit comfortably in 9th, and Chelsea are entrenched in first place and has some pundits already giving them the BPL crown. Fulham still sit bottom in last place, Palace and West Brom are still flirting with the bottom-three. Stoke and Norwich are still in the bottom half and lastly Spurs are still sitting in 5th but may not have a way to finish any higher than that by seasons end.
FA Cup
Arsenal may be unofficially out of the Champions League and they may not be able to catch Chelsea for the league title, but their performance against Everton shows they are still in the hunt to end their trophy drought – a 4-1 thumping at home of Everton was the result. Goals from Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta and an Olivier Giroud brace would end Everton’s chance at silverware in Roberto Martinez’s first season at the helm. League One side Sheffield United have done incredibly well to reach the semi-finals after they sealed a 2-0 win at home against Charlton Athletic. A two minute goal rush from Ryan Flynn and John Brayford was enough to book their place in the final four of the competition. Hull City booked their place at Wembley with a 3-0 win against visiting Sunderland. They may not be too impressive in their league campaign but this will give their supporters something to be proud of. Goals from Curtis Davies, David Meyler and Matty Fryatt sent the fans into hysterics come final whistle. Wigan did the business over Manchester City yet again for the second season running, this time in the quarter final as the holders ousted high flying Manchester City. Goals from Jordi Gomez and James Perch was enough to see the Championship side ruin a chance for City to have a shot at a domestic cup double, despite City’s all out siege on Wigan for the final third of the match in where Samir Nasri did bring one back for the Citizens. 2-1 was the final score and now City will have to look towards the BPL for more domestic silverware after their Carling Cup.
Implications: The semi-final match ups are as follows; Hull City v Sheffield United and Arsenal v Wigan. It must be said that it will be exciting to see a small club potentially take home football’s oldest cup for a second season after Wigan did so last year when they beat Manchester City 1-0.
Have an awesome week coming up and as always, we’ll see you on a daily basis.