All posts tagged: FA Cup live

Players get their way with Rosenior sacking… and finally show some fight

Players get their way with Rosenior sacking… and finally show some fight

Published by Sam Flores

Hello and welcome to all the live action form today’s FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Leeds at Wembley. Chelsea interim head coach Calum McFarlane is certain the prospect of reaching an FA Cup final will be motivation for his players following their woeful league run that led to Liam Rosenior’s sacking. Five consecutive defeats with no goals scored is the club’s worst run since 1912 and Tuesday’s 3-0 hammering by Brighton proved the final straw for Rosenior, who was dismissed three months into a six-and-a-half-year contract. Today’s semi-final against Leeds could not have come at a worse moment but McFarlane, who has been handed the reins until the end of the season, insisted the capitulation at the Amex Stadium – widely considered to have been the worst performance of the season – will not inhibit the team as they seek a return to Wembley in May. “Really disappointing,” he said of Tuesday’s loss that prompted the hierarchy to remove the manager. “It was hard to watch that, hard to see that. To be dominated …

Leeds and West Ham deliver ludicrous Cup tie free from Premier League constraints

Leeds and West Ham deliver ludicrous Cup tie free from Premier League constraints

Published by Sam Flores

We are back after Saturday’s goalfest in the FA Cup quarter-finals and this afternoon West Ham take on Leeds United at the London Stadium. It is a draw which raises the question of whether both teams can put their Premier League predicament aside in the hope of a Wembley trip for their fans. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side come into the match having drawn six of their last eight games in 90 minutes across all competitions. Despite this new-found consistency, a lacklustre performance in their last outing against Aston Villa cost them crucial ground in the relegation battle, with Nottingham Forest moving three points clear with their win at Spurs. At home, West Ham have not lost a game at in the last three months. Posing as a tricky side to defeat in front of their home crowd, they strive to keep this cup run alive and reach their first FA Cup semi-final since they finished runners-up in 2006. Twenty years on, this competition has been something to savour for the London side this year, despite …

Arsenal must wake up or there will be nothing to celebrate this season

Arsenal must wake up or there will be nothing to celebrate this season

Published by Sam Flores

Mikel Arteta took full responsibility for Arsenal’s shock FA Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of Championship side Southampton as he refused to criticise his players for their meek performance. The Arsenal manager has overseen back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, with this dismal 2-1 loss coming after the Carabao Cup final defeat by Manchester City. Those losses have destroyed Arsenal’s dream of winning an unprecedented quadruple and significantly raised the pressure on the Premier League leaders ahead of the defining weeks of the campaign. Arteta said “now is the moment” for his team to stand up, as they remain in strong positions in both the Premier League and Champions League. “I love my players,”  the Arsenal manager said. “What they have done for nine months, I am not going to criticise them because we lost a game here. The way they are putting their bodies through everything, some of them probably didn’t even have to be here today. “I’m not going to do that [blame the players]. I’m going to defend them …

Rosenior refuses to respond to Fernandez agent’s comments as Chelsea hit seven

Rosenior refuses to respond to Fernandez agent’s comments as Chelsea hit seven

Published by Sam Flores

Good evening and welcome to our next instalment of the FA Cup quarter-finals as Chelsea host Port Vale at Stamford Bridge. It’s the club sixth in the Premier League versus the side rooted to the bottom of the third tier. As we’ve just returned from an international break, you would assume it was a quiet week for Chelsea? Well, it’s been quite the opposite. Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior confirmed that Enzo Fernandez has been given a two-game ban because of his controversial comments regarding his future, meaning he will miss this match and next week’s league meeting with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Following the demoralising 8-2 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, vice-captain Fernandez plunged his Chelsea future into doubt, telling ESPN Argentina he didn’t know if he would stay at the club. In the international break, he fuelled Real Madrid links by saying: “I really like Madrid – it’s similar to Buenos Aires.” Marc Cucurella was also vocal in the media, criticising Chelsea’s ownership and questioning the club’s project. The …

Man City demolish Liverpool as Arne Slot taunted with ‘sacked in the morning’ chants

Man City demolish Liverpool as Arne Slot taunted with ‘sacked in the morning’ chants

Published by Sam Flores

We are back after the international break for the first instalment of this season’s FA Cup quarter-finals as Manchester City take on Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. This blockbuster tie pits English football’s two most dominant forces of the last decade against each other in what is a massive match for both sides.  Last month, Man City’s season looked like it could completely unravel. Consecutive Premier League draws against Nottingham Forest and West Ham United meant City lost crucial ground in the title race. In Europe, they were resoundingly beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16. However, City’s modern history has been built upon success and silverware. Pep Guardiola’s men are an unrivalled domestic powerhouse, and they flexed every muscle of trophy-winning prowess when they beat Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final. Has that victory reignited City’s optimism and given the squad a new lease of life? Now, without Champions League football, City have an eight-day gap between this fixture and their next outing, a top-flight match …

Wrexham give Chelsea ‘hardest game of season’ but cannot find Hollywood ending

Wrexham give Chelsea ‘hardest game of season’ but cannot find Hollywood ending

Published by Sam Flores

Wrexham host Premier League Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round tonight in the biggest fixture at the Racecourse Ground since Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds became owners almost five years ago. The Welsh side have surged from English football’s fifth tier to the second with three successive promotions and are now lying sixth in the Championship, pushing for a place in the Premier League via the play-offs. Wrexham went into administration in 2004, and for years the club survived on volunteer labour. A week before the season kicked off, fans would turn up to paint, sweep and fix locks on the turnstiles. They toppled Nottingham Forest earlier in their FA Cup run, but facing eight-time winners Chelsea is another step up in class. Liam Rosenior has only lost three games since taking over at Stamford Bridge, all of them to Arsenal, but Wednesday’s 4-1 victory over Aston Villa was a marker of progress after some sloppy dropped points. Chelsea will be mindful of a Champions League last-16 tie against PSG this week, as well …

Pep Guardiola fury as touchline meltdown lands him two-game ban

Pep Guardiola fury as touchline meltdown lands him two-game ban

Published by Sam Flores

City have reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup every season since 2018. In the last four years their record in the competition is 19 wins in 21 games, with those two defeats coming in the final against Manchester United and Crystal Palace. It is not like anything we have seen before. Guardiola said he was extremely proud of that record, but still the perceived injustice gnawed away at him. He remained in a volatile mood. It was his sixth yellow card of the season, but none have provoked a reaction as strong or as perilously close to losing control as this. Guardiola is a ferocious competitor and apparently no longer cares who he offends. Read into that what you will regarding his future beyond the end of this season. While the rest of English football complains about the fact the 115 charges against City for breaching PSR rules have still not been resolved, he seethes at a perceived injustice of a different kind. Guardiola made his feelings clear. For all his success, for all …

Dowman makes history again… and the hype is fully justified

Dowman makes history again… and the hype is fully justified

Published by Sam Flores

Chants of “super Maxy Dowman” from the away end accompanied the midfielder’s every move. With 16-year-old defender Marli Salmon also starting, Arsenal became the first Premier League side to start a competitive game with two players at that age. Arteta said: “When the ball is bouncing all over the place, and people are all over his back, Max is just incredible, especially with the speed he delivers. “I’m very proud of him and Marli, and that says a lot about their personality and the quality they have. They need to continue to work and this is the first step for them to take. I think everyone feels involved. “We have the desire that, game by game, we can get closer to things that we can achieve.” Arsenal’s journey now takes them to Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday in the Champions League, and the prospect of Arteta’s second FA Cup triumph remains in his grasp. They were far from their best here, with Mansfield – 60 places below Arsenal in the football pyramid, and with a squad …

Chelsea three wins from FA Cup final as Liam Rosenior’s honeymoon continues

Chelsea three wins from FA Cup final as Liam Rosenior’s honeymoon continues

Published by Sam Flores

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Hull City v Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Cup. As well as being an awkward tie for Chelsea, against a team pushing for promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, it’s a big night for the Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior. He returns to the club he managed between 2022 and 2024, his first full-time job. “If it wasn’t for Hull, and [club owner] Acun [Ilicali] in particular, giving me that opportunity, I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in now,” said Rosenior. “I’ve had great experiences since, going to Strasbourg, going to France. So I’m definitely a better coach than I was two years ago and hopefully I’ll be a better coach in the next two years to come.” Rosenior also spent five years as a player at the club and was part of the team that lost the FA Cup final to Arsenal in 2014. “I remember when I went to Hull on trial, I was without a contract, and the way …

Man Utd’s trophy hopes dying in January is an indictment of a once proud club

Man Utd’s trophy hopes dying in January is an indictment of a once proud club

Published by Sam Flores

You have to go back to 1982 for the previous time United had exited both domestic cup competitions this early but at least then they were still in a title battle. The better comparison is the 1970-71 campaign. Back then, United had just sacked Wilf McGuinness and brought back Matt Busby on an interim basis when they were eliminated in the FA Cup third round by Middlesbrough, having already exited the League Cup. They were also 18 points behind league leaders Leeds. Fifty-four years on, United have an interim manager and are waiting to appoint another caretaker to carry them through to the end of the season with no trophy to fight for over the next four or so months. What a mess. That Brighton’s winning goal was scored by a former United player who should never have been sold merely rubbed salt into the wounds. Louis van Gaal told United staff at the time that Welbeck was offloaded because he was convinced the striker would never score goals. That was 11½ years ago, since …