The Football Association has announced the details of the FA Cup semi-finals, which will be played at Wembley.
Aston Villa will play holders Chelsea at 1700 BST on 10 April. Portsmouth, the 2008 winners, face either Fulham or Tottenham at 1600 BST on 11 April.
Fulham and Tottenham are due to replay their sixth round match at White Hart Lane on 24 March, after they drew 0-0 in last weekend’s round.
Pompey beat Birmingham and Chelsea saw off Stoke to reach the semi-finals.
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FA Cup holders Chelsea will play Aston Villa in the semi-finals and Portsmouth will face either Tottenham or Fulham.
Chelsea easily overcame Stoke in their quarter-final tie, while Villa had to come from behind to beat Championship side Reading and reach the last four.
Crisis club Portsmouth will find out their opponents after the replay between Fulham and Spurs on 24 March.
The semi-finals will be played at Wembley on Saturday, 10 April and Sunday, 11 April.
And despite pulling arguably the toughest draw out of the hat, Villa manager Martin O’Neill remains bullish about his side’s Cup chances.
“We are delighted to be in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and we will take on anybody,” he said. “Chelsea are one of the best sides in Europe but we will take them on. And we certainly don’t fear them.”
Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins, meanwhile, admitted it would be a difficult last-four tie, saying: “When you reach this stage the opposition is going to be very tough and no doubt Villa will be a tough test for us.
“We’re still in three competitions and delighted to be where we are at the moment.”
Draw in full:
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Fulham/Tottenham v Portsmouth
(Ties to be played on 10 & 11 April).
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Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone will see a specialist to assess the ankle ligament damage he suffered during Sunday’s win over Everton.
The 23-year-old was injured when he was tackled by John Heitinga early in the second half and left White Hart Lane in a protective boot.
“Scans revealed that Tom has suffered damage to the ligaments in his right ankle,” said a statement from the club.
“He will see a specialist before deciding on the best course of rehab.”
England international Huddlestone joined Tottenham from Derby in July 2005.
He joins fellow midfielder Jermaine Jenas, winger Aaron Lennon and defenders Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King on a lengthy injury list. As a result, Spurs have recalled midfielder Jake Livermore from his loan spell at Peterborough.
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Peterborough United’s on-loan midfielder Jake Livermore has been recalled by Tottenham Hotspur.
The 20-year-old joined Posh on loan until the end of the season in January, but Spurs have exercised their recall option because of a spate of injuries.
Aaron Lennon, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone are all out of action at White Heart Lane.
Livermore has made nine starts for Posh, scoring one goal in the defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.
Dominic Green has been recalled from his loan spell at Chesterfield to act as cover in midfield.
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Tottenham moved into the Premier League top four with a hard-fought home victory over a determined Everton.
In-form Roman Pavlyuchenko put Spurs ahead when he tapped home a Jermain Defoe cross from six yards.
Everton rallied but could not make their pressure count and they fell two goals behind when Luka Modric curled in a superb, dipping shot.
Everton’s Yakubu took advantage of keeper Heurelho Gomes’ error to pull a goal back but an equaliser eluded them.
The win lifts Tottenham into the Champions League places at the expense of Manchester City, on goal difference, and strikes a blow to Everton’s hopes of making a late top-four push following a period of good form.
The visitors – and American striker Landon Donovan in particular – will be left to rue missed opportunities to get something from the game.
Spurs’ unlikely recent hero has been Russian striker Pavlyuchenko, who has come in from the cold and reaped the rewards with four goals in two games prior to this, including two in the FA Cup win over Bolton on Wednesday.
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Redknapp salutes ‘Croatian’ goal
And he quickly picked up where he had left off to make an impact and add to his tally.
Tom Huddlestone launched a superb 60-yard pass from well inside his own half which was deftly controlled by Defoe, who then rolled the ball across goal where Pavlyuchenko was on hand to slide home.
Everton’s midweek cup fortunes were in stark contrast to that of Spurs as they fell to a disappointing 3-0 second leg defeat at Sporting Lisbon, thus sealing their exit from the Europa League.
In response to that defeat, manager David Moyes made five changes to his side in the hope of recapturing their recent good league form, which has seen them record successive home wins over Chelsea and Manchester United in a run of only one defeat in 12 matches.
Despite the early blow they responded well to conceding a goal, and were almost gifted an instant equaliser.
Spurs keeper Gomes made a hash of a simple catch from a Mikel Arteta corner and dropped the ball at the feet of Yakubu but the Nigerian striker was unable to get away a meaningful shot and Michael Dawson cleared to spare his goalkeeper’s blushes.
Tottenham weathered the storm, reasserted themselves on the game and got their reward when they doubled their lead.
Their Croatian contingent slickly combined with Vedran Corluka finding Niko Krancjar, who in turn found Modric on the edge of the area and the latter expertly curled a right-foot shot over Tim Howard and in via the underside of the crossbar.
Again, Everton’s response was positive but when their chance to get back into the game came, five minutes before half-time, they missed it.
Victor Anichebe found Phil Neville on the right and his cross was met by Jack Rodwell but his header was directed well wide.
Gomes had already given warning of his occasional fallibility and with 10 second-half minutes gone he demonstrated it once again, to far more costly ends.
Arteta’s corner was headed back across goal by Rodwell and Gomes completely missed the ball under pressure from Yakubu and the Nigerian striker was able to tap in unchallenged.
A minute later Gomes went some way towards making amends, diving to his left to palm away a snapshot from Rodwell and deny Everton the speediest of comebacks.
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Moyes rues Donovan’s crucial miss
The Brazilian was again called on to make a crucial save with 20 minutes to go as a Tottenham error once more almost proved costly.
Wilson Palacios gave the ball away to Steven Pienaar in midfield and the South African was allowed to run unchallenged into the Spurs box before unleashing a shot that Gomes palmed away.
Seven minutes later, Everton substitute Donovan was guilty of one of the misses of the season.
Rodwell turned Sebastien Bassong on the left side of the penalty area and threaded a cross across goal that beat Gomes, leaving the on-loan American with the simplest of tap-ins at the back post but inexplicably he fluffed his effort into the side-netting.
Everton continued to press for parity but their final ball often let them down and on the occasions they were given a sight of goal – such as a header from substitute Phil Jagielka in the 82nd minute – they missed the target.
Six minutes of injury-time could have been a lot more comfortable for Spurs had Howard not palmed away Krancjar’s fierce drive late on but they were able to frantically hold on for a vital win.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp:
“Overall I thought we played well and we were terrific at times in the first half.
“When you play Everton you know they are not going to give up.
“David (Moyes) obviously got into Everton at half time and they raised their game. At 2-1 we got edgy and we were defending for our lives at times.”
Everton manager David Moyes:
“It was a game of two halves. Tottenham were better in the first and we were much better in the second.
“At half time we were dead and buried but I have to give the players credit for making a game of it.
“It (Donovan’s miss) was a crucial moment for us and probably a crucial moment for Tottenham as well.”
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Premier League
Live text and data provided by The Press Association.
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Tottenham’s preparations for their Premier League clash against Everton have been disrupted by a virus.
First-team stars Wilson Palacios and Vedran Corluka have been hit by the sickness and diarrhoea bug.
They are among 18 players and staff at the Spurs training ground in Chigwell, Essex, to be affected.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp stated: “We’ve closed the training ground. It’s off limits. We’re just going to train there and that’s it.”
Redknapp said he hoped midfielder Palacios and defender Corluka will be fit and available for selection against Everton on Sunday.
The Spurs boss held his pre-match news conference at White Hart Lane on Friday instead of the usual venue at the training ground.
“We had a few down with it the other day. Corluka had the virus and Palacios was not feeling great with it either,” he said.
“It has swept through the academy. There are about 18 who work there or the kids who have all got it so the doctor decided we couldn’t use it.
“It hasn’t disrupted us, we are still training as normal and hopefully no-one else gets it but there have been so many other people who have gone down with it, including a few of the press boys who came over on Tuesday, it is certainly spreading.”
A Spurs statement read: “A number of (academy) scholars and several first-team players have reported feeling unwell and, as a precaution, are being kept away from the training ground for a period of 48 hours in order to avoid the risk of spread.
“As an additional precaution, the club has undertaken a comprehensive deep clean of the entire training ground’s facilities while all administrative and academy staff have been instructed to work from home until Monday.”
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Tottenham and England winger Aaron Lennon will need six weeks to rest his groin injury, according to Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.
The 22-year-old has not played since 28 December 2009 but he was expected to return soon – until he suffered discomfort after weekend training.
Lennon, who is aiming to be selected in England’s World Cup squad, will now have to rest his injury until April.
“We are picking up a few knocks to key players,” said Redknapp.
Tottenham are keen for Lennon to be fit again – in their quest for the final Champions’ League spot, crucial players have suffered injuries.
David Bentley has also picked up a groin injury, Jermaine Jenas undergoes surgery this week and Tom Huddlestone is the most recent victim, picking up a leg injury in the match against Everton.
“Aaron has had a scan, and has just torn a couple fibres away apparently,” Redknapp said last week.
“It is difficult and has been dragging on a long time. We will just have to wait and see.
“Another little setback is not what he wanted, but he will get on with it. When he does come back, he will be as good as ever.
“So long as he gets back and gets enough match action for Tottenham to take us where we want to go, then the World Cup will follow.
“But, first and foremost, we have to get him back playing for Tottenham.”
Before his injury, Lennon had edged ahead of rivals Theo Walcott, David Beckham and Shaun Wright-Phillips in the England pecking order, playing in the last three World Cup qualifiers, and he was also a key part of Tottenham’s push to earn a Champions League place.
England coach Fabio Capello will have to do without Lennon for the squad that will face Egypt on Wednesday 3 March.
However, he will hope Lennon manages to play regularly before the World Cup in South Africa this summer, with England’s first game being against the United States on 12 June.
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Sunday, 21 February 2010
Premier League
Barclays Premier League
Venue: DW Stadium Date: Sunday, 21 February 2010 Kick-off: 1615 GMT
Coverage: Live on Sky Sports, BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 Live, local radio & highlights on Match of the Day 2
Wigan’s Titus Bramble is unlikely to shake off the hamstring injury he picked up against Bolton in midweek.
Aside from that Roberto Martinez only has concerns over Steve Gohouri and Richard Kingson.
Tottenham remain without winger Aaron Lennon, but manager Harry Redknapp announced this week that his groin injury does not require surgery.
Ledley King may be saved for the FA Cup replay with Bolton on Wednesday and Jermaine Jenas faces a late test.
Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Caldwell, Boyce, Figueroa, Scharner, N’Zogbia, Diame, Thomas, McCarthy, Rodallega, Moreno, Moses, Scotland, Sinclair, Stoijkovic, Gomez, Koumas, Watson.
Injured: Bramble and Gohouri (both hamstring), Kingson (muscle tear)
Tottenham (from):Gomes, Alnwick, Corluka, K Walker, Bale, Bassong, Dawson, King, Kaboul, Palacios, Jenas, Huddlestone, Modric, Kranjcar, Bentley, Rose, Pavlyuchenko, Gudjohnsen, Defoe, Crouch.
Doubtful: Jenas (groin)
Injured: Assou-Ekotto (hip), Cudicini (broken wrists), Lennon & Woodgate (both groin)
You can get odds of 500-1 on either side managing a repeat of the 9-1 scoreline Tottenham racked up in the reverse fixture in November.
But Tottenham’s magic touch in front of goal has deserted them of late and Wigan have only scored more than one goal in a league match once since mid-December.
Tottenham’s travails away from home, and their distinct lack of goals, is a concern for manager Harry Redknapp. Shorn of the injured Aaron Lennon, sides have worked Tottenham’s tactics out and the lack of a decent supply line to Jermain Defoe and close marking of Peter Crouch has seen Spurs score just once away from home in their last four league matches.
Earlier this week Redknapp bemoaned his side’s lack of a Frank Lampard figure who can weigh in with 20 goals a season, not surprising given that his central midfield duo of Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios have scored just two league goals between them this term.
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez says his side must “cash in” on their home fixtures if they are to steer clear of the relegation zone.
Easier said than done when the surface at the DW Stadium has been churned up by a combination of bad weather, football and the start of the rugby league season. It is not likely to be conducive to the passing game both sides like to play, so a 9-1 scoreline looks like a bet definitely worth avoiding.
Head-to-head
Tottenham’s 9-1 win over Wigan in November was their biggest-ever win in the top-flight.
The five goals Jermain Defoe notched in that match equalled the most goals scored in one Premier League game, previously achieved by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
The clubs met for the first time in their history in 2005 in Wigan’s first season in the Premier League. They have now met 10 times, Tottenham have five wins and Wigan earned their first win last season, a 1-0 victory at home.
Wigan
Wigan’s only win in their last 11 league matches was against Wolves on 16 January.
The Latics’ last home league win was against Sunderland on 28 November.
Wigan have conceded 49 league goals this season – only Burnley (50) and Hull (51) have worse records.
Tottenham
Tottenham have only scored three goals in the league in 2010 and their only victory in six league matches came at home against Fulham.
Spurs have not been lower than sixth position all season.
Tottenham have not won in any competition since August after failing to score in the first half, which is a run of 29 games.
Wigan
Rodallega: 7 goals (7 league); N’Zogbia: 6 goals (4 league)
Tottenham
Defoe: 21 goals (15 league); Crouch 10 goals (5 league)
Referee: Alan Wiley
Assistant referees: Mick McDonough & Jeremy Simpson
Fourth official: Mark Clattenburg
Wigan (D0-0 v Bolton, h): Kirkland, Melchiot, Caldwell, Bramble (Scotland 51), Figueroa, Scharner, McCarthy, Diame, N’Zogbia, Moreno (Moses 80), Rodallega. Subs not used: Stojkovic, Thomas, Gomez, Sinclair, Boyce.
Tottenham (L0-1 v Wolves, a): Gomes, Kaboul, Dawson, Bassong, Bale, Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas (Palacios 46), Kranjcar (Modric 72), Defoe, Gudjohnsen (Crouch 63). Subs not used: Alnwick, Pavlyuchenko, Corluka, Kyle Walker.
Tottenham scorers: Crouch 9, Defoe 51, 54, 58, 69, 87, Lennon 64, Bentley 88, Kranjcar 90
Wigan scorer: Scharner 57
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Millwall have signed Tottenham Hotspur youth player Jonathan Obika on loan until the end of the season.
The 19-year-old striker has just returned from his second loan spell at Yeovil Town, having scored seven goals in 14 starts there this season.
Last season, he managed four goals in 10 games as the Somerset side fought a successful battle against relegation.
Obika signed for Tottenham in 2008 and won the Breakthrough Award from Spurs fans at the end of the 2008/09 season.
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Tottenham fought back to earn an FA Cup fifth-round replay after an entertaining draw against Bolton.
The hosts were much the better side in the first half and went ahead when Kevin Davies completed an impressive passing move by firing in on the turn.
But Spurs responded and equalised when Jermain Defoe fired home on 61 minutes.
And Tom Huddlestone wasted the chance to send Spurs through as Jussi Jaaskelainen saved his penalty after a Sam Ricketts handball.
The old adage of “a game of two halves” can rarely have been more apt, with Bolton utterly dominant before the break and Spurs by far the better side after.
The sparse Valentine’s Day crowd suggests the romance of the FA Cup is not what it was but the Bolton fans who did make it to the Reebok Stadium found plenty to appreciate in their side’s revitalised style of play, particularly in the first 45 minutes.
The hosts, for so long derided as a long-ball side, were slick on the ball throughout and put Tottenham’s more fashionable players to shame for long periods.
Chung-Yong Lee’s early driven cross was mis-controlled by Matt Taylor and Johan Elmander’s follow-up only just deflected over the bar off Vedran Corluka.
The Swede, who has struggled to convince during his time at the Reebok, was then set free by Ricardo Gardner but could only manage an abysmal left-footed effort that was more akin to a rugby conversion.
Spurs were totally unable to get a foothold in the game in the opening period, as Taylor peppered the visiting defence with a series of free-kicks and corners.
One effort tested goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes to the limit, while Davies once again bullied the Tottenham defenders at every opportunity.
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Spurs’ best chance of the opening half-hour was a long-range drive from the recalled Peter Crouch that ended up closer to the corner flag.
Bolton thoroughly deserved to be in front and their fine football finally reaped its rewards with after a 16-pass move.
Elmander broke free down the right and after a one-two with Lee, crossed with pace for Davies to control and fire home on the turn.
Any hopes of an immediate improvement from the visitors after the break were wiped away when a shot from Davies deflected just past the post and Elmander fired into the side-netting after another sweeping move.
Another fluent move, including a sumptuous pass from Davies, ended with Muamba dragging a horrible shot wide before Spurs finally drove forward and hit the crossbar on two occasions.
Firstly Crouch beat Jaaskelainen to a high ball but saw his header come back off the woodwork before a shot from Wilson Palacios caught Paul Robinson’s foot and looped onto the bar.
Redknapp’s side suddenly had their appetite back and did not have to wait long for a leveller.
Bale burst forward down the left flank and passed to Defoe who slammed the ball high into the net – although a slight deflection off Ricketts did not help Jaaskelainen.
The defender did more damage shortly after when a flick from Crouch in the box cannoned into his raised arm, prompting referee Phil Dowd to award a penalty.
With Defoe having missed from the spot against Leeds in the previous round, Huddlestone stepped up but saw Jaaskelainen pull off a fine save.
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The Finnish keeper then pulled off an even better stop to keep out a fizzing long-range drive from Defoe.
Tottenham ended the game much the stronger and really should have won it when Crouch glanced a header wide after more good work from the terrific Bale.
Ultimately Bolton will be the side most relieved to still be in the competition, but neither manager will be happy at the prospect of a replay with a string of crucial league games in the offing.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle:
“Harry (Redknapp) said to me at full-time he thought it was a game of two halves but I think it was a game of an hour for us with the last half-hour going to Tottenham.
“There is a lot to be pleased about. For large periods of the game we were in the ascendancy.
“If we had come in at half-time with a bigger lead no-one would have thought it was unjust.
“Probably none of us wanted a replay but we are in the draw for the next round and who is to say we can’t go there and win the replay.
“It is easy to look back in slow motion and see Sam’s arms were already up because of the nature of Crouch’s movement but the referee called it and you have to get on with it.”
Tottenham assistant manager Joe Jordan:
“We lived dangerously in the first half as we didn’t play particularly well and the performance was not good enough.
“But in the second half we got ourselves sorted out and we should be going away with the victory, no question of that.
“We certainly didn’t play in the first half and in the first 30 minutes Bolton’s style of play caused us problems and it could have resulted in a second goal and we couldn’t have had any complaints.
“It wasn’t until the second half we dominated the game.
“We have not been too lucky with penalties. Normally when you see Tom take them in training he does it with power – today he tried to place it.
“But I think when a penalty is saved you have to give credit to the goalkeeper.”
Sunday, 14 February 2010
The FA Cup
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