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The game itself was a great watch, despite what so many ignorant footy-haters say about 1-0 matches that are decided late on. There were goal line clearances, superb shots followed by stunning saves, committed defensive displays (which was a bit surprising given some rather lackluster displays by the Portsmouth back line in the League), and plenty of talking points regarding refereeing decisions. In the end, Pompey snuck away victorious and based solely on the match action, the result matched the play on the pitch. This may seem overstated, as United controlled the vast majority of the game, but Pompey’s timely and steadfast defending deserved, at the very least, a clean sheet. Based on the last ditch efforts and the manner in which the Portsmouth defense continued to block shots and attacking moves, they deserved no less than a replay and instead got the bit of good fortune they needed to dispatch the Red Devils on their home pitch for the first time since 1957. The defending was such that no Man of the Match could be singled out from the back line. Instead, the match ball should be shared by Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin, Sol Campbell, Hermann Hreidarsson, Lassana Diarra, and my favorite name to say, Papa Bouba Diop. Of course, Sulley Muntari does deserve a great bit of credit for finishing a result well earned with yet another powerful, yet coolly taken penalty. Said penalty was earned after former Red, Milan Baros, broke in on goal, only to be felled by United’s back-up keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. While I can agree that this could easily have not been called, United have always seemed to benefit from questionable decisions. For this LFC supporter, the irony and the resulting Alex Ferguson tirade/tantrum, were just too delicious for words. Congratulations to Pompey. The road to the final has been thinned.
This thinning of the top tier of the field was done by Robbie Fowler’s (known simply as God by all Liverpool supporters) new club Cardiff City, who dispatched Middlesbrough fairly competently with two splendid goals; one after some deft maneuvering and a stupendous finish by Peter Whittingham and the other from a dead ball crossed by Whittingham and headed home by Roger Johnson. And these two goals within 25 minutes after kick-off held up, as the Bluebirds sent Boro home nursing a 2-0 defeat. The others of the two Premiership sides to fall at the hands of Championship opposition were the mighty billionaires of Chelsea F.C. They, like the Reds, tumbled out of the competition at the hands of
And now I must restate: THIS IS WHY THE F.A. CUP IS THE BEST DOMESTIC CUP COMPETITION IN THE WORLD.
What a great weekend.
4 comments:
Hey buddy, I'm TiVoing the Liverpool/Inter game this afternoon so please don't text me any news or otherwise telling messages. Unless, of course, the result will cause me to claw at my eye sockets. Then tell me so I can spend my time on better things, like watching backlogged Simpsons episodes and gentle weeping.
p.s. Farkas has been noticably silent about the whole Barnsley thing after giving me a ration of shit. hmmmmmm.....
actually, i will only catch the first half live, then i gots to pick up Lady. its our carpool day. then we'll catch the second half on recording as well. holler tomorrow, hopefully we will be in high spirits.
and HA! again, you shouldn't gloat, but maybe a nice gentle poking might be in order.
due to riding mass transit during the match, i only caught the post-game highlights of the portsmouth game (which i think was best, because had i caught it live i would've required quite a rinsing).
manu had their opportunities and have themselves to blame for not finishing the match.
as long as pompey doesn't sleep on west bromwich albion looks like we'll be headed to europe next season.
good luck against inter. i think stevie gave you enough cushion.
and the singing has started. Let me tell you the story of a poor boy...
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