United States
United KingdomOn Sunday, Southampton and Chelsea joined Tottenham and Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals. Here is what happened in Sunday’s two quarter-finals:
Mark Hughes starts life as a Saint with a win
Former Stoke City boss Mark Hughes started life as Southampton boss with a 2-0 victory over FA Cup giant-killers League One Wigan Athletic.
The Latics had previously eliminated Bournemouth, West Ham and most notably Manchester City. However, the north side could not make it four out of four, as Hughes picked up a victory in his first game in charge of the Potters.
The team from the south coast took until the 62nd minute to take the lead against the League One outfit. Latic’s goalkeeper Christian Walton did well to keep out a powerful header from midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. However, the Saints midfielder found the net with a hooked effort from the resulting corner kick.
The Saints had a chance to double their lead after the goal, as Dan Burns felled Manolo Gabbiadini in the area. The Italian forward dusted himself off and took the penalty himself, only for Walton to produce a fantastic save. Hughes side sealed victory in stoppage-time on the counter-attack, as full-back Cedric Soares fired past Walton for his first ever goal for the club.
Wigan can now concentrate on winning promotion back to the Championship after their memorable cup run. Southampton will face Chelsea in the last four and are major underdogs to make it to the final.
Pedro fires Chelsea through in extra-time
Chelsea needed extra-time to beat fellow Premier League outfit Leicester 2-1 at the King Power Stadium.
The visitors took the lead on 42 minutes. Brazilian international Willian did well to beat Ben Chilwell and Wilfred Ndidi before finding Alvaro Morata, who advanced on goal before firing past Kasper Schmeichel.
The Foxes equalised on 75 minutes. Vicente Iborra had a shot saved and a shot blocked before the ball fell to England striker Jamie Vardy, who fired an effort rather through the arms of Blues goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
The game was nearly decided on the stroke of full time with both sides having chances to win finish the game. Caballero produced a good save to deny Vardy a second goal of the game. At the other end of the pitch, Schmeichel saved a shot by Morata and then smothered at the feet of the former Real Madrid striker. The winning goal arrived on 105 minutes. French midfielder N’Golo Kante chipped a ball into the box and Pedro got up above Schmeichel to head home.
This season is the fourth time in seven seasons that Chelsea has reached the last four of the FA Cup. The Blues will fancy their chances of lifting the trophy, as it is the only trophy available for Antonio Conte’s side to win.
As previously mentioned Chelsea will face Southampton in the semi-finals for the chance to lift the trophy in May. Elsewhere, Manchester United and Tottenham have been paired in the other semi-final, which should be an intriguing contest.
Who will win this season’s FA Cup?
