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FA Cup. Arsenal will face Hull in the FA Cup final

Leon Smolski — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:02:59 +0000

Arsenal had a nervy semi-final and needed a penalty shoot-out to make it past Wigan Athletic to reach the FA Cup final.

It was never going to be easy for Arsene Wenger against defending champions Wigan Athletic, considering the slump of form in his team. And the Gunners were eight minutes away from disaster when Per Mertesacker netted an equalizer to put the game to extra time. Before that, Jordi Gomez put The Latics in front from penalty spot. Lukasz Fabianski excelled at pealty kicks and saved two shots. Arsenal now need to beat Hull City in the final to win to get their first trophy since 2005.

Hull City had an entertaining night against Sheffield United and proved stronger with a 5-3 win. The Tigers came from behind twice when Yannick Sagbo and Matt Fryatt denied Jose Baxter and Steven Scougall goals. Tom Huddlestone and Stephen Quinn put Hull in front but Jamie Murphy got The Blades back into the game with minutes to go in the dying time. However, David Meyler killed the game off on 93 minutes to see Hull reach the final on 17 May.

FA Cup results: Arsenal closer to trophy, Manchester City out

Leon Smolski — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:27:48 +0000

Manchester City lost plot as they concede to Championship outfit Wigan Athletic for the second time in a year. Arsene Wenger is just two steps away from first glory in nine years after beating Everton at Emirates.

Manchester City effectively ended their quest for quadruple after a humble night ast Etihad against Wigan Athletic. The Latics, who beat City in last year’s final, produced classy defensive performance and managed to beat Costel Pantilimon twice. Jordi Gomez scored from the spot on 27 minutes and James Perch netted in a counter-attack minutes after the break. Samir Nasri pulled one back on 68 minutes, but Wigan stood strong to keep a sensational victory against Premier League title contenders and book a meeting with Arsenal.

The Gunners beat Everton by 4-1, courtesy of Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta (penalty) and a late brace from substitute Olivier Giroud. Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal for The Toffees. Arsene Wenger’s way to his first silverware since 2005 is now all but in his hands with semifinal tie against Wigan Athletic and possible final versus Hull City or League One side Sheffield United.

Curtis Davies, David Meyler and Matt Fryatt scored for The Tigers as they outclassed Sunderland. Ryan Flynn and John Brayford netted for Sheffield United in a 2-0 victory over Championship strugglers Charlton Athletic.

Alan Pardew is charged with improper conduct by the FA

Leon Smolski — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 09:59:37 +0000

The FA charged Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew with impropers conduct. Punishment is yet to be determined.

The FA statement was:
‘It is alleged that in the 72nd minute of the fixture, Pardew was involved in an incident with a Hull City player that amounted to improper conduct.
Due to the serious violent and/or aggressive nature of the reported behaviour this case has been designated as non-standard.
Pardew has until 6pm on Thursday 6 March 2014 to respond to the charge’.

Pardew headbutted Hull City player David Meyler in the second half of the match at KC stadium last Saturday which caused uproar among supporters and pundits.

Many have condemned his actions and labelled them as ‘unacceptable’. The club’s management have fined him £100,000 but he will now most probably serve an extensive touchline ban, considering it is not the first time Pardew loses his temper during the matches. The manager has until 6 March to respond to the FA, but is likely to accept any punishment.

Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool and more Premier League news

Leon Smolski — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 08:55:26 +0000

Manchester City extend their winning home run in Premier League to nine matches after beating Liverpool 2-1.

Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring on 24 minutes after some nice piece of work from Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling. Vincent Kompany equalized seven minutes later before Simon Mignolet could not resist Alvaro Negredo’s powerful strike in the dying time of the first half. Liverpool have dropped to the fourth position ahead of another tough match on the road against Chelsea. Manchester City prepare to host Crystal Palace who have improved drastically under the new manager Tony Pulis.

Manchester United fought back from two goals down at Hull to keep chances of a top-4 finish. Steve Bruce’s men were leading 2-0 thirteen minutes into the game courtesy of goals from James Chester and David Meyler. The Red Devils, however, showed their fighting spirit and equalized before the break through Chris Smalling’s header and a stunning strike from Wayne Rooney. In the second half, they kept pushing and forced former United player Chester net a frustrating own goal. United now travel to Norwich while The Tigers take on Fulham.

Everton had a disastrous night as Leon Osman gave away an easy ball to Sung-Yong Ki and Tim Howard had to knock him down in the area. The goalkeeper was sent off after twenty-three minutes and The Korean striker converted a penalty kick. Everton looked for an equalizer by Gustavo Poyet’s squad survived against 10-man opponents. The Toffees suffered their second defeat of the season and will try to get back to winning ways in the match against Southampton on Sunday. The Black Cats travel to Cardiff.

Mark Hughes and two Stoke players were dismissed at St. James Park as Newcastle United went on to a 5-1 win. The Magpies will now face Arsenal in the last match of the year. Stoke travel to White Hart Lane.

Chelsea got another narrow three points against Swansea City and Arsenal were close to a defeat at West Ham but two late goals from Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski’s strike ensured the first victory for Arsene Wenger in the last four matches and a return to the top of the table.

Saturday fixtures:
West Ham United v West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa v Swansea City
Hull City v Fulham
Manchester City v Crystal Palace
Norwich City v Manchester United
Cardiff City v Sunderland

Sunday fixtures:
Everton v Southampton
Newcastle United v Arsenal
Chelsea v Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City