FA Cup: Manchester United Survive; Draw Arsenal in Quarters
In the final match of the Fifth Round Proper in FA Cup action, Manchester United survived a scare on Monday night at Deepdale. Surprisingly, the EPL giants found their spot in the FA Cup quarterfinals in jeopardy, down to Preston North End entering the 65th minute. Luckily for the Red Devils, they struck three times in the final 25+ minutes to defeat the hosts 3-1.
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The first half of the match was devoid of any great chances and both teams went into the half scoreless. Preston North End were thrilled to still be in contention against Manchester United, a team two divisions above them in English football. United had not forced Preston North End keeper Thorsten Stuckmann to even make a save. As a matter of fact, Preston North End went into the half with more shots on goal than Manchester United, 2-0.
As the second half got underway, it only took two minutes for a lifeless match to escalate. Joe Garner sent 26-year old Scott Laird in on goal. Laird buried a hard shot that David DeGea couldn’t handle; scoring the biggest goal of his life. Laird and teammates celebrated as if they had won the cup, forcing referee Phil Dowd to show yellow to Laird on the celebration. Deepdale was delirious for the next 18 minutes; that’s when the party ended.
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Ander Herrera took a shot that bounced off the post and went in past the Lilywhite’s keeper to equalize the match. The goal did not come without controversy as FIFA’s Law 11 “Interfering with Play” offsides came into question. Wayne Rooney was offsides, but dodged out of the way just in time before the ball hit the post and bounced in. Whether the English international was interfering or not was discussed endlessly by pundits, but in the end referee Phil Dowd and his linesmen deemed the goal legal and it stood.
Seven minutes later, Marouane Fellaini followed up his own header with a volley that put United up for good, 2-1. A late Wayne Rooney penalty, after what can be described as an embarrassing dive, put the match to bed. The Preston North End faithful stayed until the end and gave their team a standing ovation after the match, realizing that they had put a scare into one of England’s footballing giants.
The draw for the FA Cup quarterfinals had taken place just before the match, and pitted the winner of this match in a home tie against in-form Arsenal. With all the inferior sides left, Manchester United v. Arsenal will be the match of the quarterfinals as two titans take the field at Old Trafford.
The Gunners were impressive themselves in their FA Cup victory over Championship-leading Middlesbrough on Sunday. Arsenal bossed possession in the first half, leading to two impressive goals by Olivier Giroud in a span of two minutes 14 seconds. The first goal involved all 11 Arsenal players touching the ball in the build up to the finisher, while the second included a thumping volley off a quick corner from Alexis Sanchez.
Arsenal and Manchester United are tied for the most FA Cup titles all-time with 11 each. Only one will be able to make the trip to Wembley. Arsenal have not won at Old Trafford since 2006; a string of misery that includes an 8-2 embarrassing defeat in August of 2011.
In the other FA Cup quarterfinals, Liverpool favorably drew Blackburn Rovers at Anfield. Aston Villa, with new manager Tim Sherwood, have a shot at making it to Wembley with a win at home against West Bromwich Albion. Finally, Bradford City will host Reading in a match that will guarantee that a lower division side makes it to the semi-finals.
The complete FA Cup Quarterfinal draw is listed below:
[table id=33]
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