BOLTON THE LATEST TO FALL

 

(Image taken from BBC)

Last time around, Bolton had Gary Megson in charge. He couldn't get his side to achieve much against United though. First up, United beat them 2-0 at Old Trafford with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring one of the goals in a straightforward display from the Reds. That was followed midseason by a 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium, and well, the headline to the linked article says it all. Not exactly a classic but it proved to be three very valuable points. Overall, well United went on to claim their third Premiership title in a row while Bolton yet again got sucked into a relegation battle which they managed to survive, Still, they have certainly been able to mug the Reds from time to time.

This time around well Megson was still around for our last encounter, a 2-1 win at Old Trafford but since then well Megson got booted, Steve Wigley was given a brief caretaker spot and then Owen Coyle was hired as Wanderers gaffer. And still Bolton have yet again been dragged into the relegation battle while United are top of the league. And so we have a Premiership match at the Reebok Stadium. Vidic and Evans in central defence, Scholes Fletcher and Giggsy in central midfield with Berbatov up front due to a slight Rooney niggle. Luckilly nothing serious. Should be one of our more straightforward encounters given that we have a tough Champions League battle ahead.

Well the early stages of the match weren't exactly awesome but I had to give credit to Bolton for giving us a match in those early stages. Johan Elmander in particular gave us something to think about with a low corner shot. Wanders continued to have the better of the opportunies as the first half went on but still, United benefitted from a blunder of theirs at the other end. In the 38th minute Jlloyd Samuel should have cleared Valencia's cross but instead sent it into his own net, fine by us. United themselves wound up dodging a bullet before half time but were still in front at the whistle. Not exactly a vintage display but so far it was good enough.

Bolton proved to be as rough and ready as always in the early stages of the second half but that was fine by our defenders who were happy to stand up to their tactics. We even broke forward to double our lead when a 69th minute fast break led to the Bolton goalie being only able to parry Fletcher's initial shot before Berbatov slotted in the rebound. Nani then went on to set up the Bulgarian assasin for his second goal in the 78th minute before Nani set up another goal, this time for sub Gibson in injury time and that was Wanderers buried for another match. For a 4-0 though, I still wouldn't call it our greatest result of the season but we did what needed to be done.

Elsewhere, Chelsea have been busy. First up they beat Portsmouth 5-0 at Fratton Park. Well did anyone really expect the doomed Pompey, led by former Chelsea gaffer Arvam Grant to give them a match? Somehow I don't think so? The real jawdropper though came on the weekend when the Blues hammered Villa of all teams 7-1 at Stamford Bridge! The scores were level at half time as well, how they pulled that off I'm not sure. However, United are still top of the Premiership, and though Chelsea are our nearest challengers again, they are still one point behind us and now the two sides are level on games played. Hold on tight.

Midweek, Spurs faced Fulham in an FA Cup quarter final replay at White Hart Lane. Fulham stunned the home fans when ex-Spurs assasin Bobby Zamora opened the scoring and Harry Redknapp's crew certainly looked as though they lacked fire in the first half. That changed in the second half when David Bentley equalised, Roman Pavlyuchenko completed the turnaround and Eidur Gudjonsson finished Fulham off. Congratulations to Spurs who claim their first FA Cup semi final since George Graham was managing them back in '01 while Fulham despite their amazing European run, have to put their Wembley dreams on hold for another year.

And so, next up are the FA Cup semi finals. The first match at Wembley will see Chelsea(second FA Cup semi final in a row) face Villa(first FA Cup semi final since '00). Even before the Blues ripped Villa apart in the Premiership it looked as though Chelsea would win that one. Then we have Spurs(first FA Cup semi since '01) facing Portsmouth(first FA Cup semi since the twilight zone year of '08). Spurs are the safe bet to win that one. Which means that the 2010 FA Cup final looks likely to be between Chelsea and Spurs at Wembley. That matchup would certainly be tasty but surely Chelsea would lift the FA Cup again if that's how things were to play out.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced St Mirren at Pittodrie in the SPL. The Dons were starving for a result going into this game and sure enough, Diamond opened the scoring, allowing them to at least finish the first half in the lead. Aluko made it two early on in the second half and though Steven Robb pulled one back for the Buddies and the Dons wound up finishing the match with ten men they were still able to hold out and pick up a win for once. Mark McGhee's men have finally stopped the rot and not before time - failing to win this match would have meant this Dons team would have made club history for the wrong reasons. More of this please!

Elsewhere, Hearts were beaten 4-1 by Rangers at Tynecastle with the Gers opening the scoring only for Hearts to equalise when the game was still in it's early stages. However by the end of the match, the home side was well and truly buried. Falkirk were beaten 3-1 by Hibs at the Falkirk Stadium. While the home side did open the scoring, Hibs equalised soon afterwards and that game was pretty much over by half time with the Bairns making a habit of blowing early leads. Either way it means that the Dons remain 8th in the SPL, six points behind Hibs and the top half of the table but twelve points ahead of Falkirk and relegation and with a game in hand over both teams.

Earlier, Hibs had had to deal with a Scottish Cup quarter final replay against SD1 Ross County at the Victoria Ground. The underdogs had their uses in the first half but Hibs still looked like the better side, however they were unable to hit the net. That changed early in the second half when Anthony Stokes opened the scoring. However the Hibs fans shouldn't have counted chickens. Goals from Garry Wood and Scott Boyd meant that it was County that wound up taking the glory on this occasion. It does mean though that only two SPL sides have made the Scottish Cup semi finals on this occasion, making the competition look slightly wierd.

So, now those north of the border have the Scottish Cup semi finals to look forward to. First up at Hampden Park, Celtic(first Scottish Cup semi since '07)will face SD1 Ross County(first ever Scottish Cup semi). Surely the Greens will win that one. Next up, Dundee United(first Scottish Cup semi since '05) will face local rivals Dundee, now in SD1(first Scottish Cup semi since '06). Chances are the SPL side will have the edge in that one. Which would result in an all-SPL Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Dundee United at Hampden Park. This would certainly be a tasty affair but I would expect the Greens to take home the trophy on this occasion.

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