CHELSEA VS SPURS IN CARLING FINAL, DONS MARCH ON, BRISTOL ROVERS CLAIM SCALP!

 

 

Four teams, one step away from Wembley. The first legs of the Carling Cup semi finals had proven to be tight affairs. In one tie, the favourites won their home leg but didn't look like killing the tie off. In the other, an upset definately looked on the cards thanks to the fanourites trying to cruise their way through. Either way we potentially had two classic second leg encounters on our hands with three of the teams involved needing whatever glory they could get!

First up, Spurs played Arsenal at White Hart Lane. Well Jermaine Jenas quickly opened the scoring for Spurs with Niklas Bendtner then putting the ball into his own net to make it 2-0! Robbie Keane then made it three, Aaron Lennon made it four and it was only then that Arsene Wenger though that it might be an idea to turn up the heat. Too late, though Emmanual Adebayor did pull one back for the Gunners it was Steed Malbranque that finished off what will have to go down as a classic night in Spurs history.

Elsewhere, Everton faced Chelsea at Goodison Park. Everton had the early attacks though once Chelsea got going then the best Everton could hope for was for the match to remain goalless at half time. That much came off but the Toffees couldn't turn the game around in the second half and Joe Cole hit what turned out to be the winner! Everton looked absolutely ragged late on and Chelsea just needed to kick the ball around to secure their spot in the final.

So the Carling Cup final will be a match between Spurs and Chelsea at Wembley. For both sides it'll be a battle for what will probably be the only trophy they'll pick up this season. Chelsea have the better players but then again so did Arsenal! Juande Ramos has good history in cup competitions from his time in Seville. However unlike Wenger, Arvam Grant is unlikely to play his reserves even in this competition and so Chelsea will probably retain the Carling Cup!

Aberdeen faced Falkirk in the Scottish Cup 4th round replay at Pittodrie. Smith opened the scoring with de Visscher making it two before half time, the Dons taking command of a match with Falkirk for the first time this season. Smith made it three early on in the second half. Graham Barrett then pulled one back for Falkirk but the visitors never really looked like coming back as the Dons finished well on top and could have won by three goals at least.

Elsewhere, Brechin were supposed to face Hamilton at Glebe Park. Slight problem, the issues that Scottish Cup football has been having with the weather continue to plague the competition and the D2 hosts fell victim to a frozen pitch. The D1 visitors were certainly going into the match confident of a win though even if Brechin have been on form recently. As it is they'll be cutting it pretty fine to play the match before the next round is scheduled.

Another all-SPL tie had Motherwell facing Hearts at Fir Park. Ross McCormack opened the scoring for Motherwell with a penalty and it was the home side that pretty much ran the show in the first half. Hearts did step up a gear in the second half and did enough to cancel out the Motherwell effort but they still needed to find an equaliser and the home side's defence was able to do enough to keep them out, forcing them into an early exit!

So in the Scottish Cup 5th round Aberdeen will face either Brechin or Hamilton at Pittodrie. The question still remains of who whill win the Brechin vs Hamilton replay. Well even though the replay will be at their place, with Brechin at the lower end of D2 I still can't see a win for them. So can the Dons beat the likes of Hamilton on home turf? Well they certainly ought to and I don't see any reason why the Dons won't make the quarter finals.

In a delayed FA Cup 3rd round replay, Bristol Rovers faced Fulham at the Memorial Stadium. Fulham fielded a relatively weak side with Roy Hodgson more worried about Premiership survival though the players that were around were enough to give the L1 side's goalie a headache. However it was Rovers that had the much better game but the match still went to extra time with Chris Lines having a shot cleared off the line with seconds remaining.

In extra time Rovers stayed on the attack though both sides put on fresh legs allowing Fulham to have chances of their own but with only 15 minutes of open play left, both sides were looking knackered. Dejan Stefanovic getting sent off late on could have helped the underdogs but in the end the match went to penalties. From there, it was Rovers that won the shootout 5-3 and Fulham became the latest Premiership mugs in this season's FA Cup!

Cue fourth round action.

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