SCOUSERS SUNK IN CUP

 

 

What can be said about the FA Cup that hasn't already been said. Well put it this way, ESPN have just asked for out votes in an All Time FA Cup XI. How are we meant to work that out - I don't think there's anyone in the entire world that was alive in 1872! Still, the ultimate David vs Goliath battle remains - and it's the one trophy that United haven't snapped up for a while. The last time we did lift it was back in '04. The last time we made the final was in '07. The last time we made the semis was back in '09. And as for how we got on last time round - well that was the biggest United Cup blunder in my memory. Let's hope we can do better than that this time round at least.

Last time around, we faced then L1 side Leeds at Old Trafford. I reckon the only people that would have predicted the correct scoreline would have been drunk Leeds fans. Getting beaten 1-0 in those circumstances, well it wasn't a matter of life and death but it was seriously gutting at the time all the same. The last time we won an FA Cup 3rd round match was back in '09 when we faced then Championship Southampton at St Mary's and beat them 3-0. The Reds didn't exactly need their strongest XI to win that one and the home side going down to ten men did us a favour as well. Those are the kind of FA Cup ties we like, nice and smooth and easy.

This time around though we faced Liverpool. The last time we faced the Scousers in the FA Cup was in the 05/06 fifth round. On that occasion it was another of those Cup matches United fans prefer to forget, a 1-0 defeat at Anfield. For the last time we beat LFC in the Cup you have to go back to the Treble winners of '99. Back then I was in secondary school and I think was in a gym session run by an LFC fan that weekend. It was a 4th round rumble at Old Trafford, Michael Owen of all people opened the scoring for Pool that day then Dwight Yorke grabbed what was already a late equaliser and then "who put the ball in the Scousers net, who put the bal in the Scousers net, who put the ball in the Scousers net, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer".

On paper a Cup match against the Scousers is the last thing United needed. Yet this are dark days for the Anfield crew and the fact that they booted Roy Hodgson in favour of Kenny Dalgleish says in all about their desperation to turn things round. At least their fans were happy. Would that move be enough for them to win an FA Cup 3rd round tie at Old Trafford. I'd have thought it unlikely, not that Fergie was taking any chances. Rio and Evans in central defence, Fletcher and Carrick central midfield, Giggsy captain. The tie of the round by far was about to get underway and the Scousers were most certainly there for the taking.

Well it wasn't long before...well I'm not going to pretend that wasn't a dive but the bottom line was, Giggsy slotted the resulting 2nd minute pen and United have been the wrong end of enough of those decisions over the years. After we scored though, it wasn't like we needed to do much else, and when the Scousers went down to ten men, well it looked pretty unlikely that they were going to be in a position to turn the game around. I can't blame Dalgleish for snarking at half time but still, while I'd have rather our opening goal wasn't so messy, we were 1-0 up against the Scousers who now had to operate without their talisman. What wasn't to like.

Well we failed to go two up early in the second half and Pool did try to make an effort to grab an equaliser with Ryan Babbel in particular coming close. Still, we were never likely to have it all our own way in this match and the important thing was we weathered that particular storm. After that though, United slipped back into an all-too-familiar cruise mode. Then again, like so many times this season, it wasn't as if we needed to do much else. The full time whistle blew and the inevitable snarks about how we got that goal started immediately. Who cares? After the farce of last season it was just good to win an FA Cup match - now let's see how far we can go.

Elsewhere, enough Premiership teams got mugged. Championship Reading beat West Brom 1-0 at the Madjeski Stadium with a first half winner. L1 Southamption beat Blackpool 2-0 at St Mary's with two second half strikes. Sunderland were beaten 2-1 by L1 Notts County at the Stadium of Light with what was largely a Sunderland reserves side making themselves look like morons. L2 Stevenage beat Newcastle 3-1 at Broadhall Way in one of those matches where you weren't sure who the top flight side was meant to be! Still, sixteen Premiership teams survived to make it into the 4th round draw so we haven't gone into the twilight zone quite yet.

Still the 4th round draw has been made and United face L1 Southampton at St Mary's. If you want to go into the history books, you can call this a rematch of the 1976 final, one occasion where the Saints mugged us. More recently well, while I can remember the Saints Premiership days and relatively succsessful ones at that the fact is that they've had a rough time since then. They're on course for promotion from their division but really I'm expecting a similar result to what happened back in '09. Yes, Leeds fans would tell me not to get cocky but surely we've learned from those mistakes. Surely United are the safe bet to win this one.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced SD2 East Fife in the Scottish Cup 4th round at Pittodrie. Well Maguire opened the scoring for the Dons and he went on to grab a second with Vernon then joining the party before Maguire completed his hat-trick before half time. The lower division side made a better effort to keep the Dons at bay in the second half but were broken down once again with Vernon grabbing his second and then Josh Magennis opened his Dons account to finish the opponents off. Awesome work from Craig Brown and crew to not only avoid what would have been an embarrasing mugging but to show once and for all that the Dons mean business now.

Elsewhere, though there were no serious muggings in the Cup on this occasion, there were two all-SPL ties that were settled. St Johnstone beat Hearts 1-0 at Tynecastle in what proved to be a rough and ready affair with a late winner. Rangers then beat Kilmarnock 3-0 at Ibrox and that result must have been so predictable that hardly anyone showed up. Killie were certainly not firing on all cylinders and you certainly need to be when you're on the Old Firm's turf. So, that means that ten SPL teams have survived to reach the fifth round, like the competition south of the border, it doesn't look like anything particularly wierd will happen this time around.

Well the 5th round draw has been made and Aberdeen will face whoever wins the all-SD1 4th round replay between Dunfirmline and Montrose at East End Park, at Pittodrie. Well with the Pars top of the division and on home turf for the replay, it's a safe bet that they will face the Dons. So, Aberdeen vs Dunfirmline at Pittodrie, how would that play out? Well the SD1 leaders would certainly be a potential banana skin so the Dons certainly couldn't take them completely for granted. However Craig Brown certainly seems to know what he's doing and at Pittodrie, well yes the Dons have lost similar games but they are still the safe bet to make the quarter finals.

Back south of the border and the Carling Cup semi final 1st leg matches were taking place. First up, West Ham beat Birmingham 2-1 at Upton Park in the round's all-Premiership tie despite going down to ten men. That battle's still too close to call though. Championship Ipswich then beat Arsenal 1-0 at Portman Road. The Gunners were certainly the smoother side of the two but as certain Gunners fans keep complaining, smoothness doesn't neccersarilly win you games, even against lower division opponents. Still, that tie's certainly not done yet. As things stand though we're on course for a West Ham vs Ipswich final which I'd expect the Hammers to win.

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