CITY, WOLVES, STOKE, ARSENAL STILL STANDING

 

 

Well United had already taken care of business in the FA Cup 3rd round and had no specific interest in the replays that were set up in that round of matches. That didn't mean though that the replays weren't interesting in themselves though. FA Cup 3rd round replays can be a tricky proposition, particularly if you were the home side first time around. This time around there were four ties to be tidied up and each of them pitted a Premiership side against lower division opposition. In theory, the Premiership sides that had failed to take care of business on home turf first time around were liable to get mugged but we'd have to see what happened on the night.

First up, Man City faced Championship Leicester at the City of Manchester Stadium. Carlos Tevez opened the scoring for the Blues only for Paul Gallacher to level almost immediately and then the Blues retook the lead through Patrick Viera and Adam Johnson made it three before half time. The second half turned out to be a much quieter affair and it looked as though the Blues were on cruise control already but Leicester pulled one back late on through Lloyd Dyer only for the underdogs to be finished off by Alexander Kolorov. The Blues now face L1 Notts County at Meadow Lane in the next round, that should be relatively straightforward for them.

Wolves faced Championship Doncaster at Molineux. The Premiership side opened the scoring through Steven Fletcher but the rest of the opening period was fairly quiet and by half time Wolves didn't have much of a nedge in terms of general play. That changed in the second half though with Geoffrey Mujanji Gia making it two, Kevin Doyle three and Matthew Jarvis four. By that point the game was over but still, David Jones made it five before the end. For Wolves that makes this their ninth trip to the FA Cup 4th round in a row - pretty impressive record given that they've not been a Premiership side for the whole of that period of time.

Championship Cardiff faced Stoke at the Cardiff City stadium. The Premiership side fielded a relatively weak team and that resulted in a relatively weak match overall and such a match was only going to be in one state at half time, goalless. In the second half, well if anything it was Cardiff that made the effort to liven up the match by bringing on Michael Chopra. The former Premiership player certainly gave the visitors plenty of grief but still, neither side could hit the net. That forced extra time and with it, the hope that someone could come up with something that would spice this match up - the concern was that no one wanted to win it.

In extra time, luckilly Stoke finally pulled rank on the competition with Johnathon Walters opening the scoring early on. After that, Cardiff never really looked like getting an equaliser and were left needing a second win going into the final period. However that second wind never happened and Stoke were pretty much able to run the show. Walters went on to grab his second goal the home side were left with their tails between their legs and a few scumbags to deal with. Stoke face Wolves in an all-Premiership tie at Molineux Stadium in the next round which should be a tight affair if nothing else. Safe bet says it'll go with home advantage.

Finally, Championship Leeds faced Arsenal at Elland Road. Well the Gunners opened the scoring early on through Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna doubled their advantage with a quality strike only for Leeds to pull one back in similar fashion before half time. As the second half went on, the Gunners looked to be cruising through the match and their subs gave Leeds even more reason to worry. Robin van Persie finished Leeds off and that's one banana skin dodged for Arsene Wenger's crew. Arsenal will face L1 Huddersfield at the Emirates Stadium in the next round. You'd have though that would be a pretty straightforward affair for a Champions League team.

North of the border, Dunfirmline faced Montrose in an all-SD1 Scottish Cup 4th round replay at East End Park. Andy Kirk opened the scoring for the home side with Steven McDougall making it two and Dunfirmline looked to be cruising at half time. Then came an own goal by Callum Wood early in the second half to allow Montrose back in the game but then David Graham restored the Pars two goal lead then got his second from close range. Wille Gibson got Dunfirmline's fifth with a Willie Gibson pen. Montrose then pulled two back with a Paul Tosh double including a pen that left Dunfirmline down to ten men! Pars still through to the next round though.

So, Aberdeen will face SD1 Dunfirmline at Pittodrie in the Scottish Cup fifth round. Well on the one hand Dunfirmline are one of the better teams in their division and also they've mugged the Dons before in the Cup, back in '09. Yet the Dons have undeniably found overall form under Craig Brown who has created the smoothest Dons team I have seen in some time. Could the Dons still get mugged. Well I'd certainly expect the Pars to give them a match but beating 'this' Dons team at Pittodrie? I suspect it'll take a better team than Dunfirmline to do so. Bottom line, I can't see the Dons not making the quarter finals given this opposition.

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