Manchester City, Chelsea, and Manchester United are through to the final four of the 2024 FA Cup, and the semi-final quartet is made up by Championship side Coventry City, who won a five-goal thriller away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
All the magic of the FA Cup was on show as the game ebbed and flowed before Coventry’s Haji Wright curled in a brilliant winner in the tenth minutes of time added on, to send the Sky Blue fans home in dreamland.
The second-tier team, managed by former Manchester United striker Mark Robins, had plenty to say in this West Midlands derby, and they took a deserved lead when Ellis Simms bundled the ball over the line early in the second half.
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves made the expected comeback when Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno struck late on, and when the match entered added time, it looked like Coventry’s hopes of a second FA Cup semi-final had disappeared, but Simms scored again on 97 minutes, and the shock result was complete when Wright’s quality finish beat Jose Sa and nestled in the net.
Coventry won the FA Cup in 1987, and their hopes of being the first second-tier team to win the competition since 1980 are still alive. But they will have to beat one of the best teams in world football at some point.
Champions break another record
A 2-0 win over Newcastle United took holders Manchester City through to the semi-final, and they became the first team to reach six consecutive FA Cup semi-finals in history.
My SBOTOP mate James backed the Sky Blues to be ahead by the break, and so they were as Bernardo Silva scored a first-half brace, but the Portuguese ace had a little luck on his side.
The Magpies had knocked City out of the Carabao Cup earlier this season, but they were two down within half an hour at the Etihad Stadium. Silva dribbled into the penalty area, and his shot ballooned up and into the net off the foot of Dan Burn.
Newcastle didn’t learn, and when Silva found space to shoot again, this time it flicked the head of Sven Botman to deceive Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal.
Alexander Isak had a great chance to half the deficit, but the Magpies striker fluffed his lines, and Manchester City strolled to victory. With 72 per cent possession, 16 shots to two, and five to one on target, it was a more comprehensive win than the score suggested. The FA Cup 2024 betting odds rate the Sky Blues as favourites to pick up this part of their treble defence, and they are the favourites in the Premier League and Champions League too.
So far so good.
Red Devils beat Liverpool in a seven-goal thriller
There were goals aplenty at Old Trafford, where Manchester United stunned Liverpool with a last minute winner from Ivorian youngster Amad Diallo.
The Red Devils started brightly, and Scott McTominay hammered home a rebound with just nine minutes on the clock.
9,000 Liverpool fans who made the short trip up the East Lancs Road thought they were level when Endo slotted home on 36 minutes, but Mo Salah was a whisker offside in the build-up. But they did have their equaliser before long when Darwin Nunez teed up Alexis MacAllister, and he beat Andre Onana at his near post.
And the match was turned around on the brink of halftime when Mo Salah fired home a rebound after Onana had saved from Nunez.
That quick turnaround gave Erik Ten Hag a different halftime talk to deliver, and his team dug in, taking the game to extra time when Antony swivelled and fired home on 87 minutes.
Liverpool had dominated, and they looked jaded going into extra time, but Harvey Elliot made it 3-2 thanks to a wicked deflection off Christian Eriksen. When Marcus Rashford slid home, another leveller, Old Trafford, erupted, and then there was bedlam as Amad Diallo fired home the 120th-minute winner.
What a game!
Chelsea make hard work of it
Mauricio Pochettino is one step away from leading Chelsea to a second domestic final of the season thanks to a 4-2 win over Championship leaders Leicester City, but this was no walk in the park.
The Carabao Cup finalists were two up by the break after Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer struck. They should have been three ahead, but Raheem Sterling, who had a stinker all afternoon, fired a penalty tamely at Jakub Stolarczyk.
Chelsea have a habit of surrendering leads this season, and the Foxes put up a real fight, and they were level midway through the second half after a moment of madness and then a piece of real quality. Firstly, Chelsea defender Axel Disasi lifted the ball into his own net, beyond the stranded Robert Sanchez.
Disasi won’t want to see the FA Cup 2024 highlights of this game, but Stephy Mavididi certainly will, because his curling beauty levelled for the Foxes just on the hour. At that stage, the game was wide open, but it became much harder for Leicester when Callum Doyle tripped Nicolas Jackson on the edge of the penalty area, and a red card was the inevitable outcome.
Sterling blasted the free-kick into Row Z, leaving the Blues with work to do to break down their brave visitors. Leicester held on until injury time, but Carney Chukwuemake finished off a slick move before Noni Madueka rounded off the win with a brilliant strike into the top corner.
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