FA Cup semi-final preview

Injuries is the word of the day as Aston Villa, Chelsea, Portsmouth and Tottenham gear up for their respective FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley this weekend. Spurs are sweating on the fitness of influential centre-half Michael Dawson for their match with Portsmouth, while Martin O’Neill will have to make late calls on midfielder James Milner and central defender Richard Dunne for the re-run of Villa’s 7-1 drubbing at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.

Despite that result, Martin O’Neill insists his men are ready to set the record straight against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who are on course to do the double having taken a 2 point lead over Manchester United at the top of the Premier League. “Those players will want to make sure they don’t end up getting another result like that”, O’Neill told Soccernet.com. “It won’t be 7-1, that’s for sure, it’s going to be a close game”.

Villa have had a superb season under O’Neill but there is speculation that he will leave at the end of the season, with bigger names calling. Having narrowly lost out to Manchester United in the Carling Cup final back in February, O’Neill will be eager for victory this time. If Villa are to overcome the League leaders then Richard Dunne will need to be fit, as will Milner, and they’ll need every ounce of Emile Heskey to stay on his feet against Terry and co. Stopping Drogba and limiting Lampard will also be key, and the running of Ashley Young on the left side may play an influential role.

As for Chelsea, Ancelotti’s season can go either way. If they do end up as League Champions, as well as win the FA Cup, he’ll be deemed a huge success. However, if United pip them to the post and Villa complete their revenge mission on Saturday afternoon, questions over his future will inevitably be asked. It’s a thin line managing Chelsea these days, and Ancelotti will know just what is expected of him.

Daniel Sturridge is Chelsea’s leading goalscorer in this year’s competition, but he most probably won’t start. There is also doubt over who will start in goal, with Chelsea’s Cup ‘keeper Hilario struggling with a groin strain, with Branislav Ivanovic likely to return to the side after shaking off a knee injury.

Prepare for a close game between two counter-attacking sides, with perhaps extra time and penalties to follow.

George’s prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea – Chelsea to win on penalties

Tottenham go into their match with Portsmouth as strong favourites, but with nothing for Pompey to play for in the League they’ll be determined to go all the way in the Cup. Harry Redknapp has also stated that his side will be going all out to win the FA Cup, with their chances of finishing in 4th place not at all a certainty.

Spurs will be without Aaron Lennon, Vedran Corluka, Tom Huddlestone, Ledley King, Jermaine Jenas and Jonathan Woodgate for the tie, and there are also doubts over Michael Dawson’s fitness. 20-year old midfielder Jake Livermore is in line for a start, but not in his usual position. With Woodgate and King both out, and with Dawson unlikely to start, Livermore may be forced to partner Sebastien Bassong in the heart of the defence. Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker will play no part either, as they are both cup-tied.

Avram Grant has no fresh injury worries ahead of Sunday’s game, with the only problems remaining off the field with new contract rows brewing. Grant will be fully focussed on on-the-field matters however, and one has to feel that if his side are to come away with a win, Aruna Dindane and Frederic Piquionne will be key. Experienced goalkeeper David James knows a thing or two about Cup ties as well, so a good performance from him is a necessity.

Spurs will look for the aerial prowess of former Pompey man Peter Crouch, while Jermain Defoe will look to reignite his early season spark. For me, it will only go one way, and that’s the way of Redknapp’s men. Ideally, they’d look for an early goal and not let Portsmouth settle in the game. Avram Grant will want a solid start, to not concede, and try and hit Spurs on the counter with the pace of the likes of Belhadj and Dindane.

George’s prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Portsmouth

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Calamitous refereeing leaves Wenger fuming

Controversy was the flavour of the night in Lisbon, as Arsenal went down 2-1 to a mediocre Porto side in the Estadio do Dragao. Perhaps fortunate for Arsenal, the match won’t be remembered for the Football but for a series of blunders from both referee Martin Hansen and from Gunners’ goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Fabianski played a major hand in Porto’s opener as he spilled a Varela cross into his net after placing himself in a rather dubious position. However, the lead and Fabianski’s red face didn’t last long, as Sol Campbell headed the equalizer from a corner which was headed back across goal by Tomas Rosicky. 1-1 after 20 minutes.

It was the second half that brought about the most controversial and bizarre moment of the match. On 50 minutes Lukasz Fabianksi picked up a very unnecessary and perhaps not entirely purposeful back-pass from Sol Campbell, and Porto were awarded an indirect free-kick inside the penalty area. In an attempt to hold up play and allow his defenders to get back and form a wall, Fabianski kept hold of the ball whilst protesting with the Swedish referee. However, Fabianski forgot one of the most fundamental rules of being a goalkeeper; get back on your line as quickly as possible.

The Polish International then obliged to the referee’s demands to throw the ball back, before turning to the linesman some 50 yards away on the touchline to partake in yet more protesting. Whilst his back was turned, Ruben Michael took a quick free kick to his teammate Falcao who duly slotted the ball into an open net. 2-1 Porto.

The referee’s performance has been subject to a lot of criticism since the incident last night, the majority of which has come from the mouth of Arsene Wenger, who isn’t shy to voice his displeasures when he feels his side are hard done by.

"What can you do about the second goal? The back-pass was accidental, whenever do you see the defender kick the ball with his toe? The ball hits Sol, it was not on purpose and it has to be intentional to be a free kick. It is difficult to understand how the referee can interpret that."

For me, if the referee sees that Campbell has hit the ball back at Fabianski with any part of his foot, it has to be a back-pass. Campbell’s reaction (pictured) is perhaps a giveaway, as he goes straight to hold his head in his hands before rising to place his hands on his hips as if to say ‘what have I done?’. It’s a clear back-pass in my opinion and the referee got that bit exactly right. Wenger went on to say:

"I have never seen that and I have been in the game a long time. It is difficult to understand. It is completely inappropriate that he allows that in such a situation. When the referee gives the free-kick he has to allow us a chance to defend it, otherwise it is better to give a goal straight away."

Once again, I believe that Wenger is wrong here. It is completely within Porto’s rights to take a quick free kick, and the referee is 100% entitled to allow them to do just that. I’m sure had the incident been given at the other end, and Arsenal had been disallowed a goal because they’d taken a quick free kick, Mr. Wenger would be equally as angry. It’s clever thinking, and quick-minded play from the two Porto players.

The one area of the incident which hasn’t received any coverage, and comes as a surprise to me, is the referee’s position as Porto take the free kick. Mr. Hansen is stood directly in front of Sol Campbell, blocking his attempt to stop the taking of the free kick.  Surely had the referee not been stood blocking Campbell’s way then Campbell would have been able to prevent the goal. He may have been booked for doing that, but Arsenal would not have conceded. Can there be any blame pointed at the referee for that?

Martin Hansen has been involved in his fair share of controversial moments in the last 6 months or so, none more so than Thierry Henry’s infamous handball that knocked Ireland out of the World Cup. But I feel he handled the situation as well as he could have done on this occasion.

Hansen’s performance obviously left Arsene Wenger fuming, but even with a Fabianski own goal and a controversial Falcao goal, Arsenal didn’t deserve to win the match. Their performance was nothing short of woeful, and they were lucky to  lose by just the one goal. Fabregas, Diaby, and Nasri were all way short of top form, and constantly gave possession back to the home side with sloppy short-range passes and a willingness to keep hold of the ball for far too long. The Gunners didn’t look at all threatening in the final 3rd of the pitch either, and it was only when Theo Walcott came on that they started to attack Porto. Even then, they didn’t get the ball to the tricky winger often enough.

Sol Campbell looked unfit and nervy at the back and Denilson was an ineffective foil in front of the back four. As for the goalkeeper’s performance, this will be a match that Lukasz Fabianski will want to forget rapidly. Arsene Wenger refused to criticise the Pole, however:

"I do not want to come out individually on Lukasz’s performance, and judge him in front of everybody. You have to accept you lose as a team and win as a team. Any individual performance is not to be analysed publicly."

So after such a poor performance and result for Arsenal, it can only get better at the Emirates in 3 weeks time. The one positive they can take is they have the vital away goal heading into the second leg. They may even have Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song, and Manuel Almunia all fit again, leaving them with a thin silver lining to a thick cloud from Lisbon.