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Watford through, Venables out

Watford's Stephen Glass, left, is mobbed by his teammates after scoring during their FA Cup sixth-round match against Burnley at Watford's Vicarage Road ground, England, on Sunday . Watford won 2-0. PHOTO: AP

Terry Venables' nightmare season at Leeds got even worse on Sunday when division one Sheffield United completed a rare double by ousting his team from the FA Cup four months after knocking it out of the League Cup.

Steve Kabba's goal 13 minutes from the end was the only goal of an untidy quarterfinal game at Bramall Lane where the Blades had beaten Leeds 2-1 in early November in the third round of the League Cup.

The shock result, which means struggling Leeds still hasn't reached the semifinal since 1987, was one of three quarterfinal games being staged on Sunday after Saturday's 2-2 tie between defending champion Arsenal and last season's runner up Chelsea at Highbury.

Southampton managed to avoid an upset by winning against Wolves 2-0 at St. Mary's while Watford beat Burnley 2-0 in a matchup that guaranteed another division one team made it to the semifinal.

The results mean that two Premier League teams will be in the semifinal and two from division one.

At Bramall Lane, Leeds' Harry Kewell had two great chances in the first half, breaking clear of the Blades defense only to have his first shot blocked by goalkeeper Paddy Kenny and blasting his follow up drive over the bar into the crowd.

The Aussie star failed to appear in the second half because of a back strain and Leeds created few dangers to the Blades defense before the home team went ahead.

Leeds failed to clear a Michael Brown cross and, after Michael Tonge's shot had been blocked by Danny Mills, the ball rolled back to the unmarked Kabbe who fired home from 12m.

Venables was expected to lead Leeds to trophies and a strong European campaign this season. Instead his team has been knocked out of both domestic cups by a team from division one, didn't make it past the third round of the UEFA Cup and has been sailing close to the relegation fight in the Premier League. The club lies 15th out of 20.

``I am a professional and everyone at the club has a job to do,'' the former Tottenham, Barcelona and England coach said after Sunday's upset loss.

``By the end of the week we have got to be up and we've got to start to try and be consistent and improve our performances in the league.

By contrast, Sheffield United's manager Neil Warnock was more upbeat. ``You don't always get what you deserve in football but I thought we deserved it today,'' said Warnock, whose team is also challenging for promotion to the Premier League.
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