Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka gave new manager Guus Hiddink the perfect welcome as his hat-trick clinched a 3-1 win over Watford in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.
Hiddink doesn’t officially take charge until today after replacing sacked Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari earlier this week, but the Dutchman was watching from the Vicarage Road stands alongside owner Roman Abramovich as Anelka’s late treble denied Championship strugglers Watford a famous victory.
Hornet striker Tamas Priskin had threatened to give Hiddink a headache when he chipped the hosts ahead. But Anelka equalized in the 75th minute, struck again two minutes later and put the result beyond doubt in stoppage time.
PHOTO: AFP
Watford took the lead in the 69th minute as Priskin beat Chelsea’s offside trap and dinked a cool finish that deflected over Petr Cech and looped into the net.
But Anelka saved Hiddink from an embarrassing introduction to English soccer. The France striker scored the equalizer in the 75th minute with a bicycle kick from Frank Lampard’s corner.
With Watford on the back foot, Ashley Cole lofted in a cross toward Anelka, whose header bounced once before beating Scott Loach. Anelka confirmed Chelsea’s place in the quarter-finals with a low finish in the final moments.
Anelka insisted the change of managers was never going to destablize the team.
“We are still strong. Even at a goal down we are capable to come back and win the game. Now we have to do it in the league,” Anelka said. “The most important thing is not changing the manager, it is to win. We did that, so it is good.”
Elsewhere, a stoppage-time equalizer from Christopher Samba prevented Blackburn Rovers’ miserable season from taking another turn for the worse and denied Coventry City a memorable FA Cup upset.
A dramatic tie ended with Samba firing in from 10m in a frantic goalmouth scramble to secure a 2-2 draw for Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened side.
Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz had ensured the perfect start for his side at Ewood Park, fastening on to a Samba flick-on before finding the bottom corner after just two minutes.
Coventry were rewarded for a much-improved performance after the interval with goals from Aron Gunnarsson and Michael Doyle. That got them to within seconds of what would have been a deserved victory, only for them to be denied by Samba.
Hull City were also taken to a replay by Championship opposition after coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Sheffield United.
Sheffield United finished the afternoon frustrated having taken the lead against Hull through Greg Halford, who headed in a sixth minute cross from David Cotterill.
Kamil Zayatte got the Premiership club back on level terms 10 minutes before the interval when he converted Andy Dawson’s cross and that was how it finished.
Fulham avoided becoming the latest victims of giant-killers Swansea City despite being outplayed for long periods in a 1-1 draw with the side that eliminated holders Portsmouth in the last round.
Roy Hodgson’s men took the lead through a fortunate Garry Monk own-goal in the first half, but Swansea were worthy of at least the equalizer delivered by Trinidad and Tobago striker Jason Scotland.
Fulham had reason to be grateful for another fine display from Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, without whom the Premiership side would almost certainly have joined Portsmouth on the Cup scrapheap.
The all-Premier League clash between West Ham United and Middlesbrough also went to a replay, with the on-form Hammers obliged to conjure up a late equalizer from Congolese defender Herita Ilunga.
Middlesbrough’s first-half display belied their lowly league position and they fully deserved to claim a 22nd-minute lead, England wide man Stewart Downing heading in Gary O’Neil’s cross at the back post.
But Ilunga popped up in the Boro box with seven minutes left to claim an equalizer West Ham just about deserved.
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