Martin O’Neill launched an attack on John Terry, accusing him of making a career-threatening challenge on James Milner during Chelsea’s 3-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Aston Villa.
Villa manager O’Neill claimed Milner was lucky to escape with just heavy bruising following the 74th minute tackle that led to Terry being booked by referee Howard Webb at Wembley on Saturday.
“It was an awful challenge on an England colleague and James Milner is very lucky his career is still intact,” O’Neill said. “The referee has given him a yellow card but it should have been a red.”
“James is very sore and very, very lucky. We think he has got away with it, but if you see the challenge, his knee bends out. I’ve just spoken to the doctor and he says he is very, very lucky,” he said.
O’Neill’s sense of injustice was increased by what he believes was a glaring mistake by Webb to deny his side a 16th minute penalty after Gabriel Agbonlahor was brought down inside the penalty area by John Obi Mikel.
The manager was adamant his side should have been awarded a penalty and that Mikel should have been sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. To make matters worse from a Villa point of view, O’Neill said the incident was the second time his side had been the victims of a bad decision in a major match at Wembley this season.
In February, he claimed Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic should have been sent off when he conceded a penalty after bringing down Agbonlahor early in the League Cup final. United went on to win that game, as did FA Cup holders Chelsea on this occasion with Carlo Ancelotti’s side rallying through second half goals from Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard.
■PREMIER LEAGUE
AFP, WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND
Wolves edged closer to Premier League survival after grinding out a dour 0-0 draw against Stoke at Molineux yesterday.
Mick McCarthy’s team are now six points clear of the drop zone with four games left.
Stoke enjoyed most of the early pressure and a header from Robert Huth flew straight at Wolves goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann before Dean Whitehead headed wide.
Faye wasted another good chance to put Stoke in front in the 23rd minute. Glenn Whelan hooked a cross into the area and Faye climbed above the home defense, only to head wide.
Mamady Sidibe wasted a good chance to put Stoke ahead after 54 minutes, when he slashed a shot wildly over the bar.
In a rare moment of danger for Stoke, Sorensen had to save a Ronald Zubar header.
Stoke finished stronger, however, as Whelan flashed a fierce drive just over, then curled wide from long-range.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set