John Terry's fourth-minute strike put Chelsea into the FA Cup semifinals, earning a 1-0 victory over Newcastle on Wednesday to keep the Blues on course for their first league-cup double.
The England centerback's goal at Stamford Bridge sent the Blues into the final four along with Liverpool and West Ham.
Liverpool reached the semifinals by beating Birmingham City 7-0 on Tuesday and West Ham made it by winning 2-1 at Manchester City on Monday. The other quarterfinal was to be played yesterday between Charlton and Middlesbrough.
PHOTO: AFP
With a 12-point lead, Chelsea is in position to win its second straight league title and is chasing its first FA Cup crown since 2000. By contrast, Newcastle, which is 12th in the 20-club Premier League, has not won a domestic trophy since the 1955 FA Cup and Wednesday's game may have been the final cup game for striker Alan Shearer, who has played 10 years for the Magpies without winning a title.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho made seven changes in his team that was upset 1-0 by struggling Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Newcastle knocked out Chelsea from the competition last season thanks to a fourth-minute Patrick Kluivert goal. After not having conceded a goal in its first three FA Cup games this season, the Magpies fell behind early at Stamford Bridge.
Damien Duff fired in a low corner from the left and Terry got to the ball at the near post before Shearer to score with a first-time, left-footed half volley. The ball struck the boot of Newcastle's Peruvian midfielder Nolberto Solano on the way past goalkeeper Shay Given but was on target anyway.
Newcastle almost equalized in the 17th minute when Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini could only parry a powerful left-footed shot from Lee Bowyer. With Shearer about to force home the rebound, Terry recovered to make a perfectly timed tackle in front of an empty net.
Ricardo Carvalho had a great chance to double the lead two minutes before halftime when he connected with a leftwing free kick from Frank Lampard, but volleyed wide of the near post from five meters.
Given thwarted chances by Didier Drogba three times in the second half as Chelsea continued to dominate, and Blues substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips blazed a shot high and wide with just the keeper to beat with five minutes to go.
Newcastle defender Robbie Elliott was sent off with a minute to go for a second yellow card although the second caution for an apparent obstruction of Wright-Phillips appeared a harsh decision.
Goals by Stephen McManus and Shaun Maloney on Wednesday gave Celtic a 2-1 victory over Inverness and moved Gordon Strachan's team 17 points clear in the Scottish title race.
After Polish striker Maciej Zurawski and Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura both narrowly missed chances, Celtic went ahead in the 36th minute.
Centerback McManus jumped to meet a corner from Nakamura and, although Inverness goalkeeper Mark Brown got his fingertips to his looping header from nine meters he could not stop it going in.
Maloney added the second by converting a free kick with 11 minutes to go. Although Richard Hart replied for Inverness in the 90th, Strachan's team moved even further ahead of second place Hearts, which fired manager Graham Rix on Wednesday citing poor recent results.
When Rix took over from George Burley in November, the Jambos were top of the standings.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
RSS