Pair of upsets find Chelsea, Man. U. on short end of stick
By Reuters
LONDON - Holders Chelsea crashed out of the FA Cup in the quarterfinals yesterday when they lost 1-0 at Championship (second division) side Barnsley. Kayode Odejayi's 66th-minute header clinched a victory that sparked incredible scenes at Oakwell as Barnsley fans celebrated reaching the semifinals for the first time since 1912. The Yorkshire side knocked out Liverpool at Anfield in the previous round and deserved their latest upset after weathering waves of desperate Chelsea attacks in the final minutes.
"I'm over the moon, I can't believe it," Barnsley coach Simon Davey told the BBC. "Everybody thought we couldn't do it again after beating Liverpool. "The players were fantastic. I've never been to Wembley before and nor have many of the players."
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Barnsley is guaranteed a trip to Wembley Stadium for the semifinals, along with Portsmouth who earlier stunned Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in their quarterfinal. Chelsea was below par and suddenly from chasing four trophies is down to two, having lost the League Cup final to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley two weeks ago.
Nigerian Odejayi got the winner when he rose high to connect with Martin Devaney's cross from the right with Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini outjumped in the process. Chelsea's Joe Cole had wasted a chance to put the visitors in front and captain John Terry blasted over late on as Barnsley defended like men possessed. The final whistle provoked a good-natured pitch invasion from hundreds of home fans while Chelsea manager Avram Grant trudged off looking stunned.
First victory since 1957
Portsmouth stunned Manchester United with a smash and grab 1-0 victory at Old Trafford yesterday to reach the FA Cup semifinals. Pompey was under siege for long periods but a penalty 12 minutes from time by Sulley Muntari after United keeper Tomasz Kuszczak was sent off for fouling Milan Baros gave them a first victory at Old Trafford since 1957. They can now look forward to a Wembley semifinal, the first time they have reached the last four of the FA Cup since losing to Liverpool in 1992.
"It was the worst draw we could have got but it was a great performance and a great result," Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, who memorably led Bournemouth to a 1984 Cup victory over United, told Sky Sports. "We rode our luck but United are a fantastic team and we deserved our luck."
Portsmouth managed comfortably enough in the first half with Glen Johnson's headed clearance from Carlos Tevez and a loud United penalty appeal when Sylvain Distin barged Cristiano Ronaldo off the ball their most worrying moments. After the break, however, they were forced into desperate defense against the Premier League champions with Sol Campbell outstanding at the heart of the Pompey resistance.
Ronaldo headed one good chance over the bar and minutes later Michael Carrick looked certain to score when he went past keeper David James, only for Distin to make an incredible last-ditch tackle. Ronaldo fired another shot narrowly wide and the evergreen James then rescued his side with a superb save to touch Patrice Evra's swerving shot against the post. Campbell made a timely clearance to deny Nani but just when it seemed Portsmouth would crack, they scored.
A quick kick out by James picked out Croatian Niko Kranjcar and he dragged two United players wide before squaring for the unmarked Baros. He went round Kuszczak, on at halftime for Edwin van der Sar, before having his legs taken and the Polish keeper was shown the red card.
United's England defender Rio Ferdinand took over goalkeeping duties but he was powerless to stop Muntari's cool penalty dispatched into the bottom corner.
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