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FA Cup Review: Liverpool to meet Manchester City in Semi-final

On 16 April, Manchester City will take on Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final. In the quarterfinals on Sunday, City beat Southampton. Meanwhile, Liverpool went past Nottingham Forest. The other semi-final will feature Chelsea, who were victors over Middlesbrough. They will meet Crystal Palace, who eliminated Everton. Here’s how the quarterfinals went.

City dominate Southampton

In the quarterfinal at St Mary’s Stadium on 20 March, City finished strongly to post a 4-1 win. Their surge in the final stages of the game was breathtaking. Until minute 74, Southampton went toe to toe with their illustrious rivals. Che Adams – playing as a substitute – was put through by Md Elyonounoussi. However, his shot was too near to Zack Steffen. Thus, he squandered the chance of drawing level at 2-2. About 10 minutes earlier, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez had taken the field as substitutes for City. Foden made it 3-1 with a viciously powerful shot. Fraser Foster in the Southampton goal had no answer to Foden’s left footer from the edge of the area. Soon after, Mahrez made it 4-1 to shut out Southampton.

Earlier in the game, City took the lead on 12 minutes. Southampton centre-half Jack Stephens mishit an attempted clearance straight to Jesus. The City forward passed to Sterling who buried the ball into the goal. City were less than impressive in the last 15 minutes before the interval. They allowed Southampton to draw level after a defensive error from Steffen. However, City shifted gear decisively in the second half after De Bruyne’s penalty put them in front.

FA Cup Review

Liverpool edge out Forest

Until Diogo Jota scored the winning goal with 12 minutes to go, Liverpool were in danger of an upset loss. The match against Nottingham Forest remained goalless before the interval. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made several substitutions midway through an eventless second half. He revamped the entire midfield, which was without an injured Salah. During this phase, Philip Zinckernagel missed the opportunity to put Forest ahead. In the dying minutes, Ryan Yates came close to equalizing and pushing the game to extra time. However, Liverpool should have had the lead in the first half, but for a miss by Firmino. Tsimikas also came close, with a swerving shot from 25 yards.

Crystal Palace boss over Everton

Crystal Palace bossed over Everton, scoring twice in either half, to book a place in the FA cup semi-final. On 25 minutes, Marc Guehi headed a corner kick home to put Palace ahead. Palace dominated a game in which Everton midfielders Doucoure and Gomes failed to find rhythm. On 41 minutes, Mateta converted a low cross from Zaha to make it 2-0. Three minutes from time, Will Hughes scored the fourth goal for Palace. He smashed the ball past the Everton goalkeeper, after Pickford had saved Gallagher’s shot.

Chelsea prove too strong for Middlesbrough

Goals from Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech propelled Chelsea into the FA Cup semi-final. Championship side Middlesbrough have been pushing hard to be promoted to the Premier League. They upset Manchester United as well as Tottenham on their way to the quarterfinal. But their attack was kept at bay by a solid Chelsea defence manned by Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger. Chelsea went ahead on 14 minutes when Mason Mount latched onto a delivery from Ziyech. Lukaku swept Mount’s low cross with a six-yarder. Mount was also the architect of Chelsea’s second goal. In a counter-attacking run, Mount played Ziyech in. The midfielder then unleashed a left-footed 20-yarder that swerved and dipped past goalkeeper Joe Lumley.

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Raj
82 articles
Raj was born and raised in Nagpur, Rajesh moved to Pune to pursue a degree in the English Language at Savitribai Phule Pune University. Having a knack for writing from a very young age, he naturally excelled in his studies and decided to dip his toes in content editing, as well. Now, a full-time Editor, he enjoys spending his free time watching IPL and badminton matches and writing his first novel. His favourite sport is cricket and he believes cricket is life. But I’ve always dreamed of becoming a professional badminton player, so badminton is also at the top of my list. His biggest win is Saina Nehwal’s bronze at the 2016 Olympics landed him a brand new laptop after his bet on the winning margin came through. His biggest goal is meeting Saina Nehwal and telling her about his biggest win.