Sunday 17 February 2013

EPL and FA Cup 5th Round LIVE Coverage:


Hello and welcome to my latest blog installment, with 4 matches being played today. 3 are in the FA Cup as Chelsea host Brentford in part 2 of their epic conclusion from the 4th Round, Manchester City host giant-killers Leeds who beat Tottenham in Round 4 and Wigan play against lower-league Huddersfield. 

Also, Swansea travel to Anfield to play against Liverpool in the EPL at 3pm.

Chelsea vs Brentford - LIVE:

The match has kicked off at Stamford Bridge, as 3rd placed Chelsea take a break from the EPL to deal with the 4th Round FA Cup Replay against Brentford after their 1-0 win against Sparta Prague on Thursday in the Europa League. 


Chelsea's young midfield startlet Oscar scored the only goal of the game against Sparta Prague. 
Tight: Oscar had to weave some of his magic to ensure The Blues scored a crucial away goal. 

The hosts have started off slowly at Stamford Bridge, with Lampard, Oscar and Mata all not getting into the match as of yet. 
Having said that, they are dominating possession and starting to have more chances thanks to a free header by defender Branislav Ivanovic almost creeping into the net at the far post and the wing-backs probing.

Brentford are playing well even though they do not have much possession - as you would expect from a League 1 side travelling to an EPL side, especially like Chelsea. 
They have had chances and Petr Cech is not the most comfortable of goalkeepers at the moment..

15:25:

Chelsea 4 Brentford 0 - FT

What a second half performance by The Blues. They completely changed the way they were playing, and punished The Bees 4 times in less than 30 minutes. Juan Mata, Oscar and returning defender John Terry were among the goalscorers. 


Opener: Juan Mata gets past a Brentford defender to break the deadlock in the 55th minute.
Star man: Mata celebrates scoring his 18th goal of the season for Chelsea to make it 1-0. 

Skill: Oscar doubles the hosts' lead in the 68th minute with a cheeky backflick past 3 defenders.


2 in 2: Oscar celebrates his 2nd goal in 3 days after his winner against Sparta Prague. 
Record-breaker: Lampard makes it 3-0 to Chelsea to score his 199th goal for the club. 

^ FACT: Frank Lampard is 1 goal away from 200 goals for Chelsea, and is now the highest-ever goalscorer for Chelsea in the FA Cup. 


4 and out: Returning defender John Terry heads Chelsea into a 4-0 victory in the 81st minute. 
Painful for Brentford: Terry celebrates his goal with the home fans.

They progress to the 5th Round, where they will play against Championship side Middlesborough. 

Manchester City vs Leeds United - LIVE

It is currently 4-0 to the hosts with just under 10 minutes to play. Serious "Man of the Match" contender and striker Sergio Aguero has just been replaced by Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko by Roberto Mancini to avoid any injury to his star talisman. 

Aguero scored 2 goals today, with 1 either half. His first came in the 15th minute from the penalty spot after he was fouled inside the box following some good footwork.


Quick feet: Aguero gets past a Leeds defender before being brought down inside the box,
Nicely done: Aguero doubles City's lead in the 15th minute from the penalty spot. 
12 for the season: Aguero wheels away to celebrate his goal at The Ethiad.

His second was a cool finish from 12 yards out after a lofted ball by playmaker David Silva found him JUST onside and he beat the marking defender for pace before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper into the net.

Yaya Toure scored his 1st goal since returning to the Manchester City after his International duty with Ivory Coast in the 5th minute to break the deadlock for the hosts and give Leeds an early shock.


Bulldozer: Yaya Toure gets past 2 Leeds defenders with ease and slots the ball past the keeper.
Welcome back: City celebrate Yaya Toure's opening goal to put the hosts ahead after 5 minutes. 

Carlos Tevez made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute with a close range effort after a nice piece of build-up play between Silva and Aguero saw the latter whip a cross into the box for his fellow Argentinean team-mate. 


Make it 3: Tevez scores from close range to give the hosts an unassailable lead. 
15:53:

Manchester City 4 Leeds United 0 - FT:

The match has concluded at The Ethiad Stadium, with 2011 FA Cup winners City thrashing Championship side 4-0 at home, teaching Tottenham (who were knocked out by Leeds in the last Round) how to do it. 

They will go on to play in the Last 8.


16:03 - Liverpool vs Swansea: 

45: The second half has just kicked off at Anfield. 

45: GOAL! A rapid start to this second half by the hosts, as they double their lead thanks to new £8.5million pound young midfield signing Phillipe Coutinho linking up well with talisman Luis Suarez before going on the counter attack and skilling up two defenders and striking the ball past Michel Vorm into the net.

Full debut: Coutinho celebrates scoring just 20 seconds into the second half against Swansea.

2-0 to the hosts after captain Steven Gerrard's penalty goal during the first-half, and Swansea do not know what has hit them now.

Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard scores from the penalty spot to put the hosts 1-0 up 

50: GOAL! Whatever Brendan Rodgers said to his team at half-time seems to be working! He is now 3-0 up against his former managerial club thanks to some good build-up play by Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge being clinically finished off by left-back Jose Enrique. 

Swansea are suddenly in trouble despite 15-goal striker Michu and captain Ashley Williams both on the bench as they are being rested for next weekend's Capital One Cup Final against Bradford City.
3-0 down, and just under 40 minutes to get back into the match, away from home at Anfield.

It is not impossible, but it is very unlikely because this Liverpool side looks fired up after two successive defeats in 4 days to West Brom and Zenit in the Europa League on Thursday night. 


The "Incredible" Hulk: The Brazilian winger celebrates his 25-yard screamer against Liverpool on Thursday night. 

2-0 down: Liverpool go into the 2nd leg at Anfield 2-0 down, and need to ensure they do not concede.

If anything, the hosts could go further in-front now! 

55: GOAL! What did I say?!?! The hosts HAVE gone further in-front now, and it is a riot.
Liverpool's talisman Luis Suarez escapes the challenge of 2 Swansea defenders before slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the net, out of Michel Vorm's reach.

Talisman: Luis Suarez celebrates scoring his 18th EPL goal of the season against Swansea.

58: Liverpool SUB:
Phillipe Coutinho OFF

Jordan Henderson ON

Brendan Rodgers is resting Coutinho now after an hour of good play by the young midfielder. Henderson replaces him for fresh legs.

65: Liverpool are dominating the match comfortably now... they are taking it slower now and controlling the pace of the play.

70: PENALTY GIVEN! The referee has pointed to the spot, and Liverpool have another penalty thanks to winger Wayne Routledge seeming to handle the ball inside the area.  

71: Steven Gerrard has left the ball to striker Daniel Sturridge in an act of respect as he is yet to score today... he steps up to take it... 
GOAL!!! Sturridge has made it 5-0 to the hosts, and it is damage limitation now for The Swans!

74: Liverpool SUB:
Lucas Leiva OFF
Joe Allen ON

15 minutes for Welsh midfielder Joe Allen, who plays against his former club.

76: Swansea's Spanish winger Pablo Hernandez is down on the floor in agony after a crunching tackle by Denmark defender Daniel Agger.
Howard Webb brandishes a yellow card for Agger, and Hernandez is going to be replaced. 

78: Liverpool SUB:
Luis Suarez OFF

Fabio Borini ON

Borini replaces "Man of the Moment" Suarez in Rodgers' last substitution of the match with just over 10 minutes to play. 

85: Fabio Borini limps off the pitch in agony after colliding with a Swansea midfielder and going over his shoulder. 
The Reds will have to play the last 5 minutes plus stoppages with 10-men but it will not have as much of an impact because of the fact that they are comfortably 5-0 up. 

That's a shame, because he has just come on aswell... He is an injury-prone striker who has talent but is not really being able to fulfill it at the moment because he is almost ALWAYS on the treatment table. 

90: The fourth official has signalled for 3 minutes of stoppage time to be added on at Anfield. Liverpool are 3 minutes away from leapfrogging Swansea into 7th place. 

90+3: Referee Howard Webb has blown his whistle to end the thrashing at Anfield, as Liverpool move up into 7th place above Swansea and West Brom but just behind Everton and Arsenal. 


(MORE TO FOLLOW LATER!)

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