FULHAM 1 BURNLEY 1
It was almost a clean sweep as only one of the weekend Fifth Round ties failed to produce a winner. Fulham and Burnley have to replay after drawing 1-1 at Loftus Road. The First Division side lit up the occasion and refused to be overawed by their Premiership opposition and for lengthy periods it was difficult to tell which was the higher status team.
With Ian Cox and Drissa Diallo running the midfield it was no surprise that the visitors drew first blood and with only four minutes on the clock it was their midfield colleague Alan Moore who scored. Moore waltzed through a static Fulham defence before firing his side ahead. Burnley, with all their players more fired up than Fulham, worked hard to protect their lead but just before the interval the homes side levelled through Steed Malbranque. The in-form striker volley home from the edge of the box after Ian Cox's header fell at his feet.
For a Premiership side Fulham's finishing was woeful and they may well come to regret that aspect of their game when they travel up the M6 for the replay. Saha, Davis and Marlet all missed good second half openings to finish this tie at the first attempt and a Turf Moor full-house will be a severe test for Fulham.
Jean Tigana, who had a 'clear the air' meeting with Mohamed Al Fayed about his future, this week, was no clearer about where his destiny lay. As to the game Tigana said: "I am not happy. We started badly and I was very disappointed with our first half performance. Burnley showed more spirit and the replay will be very difficult."
Stan Ternant knows his side now have a great chance of making the last 16. He said: "The players had to work extremely hard but they stuck to their tasks and I felt that we deserved the draw."
The final word, though, must go to Jean Tigana who threatened: "If I leave Fulham I'll stop managing and start fishing."
CRYSTAL PALACE 1 LEEDS UNITED 2
Crystal Palace bowed out of the FA Cup by virtue of the 'goal that never was'. The First Division side had already equalised Gary Kelly's early goal with another Julian Gray stunner and as half-time loomed they should have gone 2-1 up at a crucial time in the tie.
Danny Butterfield pulled the ball back for Andrew Johnson to fire in a close-range shot that was blocked by Danny Mills on the line. The ball spun across the face of the goal and Tommy Black turned the ball goalwards and it hit Michael Duberry, who was clearly well behind the line, on the arm. The Palace players were jubilant but that joy became despair as Mills cleared again and Dermot Gallacher waved away their appeals for a goal….and/or a penalty.
Before the kick-off Palace fans vented their anger towards Terry Venables but he stoically ignored the jeers and proceeded to watch as his side rode their luck and take the lead just past the half hour mark. Leeds were awarded a free-kick and as Berthelin lined up his wall Kelly chipped the ball into the far corner of the net. It's debatable who was more surprised, the keeper, who clearly wasn't concentrating, or Kelly for whom it was only his third goal in more than a decade at Elland Road, and his first club goal FOR SIX YEARS.
The lead lasted all of two minutes as Julian Gray reprised his goal at Anfield with an identical rasper that gave England's latest goalkeeper no chance. Then came Palace's disallowed goal that saw the sides level at the interval.
Palace were proving more than a match for Leeds but with the game lurching towards a replay Harry Kewell finally came to life and turned the game on its head as only he can. Anonymous for lengthy periods in the match, down to a 'club v country row' as it turns out, the Aussie picked up the ball in a harmless position on the right of midfield. He turned his defender, cut inside and with definite aim lifted the ball past a hapless Berthelin with that wand of a left foot that seems to cause so much controversy between Leeds and Soccer Australia.
After the game both managers pinpointed the disallowed goal as the pivotal moment in the tie. Trevor Francis said: "It was a big moment in the game. The players all knew the ball was over the line. Because of that we have gone out of the cup. Initially, I thought the ball was about six inches over the line, but having seen it on the replay I think it was nearer two feet."
The Palace boss got some measure of sympathy from Terry Venables, who said: "Apparently the ball did go in - it looked like it was going to. But that was the lucky break we needed."
STOKE CITY 0 CHELSEA 2 There are those who feel this may well be Chelsea's year for a trophy and the workmanlike way they brushed aside the brave challenge of Stoke City, in which they kept yet another FA Cup clean sheet, adds credence to that possibility. But there will be two Stoke players, in particular, who will remember for the rest of their careers, the chances of glory that came their way before Chelsea scored their first goal.
James O'Connor is one of the best midfielders outside the top flight, where he is surely destined to play one day soon, but the fiery Irish midfielder will be the first to admit that finishing is not his forte. If it were then he would surely have done a lot better with the chance that came his way after just ten minutes when he, inexplicably, tried to shoot with the outside of his left foot when putting his right foot through the ball would surely have tested Cudicini.
Another chance fell to young midfielder Lewis Neal when a Thomas cross fell at his normally lethal left foot, right on the penalty spot but the youngster failed to get his standing foot off the ground and merely skied the ball over the bar with an inviting net begging to be billowed.
Stoke did themselves and their fans proud but there was always the underlying feeling that Chelsea had another gear and it was Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who jammed the Premiership side into that gear with the crucial first goal, seven minutes into the second half. It was hard luck on Marcus Hall who robbed Frank Lampard with a sliding tackle only to send the ball into the path of the Dutchman who merely passed the ball into the net and Chelsea were on their way.
The First Division side tried valiantly to respond but the quality simply wasn't there and substitute Jesper Gronkjaer underlined that quality, and the difference between Premiership finishing and that of Division One. The Dane burst down the right and from a very difficult angle smacked a ball that went in off the near post before nestling in the far corner to confirm Chelsea's entry into the quarter finals for the eighth time in 12 seasons.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis, who will surely be given some of his club's £500,000 FA Cup bonanza to fight relegation, said afterwards. "The players are disappointed with the result because at our place you hope that maybe you can get something out of it, but it was not to be. It has been a good cup run and good financially and hopefully that money can bring in the one or two players we need."
Claudio Ranieri wants to win the FA Cup. The Chelsea boss said: "I won silverware in Italy and Spain and I would like to do the same here. I know this competition is fantastic because if you do not play with the right attitude you lose."
WOLVES 3 ROCHDALE 1
Wolves negotiated the trickiest tie of the Fifth Round when plucky Rochdale threatened to produce their third giantkilling act of a glorious cup run but, in the end, the First Division side were too strong, although not before Dale's 36-year-old player/manager Paul Simpson gave his former club the fright of their lives with a deflected equaliser.
The home side took the lead just past the half hour when George Ndah scored his third FA Cup goal in successive ties, firing home from close range after a Kennedy corner. Wolves held on to that lead until the 52nd minute but uncomfortable so and when Simpson rampaged forward, seven minutes after the restart, the anxious Molineux crowd were rightfully worried. Simpson let fly from distance and when the ball deflected off Gavin Melaugh for the equaliser the travelling Rochdale faithful were well up for another scalp.
But there was to be no additional chapter to Rochdale's fairy tale cup story as Kenny Miller scored on 79 minutes before substitute Adam Proudlock netted a third in the final seconds to leave Rochdale half a million pounds better off but out of the cup.
Afterwards, in the surroundings where he had spent two years of a long career that continues to get longer, Paul Simpson said: "Rochdale people should be proud of this. When it was 1-1, I thought it was on for us. We were comfortable, confident and passing the ball well. I told my players, beforehand, take a look around you at Molineux. Go and look at the cars their players are driving and tell yourself 'this is what I want'."
Wolves manager Dave Jones acknowledged how difficult the Third Division side had made it for his team, saying: "For 20 minutes after Rochdale scored we lost our composure. I take nothing away from Rochdale because they have got this far on merit but I don't think anyone can argue with the result. It just took a little longer to get there than I thought."
