Adam Falshaw
Fulham 0-3 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace booked their ticket to Wembley via a 3-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage. Despite Fulham seeing most of the ball, it was Palace who were most clinical, with star man Eberechi Eze opening the scoring with a wonderful finish from the left hand side on the edge of the box, and it only took 4 minutes for the eagles to strike again, with Eze once again finding space on the left, this time providing a cross for Ismaila Sarr, who headed home to double the visitors lead. Going into half time, clear urgency was needed for the hosts, which was shown through an almost identical position to Eze’s opener, this time Willian’s strike equalled by the outstretched glove of Dean Henderson. The following corner saw Willian swing a cross to meet Joachim Andersen’s head, leading to a goal line scramble that Palace managed to clear via goal scorer Sarr. Despite Fulham’s pressure, Crystal Palace sealed their victory late into the second half through Eddie Nketia, steering the ball through Bernd Leno’s legs.
Brighton 0-0 Nottingham Forest (3-4 on Penalties)
Nottingham Forest held their nerve in a tense clash, overcoming a resilient Brighton side on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. The first chance of the game went to the visitors, with Bart Verbruggen denying a fierce Awoniyi effort from close range. However, it was Brighton who had the better of the chances in the first half, with an ambitious attempt from Estupinan forcing a fine save from Forest’s Matz Sels. Brighton once again came forward after Forest failed to clear Brighton’s deflected cross, only going as far as Carlos Baleba, who fired wide. Into the second half, it was this time Forest who had the better chances of the two, this time Gibbs-White letting fly, forcing another Verbruggen save. It really was a tale of the goalkeepers, as going into extra time a precise header from substitute Diego Gomez brought out the save of the game, a diving tip over the bar from Forest’s Sels. With nothing to separate the sides, the contest went to penalties. Up first was Joao Pedro of Brighton, who put away a fantastic first penalty, despite Sels going the right way. Up next was former Newcastle and Bristol Rovers man Elliot Anderson, who stroked home, sending Verbruggen the wrong way. It was Brighton who blinked first, with teenager Jack Hinshelwood failing to find the bottom right corner, smothered by Sels. However, hope was not lost for the home side, as the following penalty was blazed over the bar by Forest’s Neco Williams. It was Paraguayan Diego Gomez, who thundered a strike straight into Sels’ throat. Putting the pressure back onto his goalkeeper. Forest capitalised, with ever present Nikola Milenkovic squeezing his effort beyond Verbruggen’s outstretched glove. Leaving Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk with a must score penalty. Despite this, he kept Brighton’s Wembley hopes alive, with a very similar effort to Milenkovic before him, beating Sels. This left Ryan Yates with the task of sending Forest to Wembley, which he did through a strike just good enough to get through Verbruggen’s gloves, sending Nottingham Forest to Wembley via consecutive penalty shootout victories.
Preston North End 0-3 Aston Villa
The next day saw Champions League quarter finalists Aston Villa travel to Deepdale, home of the one remaining Championship outfit, Preston. The action began through Spaniard Marco Asensio, who curled in a wonderful ball, narrowly missing the airborne Ezri Konsa. Preston struck back with a chance on their own, with Thordarson failing to capitalise on an out of position Emi Martinez following a wicked Brady cross. However, going into the second half it didn’t take long for Villa to assert their dominance, an efficient move saw Marcus Rashford get on the end of a Lucas Digne cross, his first goal for the club. Things only got worse for the Lilywhites, with Chris Kavanagh pointing to the spot following a clumsy stamp by Andrew Hughes on new England recruit Morgan Rogers five minutes later. Marcus Rashford calmy dispatched, doubling his sides lead, sending David Cornell the wrong way. Jacob Ramsay then only piled on the Preston misery, with a surging solo run, smashing the ball into the bottom corner, sending the Villans to Wembley.
Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City
The final action of the weekend saw last year’s finalists travel to the Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth. The start of the match wasn’t short of action, with Bernardo Silva’s flick striking Tyler Adams’ rising arm in the twelfth minute. It was none other than Erling Haaland who stepped up to face Kepa Arrizabalaga, to which the latter came out on top, getting down low to smother the Norwegian’s effort. Just three minutes later, another Tyler Adams mistake set Haaland through on goal, but once again failed to take advantage, this time lifting the ball over the bar. And it was Bournemouth who managed to capitalise on City’s missed chances. David Brooks clipping a ball to the back post to meet an outstretched Justin Kluivert to break the deadlock. The lead lasted up until the 49th minute when Kevin De Bruyne found substitute Nico O’Reilly, who provided a sweeping ball across Bournemouth’s box to Erling Haaland, who this time made no mistake, touching home to bring the game level. It was once again O’Reilly on the ball, taking it from a sliding Semenyo and feeding it through to fellow substitute Omar Marmoush to put City in front. They then managed to shut out the Cherries for the rest of the game, booking their ticket to Wembley.
Adam Falshaw
Featured image courtesy of @thedolapo via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @emiratesfacup via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @emiratesfacup via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 3 courtesy of @emiratesfacup via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
For more content including uni news, reviews, entertainment, lifestyle, features and so much more, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like our Facebook page for more articles and information on how to get involved.
For further sports content and ways to get involved, follow @ImpactSport on Twitter and Instagram, and like the Impact Sport Facebook page!
