Thursday, February 25, 2010
Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace: Carew double penalties
Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
The prospect of reaching two Wembley finals in the same season remains alive for Aston Villa but their passage into the last eight of the FA Cup was nothing like as comfortable as Martin O'Neill would have wished. Darren Ambrose's second-half spot-kick threatened to take this fifth-round replay into extra-time before Matt Lawrence fouled John Carew twice in the last 10 minutes and invited the Norwegian to convert two penalties of his own.
Carew's seventh and eighth goals of a largely underwhelming season spared a strong Villa side another 30 minutes of football four days before Sunday's Carling Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Relief was etched across O'Neill's face as the Northern Irishman celebrated reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time as a manager, with a trip to Reading on Sunday week the prize.
Villa ultimately deserved to go through but it was difficult not to feel sympathy for Crystal Palace. Neil Warnock's side were under siege for much of the first half but television replays showed that Martin Atkinson, the referee, should have awarded a goal-kick and not a corner in the lead-up to Gabriel Agbonlahor's headed opener. That Villa's late equaliser at Selhurst Park had arrived in similar circumstances, poured salt into the Palace wounds.
"As always these corners that are goal-kicks crop up, don't they?" Warnock said mischievously. "I knew that Nick Carle kicked it on to the player's left ankle and that it had gone out for a goal-kick. You could see from the halfway line where the fourth official was standing. I don't understand how referees can't see things like that. It's only a little thing but it's a goal. It does my head in at times."
The Palace manager was evasive about his future, refusing to deny speculation linking him with the Queens Park Rangers job. He maintained that he will travel to Doncaster on Friday for the Championship match the next day but is expected to step down shortly afterwards. His name was chanted before and during the game by the sizeable contingent of Palace supporters here and for a brief period it looked as though he might mastermind a Cup upset.
Stephen Warnock's lunge on Alan Lee presented Ambrose with the chance to register his 17th goal of the season at a time when Palace were growing in confidence. Lawrence, however, pressed the self-destruct button, tugging at Carew's shirt to give the forward the chance to level before later clattering into him from behind.
"I'm particularly pleased for the players. I didn't see anyone shirking anything at all before Sunday," O'Neill said. "And I think that speaks volumes for the team."
Source: guardian.co.uk
Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Carew's seventh and eighth goals of a largely underwhelming season spared a strong Villa side another 30 minutes of football four days before Sunday's Carling Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Relief was etched across O'Neill's face as the Northern Irishman celebrated reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time as a manager, with a trip to Reading on Sunday week the prize.
Villa ultimately deserved to go through but it was difficult not to feel sympathy for Crystal Palace. Neil Warnock's side were under siege for much of the first half but television replays showed that Martin Atkinson, the referee, should have awarded a goal-kick and not a corner in the lead-up to Gabriel Agbonlahor's headed opener. That Villa's late equaliser at Selhurst Park had arrived in similar circumstances, poured salt into the Palace wounds.
"As always these corners that are goal-kicks crop up, don't they?" Warnock said mischievously. "I knew that Nick Carle kicked it on to the player's left ankle and that it had gone out for a goal-kick. You could see from the halfway line where the fourth official was standing. I don't understand how referees can't see things like that. It's only a little thing but it's a goal. It does my head in at times."
The Palace manager was evasive about his future, refusing to deny speculation linking him with the Queens Park Rangers job. He maintained that he will travel to Doncaster on Friday for the Championship match the next day but is expected to step down shortly afterwards. His name was chanted before and during the game by the sizeable contingent of Palace supporters here and for a brief period it looked as though he might mastermind a Cup upset.
Stephen Warnock's lunge on Alan Lee presented Ambrose with the chance to register his 17th goal of the season at a time when Palace were growing in confidence. Lawrence, however, pressed the self-destruct button, tugging at Carew's shirt to give the forward the chance to level before later clattering into him from behind.
"I'm particularly pleased for the players. I didn't see anyone shirking anything at all before Sunday," O'Neill said. "And I think that speaks volumes for the team."
Source: guardian.co.uk
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