Aston Villa   vs   Manchester City

 

White Hart Lane was sold out as soon as this tie was announced, the Division 4 title champions had bought a large contingent of fans, and despite having brought a large following of fans themselves, it was clear to see that blue outweighed the claret on the stands.

Straight from the kickoff the atmosphere was electric, Hansen and Krancjar would have been delighted at their welcome and that of their players.

The early exchanges seemed to favour the Midland side, the movement in the midfield and the front two was very impressive, and in the early stages Villa seemed keen to show the top flight teams that they'll be no pushover next season.

Despite the early movement and possession falling to Villa, the only half decent chance in the opening exchanges fell to City. A mishit clearance by Terry fell to the feet of Smicer, who clevely whipped in a quick cross. Baros just beat the offside trap but could barely get a toe to the ball, sending it well wide of the post.

In the 24th minute, Villa really should have found themselves in the lead. Uncharacteristically Unsworth was caught in possession by Morris, and a quick threaded through ball sent Vugrenic through. He managed to get a shot off, but Weaver was quick out of his goal and his block sent the ball just wide of the post.

From the resulting corner Chadwick managed to tap the ball in from a Vugrinec flick, but the goal was disallowed by the referee due to pushing in the area.

The next real chance of the first half came in the 39th minute, City were defending from the front and some good pressure forced a poor pass from Harley, the ball was picked up by Ortega, and the Argentinian danger man cleverly worked his way into the area, but his eventual shot was well saved by Sorensen.

It was to be the last real chance of a very entertaining and well matched first half, and both teams had put on impressive displays much to the delight of the applauding fans.

The second half again started brightly for Villa, City's high backline was being picked apart gradually, and Ehiogu and Howey looked like being underfire from Hansen, as they didn't seem to be gelling together.

Fortunately for City, some equally poor finishing was on display from the captain today, and he wasted two glorious opportunities to open the scoring on 48 and 53 minutes.

A goal was long overdue though, and Villa were deserving when they eventually did take the lead. A ferocious challenge by Morris on Smicer freed the ball up, and Chadwick latched onto it immediately. His unchallenged run continued, and he wasn't picked up until nearing the edge of the box, with plenty of time, he slotted the ball through to Vugrinec who used his strength to hold off Ehiogu and power the ball underneath Weaver, 1-0 on 58 minutes.

Smicer struggled to his feet after the challenge, and was substituted for Boskovic moments later.

Things seemed to go from bad to worse for City, as Villa again ploughed forward, their tactics seemed equally matched and the eager Villain seemed more up for it today.

The reasonably quiet Balaban called Weaver into action again on the 65th minute with a vicious shot from the edge of the area, which needed Weaver at his best to palm wide.

City didn't seem to have any reply, and under intense pressure Villa doubled their advantage on 76 minutes. Gonzalez had been having a notably quiet game, but he picked out Vugrinec with pinpoint accuracy. The Villa captain held the ball up well, and despite Howey tapping at his heels he managed to thread the ball through to Balaban. The strikers initial shot was saved low by Wright, but the rebound fell kindly for Villa, and Chadwick had followed play well to chip over the keeper and into the net, 2-0.

This was to be the wake up call which City needed, and for the first time in the second half they actually started to mount reasonable attacks themselves. However, defensively Villa looks competent and weren't giving City much room to work with.

As the game drew to a close City did manage to pull back a late consolation goal, a long quick throw in by Hanstveit did catch the Villa defence napping, and Goater was quick to react. On the bounce, he spun and launched a boot at the ball, the ball looped over the head of Sorensen and into the net, it was either a masterful stroke of genius by Goater, or more than likely a very lucky mishit!

As the final whistle blew it had been a thoroughly enjoyable game to witness, a slow starting second half for City was the only thing between the two teams today. Worryingly for the Division one clubs Villa just seem to be getting better and better.

Everton   vs   Birmingham City

 

Elland Road was to be the host of the Division Two champions versus Division four runner-ups Birmingham City.  Aussie Jones has been an inspirational leader for the Toffees this season as well as for the Australian International side who played just a few days ago.  A confidence filled Mark Viduka started upfront after scoring three goals for his nation earlier in the week.  Australian Emerton also proved his worth and started once again.

 

Birmingham City after an excellent end of season performance, looked to shutdown with no media coverage what so ever able to view the team.  Australian Lazaridis was placed upon the bench with Etuhu taking his place on the field instead.  A defensive outlook was to be the object for the Birmingham side.  The question on everyone’s mind however was if this defense would be strong enough to withstand the grunt of the Toffees.

 

As soon as Birmingham formed their defensive formation the Everton team went straight into an attacking formation.  The Toffees midfield was bigger and looked much more confidant then that of the Blues side.  Everton kept most of the possession early on with the City side only touching the ball as they sent it out from an Everton attacking move.  The Birmingham strikers rarely touched the ball early on, but when they did the danger was cleared away quickly with precise tackling and cool headedness. 

 

Brett Emerton would be the man to open the scoring with an excellent one-two with fellow Aussie Viduka to get behind the defense and send the ball straight past a static Bennett on 20 minutes. It was a well worked move by Everton, and it really had Birmingham stretched at the back.

 

If anything it momentary sparked some life in a very static City side so far, a good chance fell almost immediately after the goal to Hayles, but his quick fired effort merely warmed the palms of Bosnich.

 

Everton were soon back in control, and their next real opportunity produced a second goal of the game for Emerton, some nice work from Deisler picking out the former Feyenoord player who had darted into the area, a precision perfect through ball tore the Birmingham defence apart, and Emerton latched onto it to coolly place under Bennett's diving body.

 

Some frantic goal mouth action was to follow with Everton almost scrapping in a third, when a poor clearance by first Eaden and then Holdsworth did very little to calm the nerves at the back, eventually however Viduka's shot was sent well wide.

 

Birmingham almost pulled one back at the dead of the half, but Etuhu's header was firmly tipped over by Bosnich.

 

The second half was to be a bit of a slow starter, for the first 10 minutes the game was dominated entirely in the centre of the park. Some harried passes came from both sets of teams, and possession was being lost far too easily.

 

Against the run of play though, Everton managed to scrape a third, and it was to be an unfortunate slip by Purse which cost Birmingham, the surefooted Birmingham captain slipped with possession just outside his box, as he clambered to his feet he was dispossessed by Viduka, and the leagues top scorer made no mistake in picking his spot past Bennett, on the 61st minute.

 

Purse yelled his players forward, and they reacted well to his battlecries, but when Pembridge hit the post on 68 minutes, and then Bosnich pulled off a point blank save from Armstrong on the 73rd minute, it looked like it just wasn't going to be their day.

 

The real downside of the match came just moments later, Grainger and Viduka clashed into each other in a 50/50 challenge and Viduka went down badly, he was rolling in agony on the field and medics spent a while on the pitch with him. It was to later turn out that the Australian would more than likely miss the start of the next season as the unfortunate clash had broken his leg. Grainger also needed treatment but was able to continue.

 

The stoppage had upset the momentum of the game,  in the 84th minute Armstrong pulled one back for Birmingham when a parried shot fell kindly to him to tap home. But this was to be the only real piece of action.

 

Everton   3-1   Birmingham City

 

Home Squad: Mark Bosnich 7, Steve Watson 6, Michael Duberry 6, Alan Stubs © 6, Thomas Gravesen 7, Alan Mahon 7 (Stuart McCall 6), Brett Emerton 7, Sebastian Deisler 7, Mark Viduka 7 (inj.) (Kevin Campbell 6), Tomasz Radzinski 6 (Alessandro Pistone 6), Martijn Reuser 6.

Subs Not Used: Steve Simonsen, Marco Bresciano.

 

Scorers: Emerton ’20, ’35, Viduka ‘61

Injuries: Viduka - Broken leg - November 11th 2002.

Bookings: Duberry

Sendings Off: None

 

Away Squad: Ian Bennett 7, Nicky Eaden 6, Martin Grainger 6, Darren Purse © 6, David Holdsworth 6, Jon McCarthy 6, Mark Pembridge 7, Dickson Etuhu 7, Martin O’Connor 6, Barry Hayles 6, Alun Armstrong 6.

Subs Not Used: Kevin Poole, Jerry Gill, Stan Lazaridis, Danny Sonner, Tommy Mooney.

 

Scorers: Armstrong ‘84

Injuries: None

Bookings: None

Sendings Off: None

 

Match Stats

Shots On Target: Everton 9-5 Birmingham City

Shots Off Target: 6-3

Fouls Committed: 5-9

Corners: 3-1

Offsides: 5-3

Possession: 58%-42%

Attendance: 38,642 @ Elland Road, Leeds

Referee: Arsene Youoff (Bristol) 8/10.

 

Man of the Match: Sebastian Deisler - Despite Emerton getting two goals, Deislers overall contribution was much more, battled well in midfield and was always involved for the full 90 minutes.

 

Liverpool vs Sheffield Wednesday

 

The Stadium of Light was notably under-capacity for a game that saw the Division One winners take on a Sheffield Wednesday side that had defied expectations to take the second place above the highly-rated Fulham and Derby sides. With many fans expecting defeat at the hands of the first PMF Champions, Sheffield Wednesday had failed to take up the full ticket allocation leaving their stands looking bare.

 

With considerable prize winning up for grabs, both managers would doubtlessly be looking to expand upon their successes and treat the competition with some respect. With both teams putting out strong sides and a tense atmosphere around the stadium there was a strong suspicion that the game would be a great one. That sense wasn’t far wrong.

 

Both sides had obviously prepared well as the first fifteen minutes saw neither team able to penetrate the others’ defence with critical tackles from Hofland and Crane at each end to deny Sibon and Pires of goals. As the game neared the half-hour mark both sides finally managed to create some decent chances with the best coming from a run from Pires. The Frenchman, as he neared the area, played the ball to Yuning. The Chinese striker who was making only his third start for the northwestern club took the ball well, and found Owen despite having his back to the player. Crane failed to dispossess him and Owen found himself one on one with Pressman but his shot was too tame and Dudek caught it with ease.

 

As half-time neared however the division 3 side could easily have gone ahead when Elliot misjudged a bouncing ball and kicked the ball straight to a surprised Gemill. The midfielder tried to play a ball through for Ashton but the reliable Hyypia beat him to it and cleared the ball to touch to Harboe’s evident relief.

 

Half time came and went with neither side making any changes and both teams pushed forward even further. As the game hit the fifty-fifth minute Liverpool’s inability to penetrate the Sheffield Wednesday defence was clearly frustrating the players and Iversen and Dyer’s close-control was leaving a lot to be desired. Dyer lost control of the ball as he ran along the right wing and Hinchcliffe hit a long ball to Soltvedt. With no left back Soltvedt had space and bombed forward, crossing the ball neatly into the box. Elliot had to turn to get to the ball and Ashton muscled past him, connecting comfortably and he played the ball tidily under Dudek to put the underdogs ahead.

 

Minutes later Liverpool could well have equalised when a Pires free kick found Iversen but the header was poorly directed and Pressman watched the ball fall over the bar for a goal kick.

 

Against the odds it was Sheffield Wednesday then who got the second goal when a corner was given in the 72nd minute. Soltvedt took it and played a short ball to Gemmill who ran towards the near goalpost with Gerrard rushing to meet him. Taking the ball on the outside of his left foot he left Gerrard prone and knocked the ball across the goalmouth towards Sibon but Ashton poached it from the feet of his team-mate, poking it into the side of the net for his second of the match.

 

But Liverpool were seeking to get back into the game and managed to spoil what could have been a glorious giant-killing by Sheffield Wednesday when Redknapp spotted Pressman had been poorly positioned and chipped him neatly from 25 yards to finish the game 2-1.

 

Sheffield Wednesday’s Gordon Wilkins attempted to disguise his surprise as the game unfolded perfectly but he was surely as shocked as the pundits who had expected an easy Liverpool win. Perhaps the champions came into the game with too much confidence or feeling a great need to perform but with the biggest name out of the tournament many will be putting their money on an Everton victory although Aston Villa may well be strong outsiders to clinch the trophy.

 

Liverpool will be annoyed that they couldn’t make PMF history by clenching a double but will be pleased at the extra prize money coming their way for just reaching the cup whilst Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping that they might carry on their good form to reach the final.

Liverpool 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday

 

Squad: Jerzy Dudek 7, Kevin Hofland 8, Matt Elliot 5, Sami Hyypia © 9, Steven Gerrard, 8, Jamie Redknapp 7, Kieron Dyer 6, Steffen Iversen 6, Zhang Yuning 6, Michael Owen 7, Robert Pires 7.

Subs Not Used: Chris Kirkland, Patrick Berger, Igor Biscan, Stephen Wright, Shaka Hislop.

 

Scorers: Redknapp '82.

Injuries: None.

Bookings: None.

Sendings Off: None.

 

Squad: Kevin Pressman © 8, Roland Nilsson 8, Andy Hinchcliffe 7, Leigh Bromby 8, Tony Crane 8, Owen Morrison 6, Simon Donnelly 7, Trond Egil Soltvedt 7, Scott Gemmill 7 (Rob Lee 6), Gerald Sibon 6, Dean Ashton 8.

Subs Not Used: Kasey Keller, Derek Geary, Mathew Hamshaw, Dean Windass.

 

Scorers: Ashton '57,'72.

Injuries: None.

Bookings: Morrison.

Sendings Off: None.

 

 

Match Stats

Shots On Target: Liverpool 4-7 Sheffield Wednesday

Shots Off Target: 5-3

Free Kicks: 3-4

Corners: 2-2

Possession: 49%-51%

Attendance: 38,754 @ Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Referee: William Williams (Lincoln) - 9/10

 

Man of the Match: Sami Hyypia – the captain did well in defence and kept several good chances out without which the game would likely have resulted in a bigger Sheffield Wednesday victory. The most vital link in the Liverpool defence who was unfortunate to be on the losing side today.