FA Cup quarter-final draw
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Amy Lawrence on Paul Pogba's display
Dominic Fifield's match report
It’s time to wrap up this MBM. Another fine win for Manchester United, but it could be curtains for Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea. Maybe not this week, but it’s hard to see the Italian keeping his job if they lose the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City on Sunday. It was another drab performance from Chelsea. Dominic Fifield has the full story …
Paul Pogba speaks! “It was a beautiful win. A great performance from the team. It wasn’t easy but we did it and we are really pleased. The team helped me to get to my best. They help me to score goals and make assists. If he doesn’t make the run I can’t play the ball. We are Manchester United and we play to win trophies. The manager trusts us and we trust him. We play to win”
Ander Herrera speaks! “They have a fantastic team so we had to fight until the end. I played a more offensive role because we knew they are struggling at this end of the bench. I would like to speak about Alexis, Andreas and Scott, the way they came into the game. A world class player like Alexis, the way he fought, this is Manchester United.”
Follow the FA Cup quarter-final here.
While Chelsea wallow in the misery of another poor performance, Manchester United celebrate reaching the last eight of the FA Cup. They played very well indeed and took control with splendid first-half goals from Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba, who continues to make Jose Mourinho look very silly indeed. It’s a huge statement from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who’s responded brilliantly to last week’s defeat to PSG. It’s increasingly hard to see them giving the job to someone else.
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Full-time: Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United
The Chelsea fans greet the final whistle with a very loud boo. Farewell, Maurizio.
90 min+4: United make their final change, Scott McTominay replacing the excellent Marcus Rashford.
90 min+2: Zappacosta lobs a cross to the far post. Hazard heads high and wide.
90 min+1: There will be five added minutes. Marcos Alonso tries to score with an overhead kick. That’s not happening tonight. The ball dribbles behind for a goal-kick.
89 min: Chelsea are well and truly beaten. The fans who haven’t left yet are only staying so they can do a very loud boo at full-time.
85 min: Bet Callum Hudson-Odoi’s relieved he wasn’t allowed to join Bayern Munich. The Chelsea fans aren’t staying put, though. They’re voting with their feet and are making for the exits already.
84 min: JT for manager!
82 min: Loud boos greet Chelsea’s final change, which sees Davide Zappacosta replace Cesar Azpilicueta. Zappacosta! I’d forgotten he existed. This is a total shambles.
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) February 18, 2019
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81 min: United have had this game under lock and key since Ander Herrera scored the opening goal. Chelsea’s response has been feeble. What chance Sarri going before the League Cup final against Manchester City?
80 min: “Have you ever been to Chicago?” JR in Illinois says. “Did you know that if you were to go to Chicago and you ordered a hot dog and you put ketchup on it they would throw you in jail? It’s true. If you put ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago you will be arrested and put in jail. Really, you could go to any restaurant or hot dog stand and say “I’d like a hot dog and please put some ketchup on it” and they would call the police and you would be arrested and then you’d be put in jail.”
79 min: Jose Mourinho is available.
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78 min: “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” the Chelsea fans chant. Poor Maurizio. What’s Guus Hiddink up to?
76 min: United make their second change, Andreas Pereira replacing the excellent Juan Mata, who receives warm applause from both set of fans.
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75 min: Sanchez is involved straight away, barrelling through on the right and seeing his shot blocked.
73 min: Alexis Sanchez replaces Romelu Lukaku. It’s ketchup time!
72 min: “Fuck Sarriball!” the Chelsea fans chant. Oh dear.
71 min: Willian wafts the free-kick miles over. There’s a funereal atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge. That said, the home fans perk up a little when they see that Mateo Kovacic’s number’s up. Ross Barkley replaces the Croatian. It’s a like for like swap from Sarri, who remains wedded to The System. Such inflexibility, sadly, is probably going to work against him.
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69 min: Hazard dribbles through the middle and wins a free-kick off Herrera. Willian fancies this. It’s made for him.
65 min: VAR are having a look at a possible Chelsea penalty. Did Smalling pull Rudiger down at that corner? Answer: no.
64 min: Eden Hazard suddenly comes to life, bursting on to a long throw down the right, swivelling inside and preparing to blast past Romero, only for Lindelof to divert his shot just over! United get the corner away. Again.
62 min: United win a corner on the right. It’s a waste of time.
60 min: Rudiger’s booked for flattening Mata from behind.
58 min: Chelsea make their first change. Willian replaces Pedro.
57 min: ... which comes to nothing. Again.
56 min: Kante slips a clever pass through to Pedro, but Shaw stretches to push the ball away from the Chelsea winger. Shaw manages to collide with Romero in the process. They both stay down for a while, but get up eventually. Romero’s rubbing his bruised stomach. He looks winded, but he’s ready for this Chelsea corner...
54 min: United deal with a couple of Chelsea corners. This is all very drab from the home side.
53 min: Chelsea win a corner on the right. “Don’t think I heard you mention Lukaku in the first half,” Duncan Edwards says. “With penalties looming surely Solskjær will give Sánchez a squeeze before too long.”
52 min: Already on a booking, Matic commits two fouls in quick succession, the first on Hazard, the second on Kante. Chelsea scream for a second booking for their former midfielder, but Kevin Friend won’t oblige. United might want to think about taking Matic off, though. His next foul could spell an early bath.
49 min: Chelsea’s corner’s cleared, Kante swipes at a poor shot and United break, Rashford storming down the left, tying Azpilicueta in knots and trying to slip a pass across to Lukaku at the end of a lightning counter. David Luiz steps in to clear, though. The ball bounces off Azpilicueta’s shoulder and Chelsea survive.
48 min: This is better from Chelsea, though, Higuain tiptoeing into the area from the right and seeing a shot deflected behind for a corner.
47 min: Stamford Bridge is very flat. At the moment it feels hard to see Sarri getting a reaction from the crowd and this team.
46 min: Chelsea get the second half underway.
Half-time: Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United
While the United fans cheer their team down the tunnel, the home fans let out a few half-hearted boos. Maurizio Sarri is in a spot of bother here, but he can’t have any complaints about the score. Chelsea are being outplayed. See you in 15 minutes!
45 min+1: Two minutes of the added stuff. The home fans are very quiet.
Another ruthless goal from Manchester United and Chelsea are in huge trouble. Rashford storms down the right, Alonso nowhere to be seen, and whips a Beckham-esque cross into the middle. This time it’s Pogba making the goalscoring run, powering on to the delivery, leaping powerfully and ramming a low header past Kepa, who couldn’t get strong enough hands on the ball! As for Chelsea’s centre-backs, they were totally overwhelmed by Pogba’s brilliance and athleticism.
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GOAL! Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United (Pogba, 45 min)
Paul Pogba is good at football! Who knew?
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43 min: Chelsea work United over on the right, creating the overload for Azpilicueta, but Lindelof blocks the right-back’s cross.
41 min: Hazard’s down after being caught by Rashford, that infamous hatchet man. Hazard gets back to his feet, but he’s wincing a bit.
40 min: Chelsea have had 58% possession. Make of that what you will.
38 min: Hazard’s flick runs through to Higuain, who has space after a flick from Smalling. All of a sudden United are in trouble - until Shaw races cross to block Higuain’s path to goal. Hazard picks up possession on the left of the area, but he doesn’t have room to do anything of note.
35 min: Pedro’s cross from the right causes Romero a problem and almost dips inside the far post. Not quite, though. United goal-kick.
33 min: “Ole, Ole, Ole...” chant the noisy United fans. They’re loving this state of affairs.
This is a very good goal from Manchester United’s perspective. Juan Mata’s at the heart of a neat passing move, with Chelsea failing to put the playmaker under enough pressure. The Spaniard finds Pogba on the left and the Frenchman’s given the room to curl a fine ball into the middle, where Ander Herrera peels away from Marcos Alonso and heads past Kepa from close range! Pogba is good at football. Who knew?
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GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United (Herrera, 31 min)
Sarri out!
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30 min: Smalling’s managed to rip David Luiz’s shirt. How rude.
29 min: A lull.
25 min: Azpilicueta knocks a pass back to Kepa. Instead of booting clear, the goalkeeper takes a touch. It isn’t a great one and he has to hack the ball away with Rashford closing in fast. Just stick it in the fahkin’ mixah!
23 min: Hazard darts to the byline on the left, but Romero dives to claim the cross.
21 min: Young, attempting to exert a high press as Chelsea look to pass out from the back, steams into the back of Pedro on the right. He’s booked.
19 min: Rashford tries to outdo David Luiz with a free-kick from the left, but he raps it straight at Kepa, who deals with a challenging bounce.
17 min: Another chance for Chelsea, Azpilicueta crossing from the right, Higuain nutting just wide from 15 yards. He was unmarked and will feel he should have done better.
16 min: The much-maligned Jorginho shows what he can do with a precise ball over the top from deep. United have been sliced open. Higuain plucks the ball out of the sky with a magnificent piece of control. Yet his second touch forces him wide and he doesn’t have the space to squeeze the ball home.
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15 min: United have had their warning: they aren’t going to get away with kicking Hazard out of the game. Matic is booked for bringing the Chelsea forward down.
14 min: This is a good, open game. Herrera strides through the middle and lashes one goalwards from 25 yards, forcing Kepa to fly to his left and push the ball away.
12 min: Chelsea have stirred. To put it another way, Hazard has stirred. He zips inside from the left and combines with Alonso, but his curling shot from 18 yards flashes just wide. That was more like it from Chelsea: quick, snappy football putting United under pressure and almost leading to the opening goal.
11 min: David Luiz moves up to the ball and uses his instep to send a wobbling, vicious effort towards the left corner. Romero has to watch it carefully and parry smartly. The rebound falls to Pedro, who smashes an awkward volley straight at United’s goalkeeper, who does brilliantly to hold it.
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10 min: Kovacic falls to the turf after a hand in the face from Herrera. The United midfielder claims it was accidental, but Chelsea get a free-kick 25 yards out. It’s quite far to the left of the D, but David Luiz fancies a shot.
9 min: A free-kick to United on the right. They take it quickly, but it’s headed away. Moments later, Matic pings a lovely ball over the top to Smalling, who’s still up from the back. It’s a free header, but Smalling heads straight at Kepa.
6 min: Chelsea’s first attack ends with Romero fielding Pedro’s low cross. “Given the horrific cup jinx Chelsea have had on United for what seems like 2000 years, I’m only hoping we can get to penalties,” says Duncan Edwards. “That’s because I feel Romero has saved more over the years than de Gea. But without any actual stats it may be no more than a feeling.”
4 min: United have started well. Chelsea have the whiff of a wounded team. They’ve fallen deep already. When they struggle to get the ball away from their own area, Pogba tees up Lukaku for a volley, but the striker wallops it miles over from 15 yards.
2 min: United are on the attack straight away, Mata creeping behind Jorginho and finding Lukaku on the left. The Belgian’s low cross has to be put behind by a sliding David Luiz at the near post. Marcus Rashford was waiting in the six-yard box. The corner comes to nothing.
Peep! An embrace between the two managers, some photographs with the mascots, and then we’re off! Manchester United, kicking from left to right in the first half, get us underway.
Before we begin, a minute’s applause for Gordon Banks. “England’s No1!” is the chant at Stamford Bridge.
Here come the teams! Chelsea in blue, Manchester United in red. This, of course, was the final last year. Chelsea won that and they also knocked out in the quarters two years ago, N’Golo Kante scoring the only goal against 10-man United, who spent the game trying to kick Eden Hazard. The Londoners have generally dominated this fixture in recent years. United haven’t won here in any competition since 2012. “Solskjaer has had a commendable interim reign so far, but comparing Sanchez’s goal-scoring to a repressed bottle of ketchup shows that his analogy skills don’t yet cut the mustard at the top, top level,” Peter Oh says. “In my experience, squeezing a bottle of ketchup more often than not results in flatulent noises and a spattering of watery red mess.”
“This line-up again?” Benjamin Park says. “Oh, for the love of God, change something, anything! Even if it’s just Luiz’s hairstyle. This ain’t deja vu, this is Groundhog Day.”
I suppose the big question is this: what does Mateo Kovacic do in this team?
“If Solskjaer is to prove himself the second coming of Ferguson then he should have disrespected the cup and picked a side featuring seven kids and four cardboard cutouts,” Ian Copestake says.
Or maybe he could have taken them to Brazil. That was a joke. Don’t bite me.
Pre-match reading
A reminder: VAR is in use for this game and there will also be extra-time and penalties if it ends in a draw. No replay! The quarter-final draw will also take place once this is over.
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Chelsea start in their Sarri-approved 4-3-3. Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain replaces Andreas Christensen, Emerson Palmieri, Ross Barkley, Willian and Olivier Giroud, all of whom make way after deputising in last Thursday’s away win against Malmo in the Europa League.
Manchester United make four changes after last week’s defeat to PSG. Sergio Romero starts in goal instead of the rested David De Gea and Chris Smalling replaces Eric Bailly, while Romelu Lukaku and Juan Mata come in for the injured pair of Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard. We’ll have to wait to see if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can squeeze any ketchup out of Alexis Sanchez, who starts on the bench.
Team news!
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Rudiger, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic; Pedro, Higuain, Hazard. Subs: Caballero, Christensen, Zappacosta, Hudson-Odoi, Barkley, Willian Giroud.
Manchester United: Romero; Young, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw; Matic, Herrera, Pogba; Mata, Lukaku, Rashford. Subs: De Gea, Bailly, Dalot, Fred, McTominay, Pereira, Sanchez.
Referee: Kevin Friend.
Preamble
Hello. Who’d be a football manager in 2019, eh? Offered the chance, probably all of us. After all, most of them get paid pretty well. The pay-off when you’re fired after two seconds would be wonderful. But don’t get too excited. Nobody likes being fired. You’d actually be pretty upset. All those millions, but you’d just want to get back out on the training ground again and smell the grass, lay out the cones, get involved with the banter, bark out some orders, slice some oranges. You’d just want someone to refer to you as The Gaffer again. Or The Gaffa.
The problem is nobody gets much time to do much coaching these days, especially at the highest level, which makes it hard to maintain a sense of perspective when things aren’t going to plan. Everybody wants success and everybody wants it now. The demands simply grow louder, more intense and harder to ignore, because we all need to Have Our Say, which is how we get ourselves into the situation where this FA Cup tie between Chelsea and Manchester United is being billed in some quarters as an audition for the managers of both teams to prove that they deserve to still be in a job this time next week.
That’s right: it’s another episode of Fraud! Maurizio Sarri’s in the blue corner and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s in the red. This isn’t simply a fifth-round tie between two of the biggest teams in England. It’s so much more than that. For Chelsea, it’s about offering absolute vindication that Sarriball can work in English football. For United, a chance to show that Solskjaer truly is the next coming of Sir Alex Ferguson. Unless he follows up last week’s disappointment against PSG with another defeat. In which case he should be put on the first plane back to Molde, leaving United free to install Paul Ince, Steve Bruce or Mark Hughes in his place.
You know, maybe it’s all getting a little bit out of hand. Maybe there are too many snap judgements. Maybe we need more patience. Maybe, if Chelsea are going to hire a manager as process oriented as Sarri, they need to give him the right players. Maybe they need to make sure he has a proper pre-season before his first year in a new country. Maybe they need to realise that sometimes you have to suffer for the success, even if it means gritting their teeth through dismal away defeats to Manchester City and Bournemouth.
But if Chelsea lose this game, that might be it for Sarri. In fact, with the possibility of another hammering against City in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against a serious prospect, he might be toast even if Chelsea make it to the last eight of the FA Cup at United’s expense. Both sides need to compromise. Maybe Sarri needs to focus a little more on defending at the moment and lower his reliance on Jorginho. Maybe he just needs a few results. To hell with the process! Philosophy be damned!
Is that the way to go, though? Sometimes you learn more in defeat, even if the lessons aren’t always clear at the time. Money can lead to short-term success, but it’s no guarantee of sustainability. United have been proof of that since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. They’ve chased stars, splurged money up the wall, made a series of ill-considered managerial appointments, and it’s brought them a couple of trophies here and there, but none of it’s really worked.
Jose Mourinho was wrong about a lot of things, but he was right in thinking that there isn’t enough football knowledge in the corridors of power at Old Trafford. That’s why it’s harsh to blame Solskjaer for United’s defeat to PSG and unfair to say he needs to prove himself right here, right now, otherwise give the job to Mauricio Pochettino in the summer. Football isn’t always so black and white. Sometimes it’s just nice to wait and see what happens next.
Kick-off: 7.30pm GMT.
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