FA Cup Q-final: CFC vs NUFC
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Date: 22 March 2006
Venue: Stamford Bridge
KO Time: 2005 GMT -
ROEDER: WOUNDED BLUES ARE DANGEROUS
Newcastle United caretaker manager Glenn Roeder believes Jose Mourinho and Chelsea will be fired up for the two sides' FA Cup quarter-final clash after a second successive Champions League failure.
The recent 3-2 aggregate loss to Barcelona in the last 16 of the tournament and a shock 1-0 setback at relegation-threatened Fulham on Sunday would suggest Newcastle are facing the Blues at just the right time.
But Roeder said: “It would be wrong of me to give an opinion of Jose when I don’t even know him but it goes without saying his record as a coach is fantastic,” he said.
“But not winning the Champions League seems to have hit him hard, and obviously, it’s the second year running now.
“It seems to have really irritated him and the players.
“Because of that I’m sure they will double their concentration for the FA Cup.
“So as to whether this is a good time or not, I don’t know and just because they lost on Sunday it won’t make one iota of a difference to how they perform.
“At least Fulham showed it’s not impossible to beat them. Obviously they have not lost many and when they have they’ve still had enough chances and possession to have won.
“But they are a formidable team, taking the likes of Barcelona to knock them out of the Champions League.”
The interim boss is aware his side are the outsiders but is refusing to give up hope.
“It’s only people in Newcastle and our players who genuinely believe we can get a result there,” added Roeder on his underdogs.
“But I know what can happen because I went there as a young player with Leyton Orient in a sixth-round replay. We were big underdogs yet we won 2-1.
“So this is a new game and the important thing is the players have no fear.”
Captain Alan Shearer will be desperate to end his Magpies career with some silverware ahead of his retirement in the summer.
And, with a mid-table finish seemingly the best on offer in the Barclays Premiership, Roeder added: “In terms of getting a winner’s medal, this looks like it for Alan if we are being honest.”
Roeder faces defensive problems as Jean-Alain Boumsong serves a suspension following his sending-off in Sunday's 3-1 St James' Park defeat to Liverpool, while Titus Bramble is sidelined for another couple of weeks with a hamstring problem.
Stephen Carr is available after more than two months out following hernia surgery, while Craig Moore is in contention for what would be his first game since signing on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer.
Michael Owen (foot) and Steven Taylor (shoulder) are still out.
Chelsea are missing versatile France defender William Gallas for the encounter.
Gallas was shown a straight red card for his tackle on Heidar Helguson at Fulham and begins a three-match suspension. Spain international Asier Del Horno could deputise.
Holland winger Arjen Robben also sits out the tie as he serves the third game of his four-match ban for his dismissal at West Bromwich Albion.
Otherwise, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will select from a full squad.
Midfielder Michael Essien believes the Blues can absorb the loss of Gallas and progress to the semi-finals.
“We will miss William a lot. He is one of our key players. But we have players who can replace him,” said Essien.
Chelsea still lead the Barclays Premiership by 12 points but in terms of results they are negotiating the toughest period of Mourinho's reign.
But Essien insists confidence remains high.
“Every game is difficult for us. Teams know what our qualities are and we are given a very tough match,” he said.
“You can't win every game - you have to lose some. We are doing our best.
“The Fulham game is finished. Once it has happened you can't do anything. You have to move forward. Our confidence hasn't been knocked.
“Football is full of surprises. You win some and lose some but we still have confidence we can do something.”
Chelsea have never won a league and FA Cup double and Essien, at £24.4million the club's record signing, understands what the achievement would mean to supporters.
“It would be very special for the club to win this double. It's very important for the fans if we can do it,” he said.
“We haven't done this double before and I hope we can do it this year. It would be very good if we win both.
“We are leading the league in the moment but we haven't won it yet.
“When we've finished with the Premiership we have to think about the FA Cup. Wednesday is the FA Cup so we have to think about that.
“We lost last Sunday but we have to think about what's coming. Newcastle won't be easy but I think we'll win.”
Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Ferreira, Johnson, Terry, Huth, Carvalho, Del Horno, Makelele, Lampard, Essien, Geremi, Maniche, Gudjohnsen, J Cole, Duff, Wright-Phillips, Drogba, Crespo.
Newcastle United (from): Given, Harper, Ramage, Babayaro, Moore, Elliott, Parker, Emre, Solano, N'Zogbia, Bowyer, Faye, Clark, Brittain, O'Brien, Carr, Shearer, Ameobi, Chopra, Dyer. -
0 ball draw is good enough...
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with newcastle's defensive problems i doubt they can leave stamford bridge with anything but a defeat.
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time for a backlash..
burial at the bridge.. -
CHELSEA BOOK PLACE IN LAST FOUR
A fourth-minute goal from captain John Terry kept Chelsea on course for a dream league and cup double and ended Alan Shearer's hopes of a fairytale finish to his Newcastle United career.
Terry swept home Damien DuffÂ’s low corner to earn the Barclays Premiership leaders a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and leave the retiring Shearer contemplating a decade on Tyneside without a trophy.
Chelsea failed to capitalise on numerous chances in the second half, while Newcastle lacked the necessary guile to unlock a resolute home defence at Stamford Bridge and had Robbie Elliott sent off late on for two bookable offences.
Shearer will retire at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on 10 years as a Newcastle player. He will end it as the clubÂ’s all-time record goalscorer, after breaking Jackie MilburnÂ’s long-standing record this season.
But he will not emulate Geordie legend Milburn by bringing the FA Cup back to Tyneside. The only silverware he will have to show for one of the greatest careers in the modern era is a lone championship medal with Blackburn Rovers in 1995.
The FA Cup was his last hope. Shearer toiled away up front but was feeding on scraps as Chelsea dominated for long spells.
The Geordie hero, who now has 202 goals for the Magpies, was barely given a sniff by the excellent Terry and never tested Carlo Cudicini, in for Petr Cech.
Chelsea were on the rebound from a rare Barclays Premiership defeat at Fulham, on Sunday, and went ahead early on.
Jose Mourinho had made seven changes to the team which started at Craven Cottage but it was his ever-present skipper Terry who made the early breakthrough from a left-wing corner.
Terry wriggled free of his marker Peter Ramage with a run to the near post, where he met DuffÂ’s corner on the half-volley.
Ramage had been switched from right-back to central defence to cover for Jean-Alain Boumsong, sent off against Liverpool on Sunday and banned from this game.
Nolberto Solano, on the post, stuck out a foot but only succeeded in helping the ball past goalkeeper Shay Given into the net.
Terry claimed it, sliding into the corner of the pitch on his knees to celebrate and it will go down as his fifth of the season.
It helped the Blues to relax. Despite their dominance in the Barclays Premiership, MourinhoÂ’s men had come into the quarter-final on a run of only four wins in eight games.
Mourinho had held an inquest this week to keep his players on track for their league and FA Cup double.
He was concerned that complacency might wreck the dream but the early goal helped. Newcastle responded well with Scott Parker driving them on against his former club and Kieron Dyer back in the team, in the hole behind Shearer.
Lee Bowyer unleashed a drive which Cudicini could not hold and Chelsea were grateful for the awareness of Terry in defence. He beat Shearer to the rebound and bundled it behind, and ShearerÂ’s lunge for the ball only succeeded in clattering the England defender.
Solano went close from a free-kick and Shola Ameobi flashed a shot wide from long range.
Chelsea had chances to kill the tie, either side of half-time.
Two minutes before the break, Ricardo Carvalho connected with an inswinging free-kick from Frank Lampard but his defensive instincts took over and the centre-halfÂ’s wayward shot looked more like a clearance.
Joe Cole jinked past Celestine Babayaro after the break but Given stood firm at his near post to push the shot behind. The corner fell kindly for Asier del Horno, but the left-back, in for the suspended William Gallas, failed to control his shot and it ballooned high into the Matthew Harding Stand.
Eidur Gudjohnsen and Cole went close again and Glenn Roeder sent on Craig Moore for his Newcastle debut in a bid to bolster his creaking back-line.
Given then produced an excellent double save to deny Didier Drogba twice.
Former Rangers and Crystal Palace defender Moore, who has been injured since signing on a free last summer from Borussia Monchengladbach, was booked within seven minutes of his Magpies bow for handbags with Drogba after a foul by Elliott on Cole.
Drogba and Ameobi were shown yellow cards but Elliott, booked in the first half, escaped without a second yellow after appearing to kick Cole in the back when the England midfielder was on the floor.
Referee Steve Bennett let him off but then showed him a second yellow for an innocuous-looking challenge on Shaun Wright-Phillips in the last minute.
ShearerÂ’s misery was completed when he was booked for arguing with the decision as his FA Cup dream died in west London. -
chelsea had so many chances but scored only one.
as usual SWP was ineffective. -
sad for shearer.
scored more than 202 goals in a decade at newcastle and won nothing.
he has only a championship medal with blackburn to show for his illustrious career. -
Shearer: Wright-Phillips dived
March 24, 2006
ALAN Shearer has accused Shaun Wright-Phillips of diving.
Shearer's accusation of the Chelsea winger came as Newcastle crashed out of the FA Cup.
Wright-Phillips appeared to overreact to a challenge by Robbie Elliott which earned the Toon defender a second yellow card.
It soured Shearer's final game in the FA Cup as Chelsea won the quarter-final 1-0 and booked a place in the last four.
Shearer said: 'It was a blatant dive. There was absolutely no contact and I thought that at the time. I have seen it again on a replay and it was definitely the case.'
Newcastle's caretaker manager Glenn Roeder was also angry with Wright-Phillips and suggested the player's father Ian Wright would also not be happy.
Roeder said: 'He is an experienced defender - but Wright-Phillips knows he has beaten him and he's on the ground.
'He made no attempt to run past him at all. I am disappointed with the young man - and I don't think his dad will be too pleased either.'
Roeder added: 'For me you should just play the game of football. If you are fouled, go down. If you are not fouled, don't.' - PA Sport.