Football: Chelsea beat out Spurs in FA Cup replay

March 19, 2007

Two second half goals by Andrei Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips were enough to give Chelsea a lift to the FA Cup semifinals earlier today at White Hart Lane. The first of the matches ended in a 3-3 draw last week at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea had to come from 3-1 down to force the replay. Dimitar Berbatov, who scored in the last game, was paired up front with Robbie Keane for Tottenham, while Chelsea played Andrei Shevchenko and Didier Drogba up front as strikers. Martin Atkinson was the match referee for the evening at White Hart Lane in London.

Both teams started at a frantic pace, neither wanting to go to extra time in the match. The first real chance fell to Tottenham's Robbie Keane after he was found by Berbatov's flick, but Ashley Cole's last gasp dive blocked the Irishman's shot. Chelsea were restricted to long range efforts at the start of the half with two shots by Ballack and one by Wright-Phillips flying wide of the net. Spurs had two more chances from Dawson and Berbatov, but neither troubled Chelsea keeper Petr Cech.

After the restart, Tottenham had several quick chances, but Cech was able to stop both a cross in to Chimbonda and a low drive from Steed Malbranque. Shevchenko then produced a well taken goal by running down the left, cutting to his left foot, and curling an unstoppable shot past England international keeper Paul Robinson. Chelsea doubled their lead 7 minutes later through Shaun Wright-Phillips after his first-time shot went across Robinson and into the back of the net. Martin Jol responded to the Chelsea goals by replacing Malbranque with Jermain Defoe, but the next few attempts on goal from Spurs would be off target shots by Zokora. Ricardo Carvalho then brought down Berbatov in the penalty area and were awarded a penalty by referee Martin Atkinson. Robbie Keane scored from the spot putting pressure on Chelsea for the last 10 minutes of the game. Spurs pushed forward, but were unable to convert any chances, and they were eliminated from the FA Cup.

The win gives Chelsea a date in the cup semifinals against Blackburn, while Tottenham's next match is at home to Reading in the Premiership.