Mou faces Chelsea return in FA Cup Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

JOSE MOURINHO will have to get past former club Chelsea if FA Cup holders Manchester United are to keep their hopes of retaining the trophy alive following the quarterfinal draw yesterday.

Giant-killers Lincoln – the first non-league side into the last-eight in over a century after beating Premier League side Burnley on Saturday – could have a lucrative trip to Arsenal should the Gunners beat another non-league side Sutton on Monday.

Arsenal’s fellow north London side Tottenham will host another giantkiller in Millwall, who ousted ailing champions Leicester from the competition on Saturday despite being down to 10 men.

The other quarterfinal pitches struggling Premier League outfit Middlesbrough at home to the winner of the replay between Championship high-fliers Huddersfield and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

‘Boro manager Aitor Karanka crossed swords with Guardiola when the former was Real Madrid assistant manager and the latter in charge of Barcelona.

Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic combined to score the winning goal that carried Manchester United through to the FA Cup quarterfinals in a 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers.

The FA Cup holders were facing the prospect of an unwanted replay after Marcus Rashford equalised Danny Graham’s opening goal for the Championship side which prompted Mourinho to bring the high-profile pair off the bench early in the second half.

On 75 minutes the gamble paid off as Pogba, from just inside his half, played a pass for Ibrahimovic to chase.

The Swedish striker timed his run to perfection, avoiding the offside trap before coolly rolling his 24th goal of the season into the corner of the net from six yards.

There was almost a dramatic late equaliser for Rovers after Sergio Romero spilled a shot from Connor Mahoney, recovered to keep out Marvin Emnes’ rebound then saw Anthony Stokes tap the ball in only to be flagged offside.

Earlier, Blackburn had taken the lead through a superbly-executed 17th minute move that even had Mourinho sportingly applauding from his position in the United technical area.

Emnes carved out the opening with a strong run and skilful move past Marcos Rojo before he slipped through a brilliant pass for teammate Graham who beat Romero with a superb left-foot finish.

It was the first goal conceded by United in 471 minutes of league and cup football and Graham, a journeyman 31-year-old with the 13th club of his career, threatened to join the list of this weekend’s FA Cup heroes.

FA CUP QUARTER-FINALS:

Chelsea v Manchester United

Middlesbrough v Huddersfield/Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur v Millwall

Sutton United/Arsenal v Lincoln

Ties to be played 10/13th March

 

You Might Also Like

Comments