(Gerard Deolufeo celebrates netting the winner as he inspired an incredible Watford comeback against Wolves to reach the FA Cup final in May, thanks to watfordfc.com for the photo)
It was Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final weekend and just four teams
remained, Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and
Wolverhampton Wanderers. The all Premier
League line up had battled through four rounds to get this far and they were
all just ninety minutes away from a place in the FA Cup final in May.
First up on Saturday was current Premier League champions
Manchester City up against Brighton & Hove Albion, so here is how that one
played out:-
Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 0
City stayed on course for the quad this season after they
edged past Brighton at Wembley after Gabriel Jesus headed home a Kevin de
Bruyne cross in just the fourth minute.
City had netted 19 goals in their four FA Cup encounters so
far, after thrashing Rotherham United 7-0 and then Burnley 5-0, before they put
four past Newport County before their toughest test saw them fight from 2-0
down at Swansea City to win 3-2 thanks to an Aguero late winner.
Brighton on the other hand had a much tougher campaign so
far, and after they got past AFC Bournemouth in Round Three, they needed a
replay against West Bromwich Albion, including extra time in the replay, they
edged out Derby County in Round Five before they came back from the brink at
Millwall in the Quarters to eventually win through on penalties to be here
today.
City were of course favourites to win not only this match but
the whole competition, and they looked likely to be on course for a routine victory
when Jesus dived to head home De Bruyne’s pin point cross after just four
minutes.
Brighton to their credit though battled well thereafter and
competed well after their early set-back, but you always felt that City could
turn up the gears if they needed too.
The closest the Seagulls came to a leveller was when Aymeric
Laporte had to clear from under his own crossbar as Glenn Murray looked poised
to score, but ultimately the south coast side never really laid a glove on the
City backline.
VAR was of course in use this weekend at both semi-finals,
and during the first half it was used to review a clash between Kyle Walker and
Alireza Jahanbakhsh, which saw Walker thrust his head into the face of
Jahanbakhsh, which saw the pair booked.
VAR agreed with this decision and this was shown on the big screen so
everyone knew what was going on. Walker
I feel was lucky to escape a red card if I’m honest.
Apart from these moments though not a lot happened un what had
been a rather undistinguished contest City were certainly not at their fluid
best and they had been given a good battle by a hard working Brighton side, but
City managed to close out the win and take their place in the final.
Some snaps from the
Man City Vs Brighton match I took:-
So Man City were
through to the final, who would join them, well lets find out as the second
semi final took place on the Sunday, and it threw up an absolute classic:-
Watford 3
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (aet)
Gerard Deulofeu came off the bench to net a brace as Watford
came from two goals down with twelve minutes to go to net an extra time victory
and take their place in the final.
This was predicted to be the better of the two semi finals,
the sides were pretty well matched and and sat tenth and eighth in the Premier
League respectively with only a point between them, so it was always going to
be a tight contest.
Watford had defeated Vanarama National South side Woking in
Round Three before they saw off Newcastle United at St James Park, QPR at Loftus
Road, just, and then Crystal Palace at Vicarage Road in the Quarters.
Wolves themselves dumped out current Premier League leaders
Liverpool out at Molineux, befoe they almost fell in Round Four, finding themselves
2-0 down at Shrewsbury before fighting back to earn a replay, and they trailed
in that too but managed to turn it around again to win, then in Round Five they
saw off Bristol City before knocking out another big gun in the shape of
Manchester United in the Quarters.
The first half of this semi final saw a very competitive encounter
but it was Wolves who edged in front at the break thanks to Matt Doherty’s 36th
minute header from point blank range, and it looked nailed on that Wolves would
reach their first FA Cup final for 59 years when Raul Jimenez’s controlled a cross
before volleying home beautifully from close range to double their lead just
past the hour mark. Jimenez whipped a
mask from a bag behind the goal too before putting it on in celebration, and
Wolves were in party mood.
Watford looked finished and manager Javi Garcia sent on
Deulofeu to try and turn this tie around, and with twelve minutes remaining he
curled home a beautiful effort into the far corner and suddenly Watford looked
like they could pull off a miracle comeback.
Wolves were clinging on after looking fairly comfortable
before hand, but it looked like they had just about held on for victory, that
was until deep into stoppage time Troy Deeney was fouled by Leander Dendoncker
inside the box, and referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot. And after a painful wait for VAR to confirm
the decision, Oliver was told it was a penalty and Deeney had the chance to
send the match into extra time.
And the Watford striker duly rifled home the spot-kick, and
incredibly Watford had pulled it out of the fire and extra time was
forthcoming, extraordinary.
So could Watford complete the comeback, or would Wolves
regroup and fire themselves to the final, or could we require the dreaded
shootout to determine the finalists?
Well in the 104th minute came the winning moment,
and it saw Watford complete an unbelievable comeback, as Deulofeu burst through
to steer beyond John Ruddy in the Wolves net and send the Watford fans and
players/staff wild.
Did Wolves have anything left? Well they could not breach the Watford backline
for a third time in this one and it meant The Hornets reached their first FA
Cup Final for 35 years, what a match and what a comeback from Watford, I was genuinely
lost for words afterwards, wow.
Some snaps from the
Watford Vs Wolves match I took:-
So it all means the FA Cup Final will be Manchester City Vs
Watford at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 18th May, may the best team
win, good luck to all!!!
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