Barnsley and Portsmouth can look forward to running out at Wembley after their shock FA Cup quarter-final wins over Chelsea and Manchester United.
Barnsley and Portsmouth savour shock FA Cup victories over Chelsea and Manchester United respectively
LONDON : Barnsley and Portsmouth can look forward to running out at Wembley after their shock FA Cup quarter-final wins over Chelsea and Manchester United on Saturday proved the romance of the Cup lives on.
Championship (second division) side Barnsley, who knocked out Liverpool in the previous round, gave their fans another day to savour after toppling Chelsea 1-0 at Oakwell to reach the semi-finals for the first time in nearly 100 years thanks to striker Kayode Odejayi’s 66th-minute header.
Portsmouth’s 1-0 win at United was no less of a shock given that the south coast side had not won at Old Trafford for 51 years.
Both teams will now head to the semi-finals at Wembley knowing they are one game away from the final. In a season of upsets in the competition, the last four is set for an unfamiliar line-up with Sunday’s two remaining quarter-finals featuring only one Premier League club.
Middlesbrough host Championship side Cardiff City, at the Riverside while the other match features League One (third division) Bristol Rovers against Championship side West Bromwich Albion.
Since the League began in 1888-89 there has never been a final between two clubs from outside the top division. Barnsley manager Simon Davey said it was a “dream” to be going to Wembley.
“We have beaten Chelsea here. It is a magnificent achievement. The players deserve everything that is going to come their way after this,” he said. “There were last ditch tackles and last ditch saves. Kayode was magnificent out there. It is like a dream and we are going to Wembley. I have never been there before and it is what dreams are made of. It has not sunk in.”
Portsmouth, now marginal favourites to lift the trophy for the second time, booked their semi-final place thanks to Ghanaian Sulley Muntari’s second-half penalty. Manager Harry Redknapp said going to Wembley “will probably mean 10 times more than it does to United fans”.
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