Demba Ba stunner sends Chelsea through
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, April 2, 2013
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Chelsea striker Demba Ba (left) shoots to score the game's only goal ahead of Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand during their English FA Cup sixth-round replay at Stamford Bridge in London yesterday. |
Chelsea's love affair with the FA Cup continued when a brilliant goal by Demba Ba gave it a 1-0 win over Manchester United in a sixth-round replay at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
The holder will play Manchester City in the semifinals after Senegal international Ba, who had only scored once for Chelsea in his previous 10 appearances, struck with astonishing athleticism after 49 minutes. Ba, drifting free of his marker, allowed a lofted ball from Juan Mata to sail over his shoulder before stretching to volley it into the far corner beyond a helpless David De Gea.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech then produced magic at the other end 14 minutes later when he produced the other highlight of an otherwise tame game.
United's Mexican forward Javier Hernandez seemed bound to equalize with a diving header but Cech performed a backward twisting dive to palm the ball over the bar and win the tie for Chelsea which was 0-2 down after 11 minutes in the first match at Old Trafford before fighting back to draw 2-2.
Chelsea, which has won the cup four times in the last six seasons, will meet City, the 2011 winner, at Wembley on April 14. Championship (second tier) side Millwall will play English Premier League Wigan Athletic in the other semifinal.
United, which has won the FA Cup a record 11 times, had its chances, with Robin van Persie spurning a good opportunity to equalize in the second half, but with both teams playing their second match in three days, the game never lived up to expectations.
United manager Alex Ferguson, who has led United to five FA Cup successes and is poised to take it to a 20th league title, said his team had not been able to take its chances. "We lacked the composure to win the game. We had a lot of possession but did not make the best use of it and then on the counter-attack they caused us quite a few problems."
Chelsea's interim manager Rafa Benitez, who is deeply unpopular with the club's fans and is leaving at the end of the season, said he was looking forward to leading a team out at Wembley for the first time. "It will be good, when I was at Liverpool we played the final in Cardiff - and I hope I can get to the final at Wembley, too."
And despite a long-running feud, Benitez and Ferguson did shake hands before and after the game.
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