THE FA Cup is heading into its last four as teams dream of the Wembley final in May.
Chelsea are through after a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough in front of a small portion of away fans due to government sanctions on Roman Abramovich.
And they will face Crystal Palace, who secured a crushing victory over ex-Blue Frank Lampard’s Everton.
Man City have also set up a trip to Wembley after cruising to victory at Southampton and they will face Liverpool, after the Reds beat Nottingham Forest 1-0.
- Manchester City vs Liverpool
- Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
*Ties to be played on weekend of April 16/17
Forest rue bad cup luck
Nottingham Forest were left fuming after being denied a late penalty in their FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Ryan Yates burst through on goal in the 85th minute looking to net a dramatic equaliser.
He tried to knock the ball around Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who stretched wide in vain after rushing out from his station.
And a full-throttle charge from both men saw Yates go down in the box.
The Forest star and his teammates wildly protested to the referee that it should be a penalty.
However, VAR entered the chat as Stockley Park officials reviewed the footage.
And replays suggested that although Alisson’s decision had been rash, there was minimal contact between him and Yates, who also appeared to drag his leg out.
Keane dismisses Forest penalty claim
Roy Keane believes referee Craig Pawson made the correct decision in not giving Nottingham Forest a penalty in Liverpool’s 1-0 win at the City Ground in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Former Manchester United captain Keane was in the ITV studio when Liverpool progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals and he highlighted how Forest striker Yates wasn’t ‘smart enough’ to win a penalty for his side against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
He said: “The referee has got it right. It was a brilliant pass and an absolutely fantastic touch, but I think the problem with Yates is that he is too honest and not smart enough,” said Keane once the match had finished.
“He should really try and go into the goalkeeper more because he is thinking, ‘I want to score’ and we can’t criticise him for that, but he has got to go into the ‘keeper and we probably see a more experienced player do that and I think the referee has got it right.
“It is frustrating because he is so honest and trying to stay on his feet but he needed to be smarter there.”
Worrall ‘very proud’ of Forest
Joe Worrall is proud of what Nottingham Forest have achieved this season despite the defeat to Liverpool.
Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall told ITV: “I think what we’ve done this season so far, we’ve created belief, optimism with the new manager and the players and performances.
“Never mind today, we have been fantastic over the last six months since the manager has come in. There’s a real buzz around the city – 28,500 came out to watch us tonight and we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the world. Very proud.”
On Philip Zinckernagel chance: “You’ve got to take those chances. Nine times out of 10 in training Phil puts them away. We do that all the time, cross in from the right and it’s a goal. It’s a trademark of ours. We’ve got some good young players too – to come and play 90 minutes against players of that calibre is so impressive.
“We’re a humble side, we work hard for each other. We dig in, we’re not scared to play quick attacking football or be honest, we’ve got good honest players, we’re an honest bunch. And we’ve got the league as well to focus on, it’s not all doom and gloom.”
Klopp praises Forest’s Steve Cooper
Jurgen Klopp was not pleased with his side’s performance but like Diogo Jota he praise Forest for their display.
The German also praised his matchwinner for his fine finish which settled the match 1-0.
Klopp told ITV: “That was a proper cup match. Massive compliment for Steve Cooper and his team.
“We should have played better but they made it really difficult. They had moments but then we went 1-0 up. We came though and I’m really happy.”
On Diogo Jota’s winner: “It was a difficult one to finish off. He is a proper striker. Absolutely great.”
Diogo Jota praises Forest resilience
Diogo Jota praised Nottingham Forest for giving Liverpool a “tough game”.
Jota, speaking to ITV, said: “It was obviously a tough game. They [Forest] are a great team and play with lots of intensity and they gave us proper fight.”
On if he thought his goal was offside: “Yeah, I thought it was tight. They had one big, big chance. They gave us a proper challenge and their fans were outstanding. But we are in semi-finals.”
On facing Manchester City in the semi-final: “I didn’t know. OK, it’s another tough game. One more. There are still a lot of games before then.”
Full-time in the Midlands
Liverpool secure their place at Wembley after fighting off later Nottingham Forest pressure.
Steve Cooper will feel sorry for himself and his team with Forest arguably deserving the winner.
But Liverpool now face Manchester City in the semis as their bid for the quadruple continues.
Forest denied late penalty
Forest want a penalty claiming Ryan Yates was brought down by Alisson!
There was contact but the referee is having none of it and VAR agreed.
Liverpool lead Forest 1-0
Jota’s chest appeared to be offside but the goals stands!
The Portuguese did brilliantly to get onto the end of Kostas Tsmikis’ cross to poke in at the far post.
Ten minutes left for Forest to find an equaliser.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0 Liverpool 1
Moments later Liverpool go up the other end and Diogo Jota fires the Reds in front.
VAR check…
Almost a breakthrough
We’re 75 minutes into this quarter-final tie and Forest should have the lead.
Brennan Johnson squared for Zinkernagel who was in acres of space in the box but he put his effort wide.
Half-time in the Midlands
It’s all square at the City Ground.
Liverpool have dominated play as one might expect but they have struggled to break down Nottingham Forest.
In fact, their best chance came from a poor pass back from Jack Colback with Roberto Firmino denied by goalkeeper Ethan Horvath.
Chelsea fans face nervous wait
Chelsea fans are waiting to find out whether or not the club will be allowed to sell tickets for their FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium.
The Blues have been drawn against Patrick Vieira’s side in the last four and are set to face them on the weekend of the 16th and 17th of April.
SunSport understands a decision on Chelsea’s ticket allocation will be made during the international break.
But the decision will be made by the government and not the FA as the sanctions imposed on Chelsea are from Downing Street.
Only 600 Chelsea fans were present for their quarter-final tie away at Middlesbrough on Saturday after the sanctions were placed upon them
Kick-off at the City ground
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool is underway and there is an electric atmosphere inside The City ground.
Both teams have only lost one game each in 2022 so this is set to be a thrilling encounter.
Jurgen Klopp entering new territory
This is the first time Liverpool have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup under Jurgen Klopp.
But the German will look to go one better and reach the semis to set-up a mouthwatering clash against Manchester City.
The two teams have battled it out in the Premier League and Champions League previously.
So it is only right England’s oldest competition should get a taste of the rivalry too – with a place in the final a fitting reward for the winner.
Lawro predicts narrow Liverpool win
Mark Lawrenson predicts a close game after Liverpool rested a number of stars against Forest.
But he still predicts a Reds win as they have not been beaten in domestic competition for some time.
Jurgen Klopp’s squad has got him this far in all four major competitions, and I think he will rotate his team again.
That will give Forest more hope, and they do have a clever manager in Steve Cooper plus some very talented players – Djed Spence scored a stunning goal against QPR on Wednesday and I’d be surprised if he’s not playing in the Premier League next season.
It is going to be close, but with Liverpool in this kind of form it is hard to back anyone to beat them at the moment.
Prediction: 0-1
Title contenders to face off?
Chelsea will fancy their chances of making the FA Cup final for a second year running.
Patrick Vieira is quietly confident about his side however and will be aiming to lead Palace to their first final since 2016.
Meanwhile, Liverpool and Manchester City will take their title fight to Wembley, unless Forest produce a shock in this evening’s match.
FA Cup semi final draw
Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest or Liverpool
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Ties to be played weekend of 16 and 17 April.
Klopp grateful for Forest gesture
Jurgen Klopp has praised the “great gesture” of Nottingham Forest to leave 97 seats vacant in remembrance of the Liverpool fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough.
It is the first FA Cup meeting between the sides since that fateful day in 1989.
The Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish also applauded the gesture in a social media post.
He wrote: “Thank you. From my perspective your club was hugely respectful on the day and that will never be forgotten.”
FA Cup draw numbers revealed
Three out of the four semi-final teams have been confirmed ahead of the draw.
And the numbers are as follows:
1 Crystal Palace
2 Nottingham Forest or Liverpool
3 Chelsea
4 Manchester City
Forest team news vs Liverpool
Nottingham Forest make one change from their win over QPR in the Championship in midweek with Joe Lolley starting in place of injured defender Scott McKenna.
The hosts are also without first-choice defenders Steve Cook and Max Lowe because of ankle and groin injuries respectively.
Nottingham Forest XI: Horvath, Worrall, Figueiredo, Lolley, Spence, Yates, Garner, Colback, Zinckernagel, Johnson, Davis.
Liverpool team news vs Forest
Jurgen Klopp makes seven changes to the side that beat Arsenal in the Premier League in midweek.
First-choice keeper Alisson does start at the City Ground but Trent Alexander-Arnold is missing through injury while Andrew Robertson and Sadio Mane also miss out.
The likes of Joel Matip Thiago, Jordan Henderson and Luis Diaz drop to the bench.
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Keita, Fabinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elliott, Jota, Firmino.
Kevin De Bruyne eyeing treble
Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne was not happy with some of the mistakes his side made in the win at Southampton.
But he did praise his team-mates for scoring “beautiful goals” and is determined to win the FA Cup this season.
De Bruyne told BBC 5 Live: “I think the first 20 minutes and the last half an hour we did well. In between we made too many stupid mistakes and even with their goal, we should have just played it out – there were 30 seconds to go until half-time.
“But I think the reaction was really good – the second half, we dominated and we did much better.
“We didn’t play at our best but after the second goal we did much better – the third and fourth goals were beautiful goals and we saw then how good we can play.
“We want to win every competition we enter, we have lost in a couple of FA Cup semi-finals but we are very happy and privileged we go again and hopefully we can win it this time.”
Pep speaks on Southampton win
Pep Guardiola has shared his thoughts on the win and praised Southampton for giving his side a difficult game.
City were made to work hard for the win before making the scoreline more comfortable late on.
“We started really well for 20-25 minutes but last 15 minutes (of the first half) we forgot how to play.
“It is difficult Southampton is one of the best organised teams we have faced this season, they push you and the intensity is difficult.
“It’s not a comfortable victory but of course now we go into international break.
“We are in three competitions and today was important in fighting for the cup title.”
Micah Richards expects City silverware
Micah Richards was also full of praise for Pep Guardiola’s side.
In particular, he focused on City’s dominance of the ball with City boasting 65 per cent possession.
And he predicted City to win two trophies this season – but would not say which ones
He said on the BBC’s post-match coverage: “What Manchester City do in terms of grinding out results is outstanding.
“They starve the opposition of the ball and they were excellent in the second half.
“The quality City can bring off the bench like they did today, that will make a massive difference in what happens.”
Keown tips City for cup
Martin Keown believes Manchester City are one of the favourites to win the FA Cup after a convincing performance against Southampton.
Keown said on the BBC: “An outstanding performance in the end but Southampton really made a cup tie of it.
“They really made a go of it but class told in the end, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez just too good for them.
“They just keep going, I can only see City going on to win trophies now.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
