Everton end Manchester United quintuple dream

IndiaEcho

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posted on 15 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Manchester United were knocked out of the FA Cup by Everton.

New Delhi: A good spectacle of football ended without score over 120 minutes and was decided by penalties. Former Red Devil Tim Howard saved twice as Phil Jagielka hammered home the decisive spot kick.

Federico Macheda had an early chance, following up on his own header to unleash a snapshot that skirted wide of the left hand post from 20 yards.

Everton showed some quality interplay in midfield, Leon Osman and Marouane Fellaini combining well to release Phil Neville into space on the right. Getting beyond Fabio Da Silva Neville had a shot on goal within the box but he slipped at the vital moment and the ball skewed up over the crossbar.

Danny Welbeck, starting from the left wing, linked with the confident Macheda to engineer a chance for Carlos Tevez. Welbeck swapped passes with the young Italian and slotted the ball to the Argentinian forward who was lurking in the left of the box, but Tevez's control was loose and the chance went begging.

Ben Foster almost conspired to gift Louis Saha a goal. The English keeper tried to navigate the Frenchman as he closed but caused himself all sorts of problems, as Saha slid in to challenge the ball ricocheted off the forward and somehow ended up in the keeper's gloves.

Welbeck had a pair of good opportunities in the box, the first played in from the left saw the United youngster hit across the ball first time and it deflected off Joleon Lescott for a corner, squirming narrowly wide of Tim Howard's left hand post.

The second followed good build up play from Tevez and he slid Welbeck into the left hand side of the box, the Englishman sliced his left footed shot and looked dismayed with the Argentinian's pass despite its precise weighting.

Everton were pushing forward, demonstrating their attacking prowess and keeping good possession but couldn't find the telling final ball, Steven Pienaar in particular showing real quality in his approach play.

Macheda showed a piece of class, controlling a difficult pass from Tevez well and immediately spotting the darting run forward of Welbeck, the Italian weighted the pass perfectly into the right hand side of the penalty area, Welbeck struck the ball first time with his left foot, skewing his strike well wide of the target.

The second half began with Everton continuing to press forward, their first real chance of the half came to Tim Cahill who picked the ball up 25 yards from goal, the Australian midfielder steadied himself and let fly towards Foster's bottom right corner. The English goal keeper was equal to the strike and pushed it clear of the danger zone.

Tevez was becoming increasingly involved in the Red Devils' forward play, dropping back into midfield to collect the ball and turn at the Everton defence. His inventiveness lead to a free-kick on the right for Manchester United that was over hit by Anderson, wasting the opportunity.

As United were temporarily reduced to ten men due to an injury to Fabio they had two excellent opportunities to open the scoring. Tevez broke on a solo run powering beyond Lescott in the Everton defence, the England international managed to recover and stole the ball from Tevez at the crucial moment.

Park Ji-Sung also had a good chance, the South Korean was played in by Anderson on the right and jinked past Leighton Baines in the penalty area. Showing excellent footwork the winger got the ball onto his left foot and hooked the ball towards the near post, missing the target by inches. Howard looked to be beaten.

United were pushing for a goal as Darron Gibson smashed the ball goal wards from range towards Howard's top right hand corner. The American keeper did well to palm the wide as the ball looked to swerve late making it difficult.

Welbeck was also making a pest of himself, cutting in from the left and beating Phil Jagielka in the penalty area. The English attacker went down rather easily under minimal contact as Howard closed the striker. Mike Riley waved away penalty claims.

The young Englishman engineered the next meaningful chance of the game in the 82nd minute. Facing up to Tony Hibbert at right back Welbeck cut inside and unleased a curling effort that veered towards the far top corner. Howard could only watch as the ball zipped inches over the crossbar.

Everton won a late free-kick on the right flank as Pienaar was fouled by substitute Patrice Evra, the ball was swung into the box and Fellaini conceded a cheap free-kick at the back post challenging the struggling Foster.

There were no further chances and the 90 minutes finished without score. Extra time followed and Macheda was replaced by Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian's first contribution was to send a misplaced pass tamely out of play.

Pienaar was brought down by substitute Paul Scholes and the resultant free-kick was lobbed into the left hand side of the box towards Cahill. The Australian controlled expertly on his chest and turned Rafael Da Silva brilliantly, striking a left footed effort goal wards Foster did well to save with his feet and clear the ball from danger.

Everton were showing real ambition in the first half of extra time, with Cahill driving down the left and curling in a ball towards Fellaini in the box. Vidic was on hand and did well to block the Belgian's effort on goal.

The Red Devils' looked dangerous on the break, Anderson drove at the Toffees' defence and slotted Berbatov into the left side of the penalty area. The Bulgarian checked back and played the ball back towards Welbeck who was arriving on the edge of the box, as the ball arrived the Englishman took an air shot and missed the ball completely.

The second half of extra time saw Everton almost score immediately, Baines attacked down the left and cut the ball back to substitute James Vaughan who was alone in the box. The youngster hit the ball first time and Nemanja Vidic deflected the ball wide, a goal kick was given.

Manchester United were awarded a soft free-kick as Cahill span Vidic and the Serbian defender stumbled. Everton were two on one attacking the United goal but the referee awarded a free-kick for ah innocuous foul on the defender.

The Red Devils' were pressing for a winner towards the end of the game, Evra won his side a corner in the 115th minute and took it himself. Everton stayed resolute and knocked it out for a retake, the Toffeemen defended this second set piece soundly as well.

Everton charged down Foster following a loose back pass and blocked the keeper's clearance. Foster tried to see the ball out of play on the left but conceded a foul in doing so. It was swung in by Baines and Vidic did well to nick the ball away from the arriving Cahill at the back post.

It was the last meaningful action of extra time, and the game would be decided on penalties.

Penalties

Cahill – MISS...blazed over

Everton 0-0 Manchester United

Berbatov – MISS...saved by Howard

Everton 0-0 Manchester United

Baines - GOAL

Everton 1-0 Manchester United

Ferdinand – MISS...saved by Howard

Everton 1-0 Manchester United

Neville - GOAL

Everton 2-0 Manchester United