Over Land and Sea

by Wessexbrony

Passion for the Cup

Monday 29th January

One of the benefits of the FA Cup draw was that it took place at lunch time on a Monday. As such, Dinky and several of her classmates at the embassy were crowded around a teacher’s radio as it picked up BBC Radio Equestria’s coverage of the draw for the fifth round.

“...and they will play Everton. Number fourteen...”

“Fulham.”

“...are at home to...number five.”

“So, Fulham are at home to Chelsea.”

“Next out...number nine.”

“Number nine is Aston Villa…”

Saturday 10th February

“I’m sensing a pattern here,” I said, as the radio on my bedside table previewed the FA Cup games. “Third round, Watford, away, 5:30 kick off. Fourth round, Portsmouth, away, 5:30 kick off. And now, fifth round, Fulham, away, 5:30 kick off.”

“Mhmm,” Dinky murmured, “It could be worse, we could be at Middlesbrough.”

“That’s true, I suppose,” I conceded, “But Fulham are definitely going to be up for this. Knocking us out of the FA Cup will make their season-”

“-and break mine.” Dinky added.

“I’m sure we’ll beat them,” I said, putting a hand on her back. “We did so back in December.”

“The second of our four live games this weekend is here at Craven Cottage,” Kick Off announced, “It’s a West London Derby in the FA Cup Fifth Round, with Fulham and Chelsea both looking to join Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Plymouth Argyle in the last eight. The two sides last met in this competition in the semifinals in 2002, when Chelsea won 1-0 at Villa Park. The Blues have enjoyed something of a renaissance since the turn of the year, while Fulham are fourteenth in the league, but that counts for nothing in the cup…”

“Nice to see the other set of fans turn up for this one,” I said, as we took our seats.

Chelsea seemed to edge the opening stages, and imposed themselves as the game went on. Just after the half hour, Drogba, playing as a lone striker, got free of the back line and fired the ball past Niemi to give them the lead.

“And Fulham’s resistance is broken at last,” Kick Off said, “It’s been coming, a superbly drilled shot by Drogba, great vision there by Robben to pick him out as well. It looks like it’s business as usual.”

Fulham, however, didn’t take it lying down, and were spurred into action. Three minutes from the break, a corner was headed past Cudicini by Zat Knight, ensuring that the sides would go into half time level.

“Well, Chelsea have dominated for much of this half,” Kick Off said, during the interval, “But that equaliser just before half time has certainly shaken things up. Fulham will now believe that they can possibly stun their local rivals and pull off a shock result…”

The second half began in a much scrappier manner than the first, as Fulham looked to deny Chelsea space. Nine minutes into the half, Brian McBride passed to Davies, who sent the ball to Dempsey on the left. With Essien and Boulahrouz scrambling to get to him, Dempsey crossed the ball to Davies, who fortunately sent it well wide.

Mourinho responded by bringing Gudjohnsen and Joe Cole on for Mikel and Wright-Phillips, and this nearly paid dividends almost instantly. Robben played in Gudjohnsen, whose shot from the edge of the area was tipped over the bar by Niemi.

As the second half progressed, Chelsea continued to try and push forward. Fulham, however, were perfectly happy to sit back, hoping to potentially grab a goal on the break, and whilst Chelsea enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, Fulham packed out the defence to frustrate them.

“We’re into the last five minutes here,” Kick Off said, “And it’s Lampard, passes to Joe Cole. Cole’s cut inside, he’s got past Queudrue, goes for goal...oh! What a save by Niemi, he had to be fully alert there, and it’s a corner to Chelsea. Lampard to take it. Up goes Boulahrouz...again, superb reflex save from Niemi!”

As the ninety minutes drew to a close, Ferreira passed to Gudjohnsen, who set off on a run through the Fulham half. Gudjohnsen let loose a blistering shot from the edge of the area. However, once again, Niemi was equal to the shot, and parried it at full stretch. Rosenior got to the loose ball ahead of Drogba, and cleared it towards Dempsey. Joe Cole, however, intercepted it ahead of the American, and got down the right before looking to cross the ball to Drogba. Rosenior charged down the shot, blocking it, but the ball deflected towards Gudjohnsen, who got to it ahead of Pearce and Knight and let it bounce before sending a volley into the top corner of the net beyond the despairing dive of Niemi.

“Oh, look at that!” Kick Off exclaimed, as Gudjohnsen and Drogba celebrated, with Rainbow Dash and Derpy almost mimicking their celebration move-for-move in the Traveller’s Rest, “Fulham’s resistance is broken in stoppage time, and once again Eidur Gudjohnsen is proving why he should never have left Chelsea in the first place! Frozen out at Barcelona, the Icelander cometh once again, and he has surely won this cup tie for Chelsea, just as Drogba did at Portsmouth in round four!”

Fulham 1-2 Chelsea (Knight 42; Drogba 32, Gudjohnsen 90+1)

“And there it is,” Kick Off said, as the final whistle sounded and Chris Coleman dejectedly shook hands with a sympathetic Mourinho, “Chelsea march into the quarter finals of the FA Cup. There is just over a week to go to the knockout stages of the Champions League, and they continue to fight on all fronts.”

“Indeed,” Full Time added, “It looks like they’re firing on all cylinders at just the right time, too. Chasing the FA Cup, still mathematically fighting for the title, and ready to resume battling in the Champions League as well.”

Sunday 11th February

“That volley from Gudjohnsen looked even better on Match of the Day,” Dinky said, as the two of us had breakfast.

“It did for me too last night. Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to get a more straightforward win in the next round,” I said, as the football news came on.

“After yesterday’s FA Cup win, John Terry has said that Chelsea’s players are in great spirits. Meanwhile, Galatasaray manager Eric Gerets has claimed that Chelsea play dirty…”

“Not sure Carvalho would agree with that one.” I said.

“Elsewhere, Wigan Athletic boss Paul Jewell has admitted that his side can’t kick what he calls a “losing habit”. His side suffered a shock FA Cup defeat yesterday against Plymouth, and are hovering above the relegation zone…”

Author's Note:

The draw for the FA Cup is broadcast after the previous rounds, and at the time, took place at lunchtime on the subsequent Monday. There is usually one side from the lower divisions, in this case Plymouth, that makes it into a later round.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Great work as always!