FA Cup: Can Plymouth slay another giant?
Plymouth Argyle manager Miron Muslic with Darko Gyabi.
The trip to Aston Villa looks tricky for Cardiff City, whose main focus is avoiding relegation to League One. Anwar El Ghazi, at least, was delighted with the draw. The Dutchman spent four years at Villa, clinching promotion at Wembley at the end of a loan season in 2018-19 before a permanent move from Lille. El Ghazi scored Villa’s first goal in a playoff final victory over Derby, with John McGinn and Tyrone Mings the only survivors from that team. Both clubs’ futures hinged on that game under the arch: Derby spiralled and faced administration before dropping into the third tier. El Ghazi can count on a hero’s welcome at Villa Park on Friday. Villa, who will visit Club Brugge for a Champions League last 16 first-leg tie on Tuesday, hope to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since ending as runners-up to Arsenal 10 years ago.
What the Cup needs, above anything, is a medium-sized club to end the “big six” stranglehold on the old pot, and opportunity knocks loudly for Bournemouth. Some sparkling football in the past couple of months has had Cherries fans thinking excitedly of Europa League or even Champions League football next season. But with fine league form jolted by two consecutive defeats and a thicket of clubs encroaching on that path to a top-six place, a preferable route to the continent is surely presented by the Cup. Bournemouth have never progressed further than the quarter-finals, falling at that stage in 1957 and 2021, but the chance to avenge last week’s league defeat by a Wolves side preoccupied by relegation fears should be taken by Andoni Iraola’s team. Frustratingly, though, Iraola still doesn’t have a full-strength squad to choose from, with the redoubtable Illia Zabarnyi suspended and Ryan Christie a doubt after limping off in the loss at Brighton. Wolves have not looked like relegation candidates in recent weeks, but Bournemouth should step up and seize their opportunity.
After last week’s Champions League elimination by Real Madrid and a title defence that has them 20 points behind the leaders Liverpool, along with October’s Carabao Cup exit at Tottenham, the FA Cup is the only trophy Manchester City can win this season. Such ill tidings for their visitors from the Championship are further enhanced by Pep Guardiola’s desire to keep only his first season in charge, in 2016-17, the only barren one of a gilded tenure. Erling Haaland returned from a knee injury to score the winner against Spurs in the league on Wednesday and Guardiola was asked if it was a sign that the “old” City had returned. “Never will this season be the old City,” he said. “The old City was too good. But we’ll be back.”
Eddie Howe is less gung ho than he used to be. Players carrying injuries are no longer pushed through the pain barrier but rested when they hit the fatigued “red zone” while Newcastle’s default high-intensity style is not their automatic modus operandi these days. Howe also appreciates that it is not heretical to prioritise certain games. Much as he insists he wants to beat Brighton in the FA Cup, he knows that winning the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool and Champions League qualification are Newcastle’s prime targets. Accordingly it will be no surprise if the “slightly injured” Alexander Isak sits out a second successive game and a few fringe players enjoy rare run outs. Joelinton and Sven Botman may get some minutes following recent injuries but it will be interesting to see if Howe persists with Nick Pope, rusty since his own return from injury, or recalls Martin Dubravka in goal.
In March 1908, Fulham and Manchester United met in the FA Cup with United top of the league and on their way to the first title in their history and the Cottagers sixth in the second division. What followed, in the words of the Manchester Guardian (as it was then), “illustrated the glorious uncertainty of the game”. Our report suggests the match had all the hallmarks of a freak result: “a very lucky goal scored in the first quarter of an hour” (Herbert Burgess, the United defender, booted a clearance into Fulham’s Fred Harrison and it rebounded into the net), a freakishly good performance by a defender (Billy Morrison “stood head and shoulders above his colleagues; his head or his feet were always in somebody’s way”) and the favourites experiencing some “vile luck” for good measure. “Fulham rose to the occasion all round in splendid fashion,” we concluded, “but on the general run of the play they scarcely deserved to win.” Win they did, though, 2-1, their last Cup victory over United and a result they will hope to emulate this weekend.
Since thrashing seven goals past Brighton on the first day of the month, February has been an awkward one for Nottingham Forest: they needed extra time and penalties to beat 10-man Exeter in the fourth round of the Cup, lost to both Fulham and Newcastle, and on Wednesday drew 0-0 with Arsenal. There was evident relief in Nuno Espírito Santo’s description of a battling performance against Mikel Arteta’s side: “The most important thing was to realise how we do things … the positive is the clean sheet and, more than anything, finding ourselves as a team again with the way we do things.” Ipswich might consider this soul-searching a bit of an overreaction to a couple of poor results, given that they have lost six of their eight league games this calendar year. On Wednesday they conceded three times from set pieces at Manchester United, and Kieran McKenna admitted “we weren’t able to deal with United’s strength and physicality in the penalty box”. They will be braced for another test against a team that has been outscored from set pieces only by Arsenal in the league this season.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
