Watford 1, Plymouth 0
They might be heading down to the Championship at the end of the Premiership season, but Jay Demerit's Watford boys are making something out of essentially nothing. With a favorable draw, Watford took advantage of young Hameur Bouazza's new-found goalscoring prowess and shot their way to the FA Cup Semifinals. I'm just happy Demerit is tasting some sort of success this season. For what he lacks in skill, he makes up for in 'kahunas' and a lot of heart. None of this, however, changes the fact that Watford was thoroughly outshot and outmaneuvered, but as always, the finisher prevails.
WAT: Bouazza (21)
PLY: NONE
Chelsea 3, Tottenham 3
First Man U and now Chelsea will have to endure a quarterfinal replay. A thriller fro m start to finish. It's Frankie Lampard's world and we're all just livin' in it. The man had two before game's end. Tottenham, however, wouldn't accept the prospect of allowing Lampard to rule the world and, apparently, neither would Chelsea-mate Michael Essien as his own goal put the Hotspur ahead before the half-time whistle. Berbatov, the big Bulgarian Hotspur striker was magical and Egyptian defensive midfielder Hossam Ghaly was not too shabby himself. Solomon Kalou, the young Dutchman, saved Chelsea from a FA Cup quarterfinal bow-out. Overall, it is safe to say the inferiority complex that most Premiership teams were operating under against Chelsea is well.....nullified. I like it that way.
CHE: Lampard (22,71), S. Kalou (86)
TOT: Berbatov (5), M.Essien (OG 28), H. Ghaly (36)
Blackburn 2, Manchester City 0
Brad Friedel went the full 90 for the Rovers and Damarcus Beasley came in for Sun Jihai in the 57th minute for Citeh. Friedel, however, prevailed. Man City never really challenged as South African defender Aaron Mokoena and young Matt Derbyshire made sure the Rovers punched their ticket into the semis. To celebrate his goal, Mokoena decided to find a way to get a red card. Not smart - he'll be out for the semis. City not only has to swallow this loss, but also the thoughts of facing Chelsea this week in the Premiership. Poor Stuart Pearce. Sack up, lad and make something happen.
BLA: A. Mokoena (28), Derbyshire (90)
MCY: NONE
Italian Serie A
Inter Milan 2, AC Milan 1
Cruz's near-miss of a backheel half-volley was the highlight of this match. It also was played at more of a frenetic and errant pace than most Serie A games. Obviously, though, this was no ordinary Serie A match. It was the Milan Derby. Key players were Luis Figo and Zlatan Imbrahimovic both of which you could tell were pushing themselves to the limit. AC Milan scored a beautiful 20-yard goal and acted as Inter's punching bag. He took each hit, though, and got right back up. The guy can still play. By the way, Gennaro Gattuso from AC Milan looks exactly like "Wild" Bill Guarnere (Frank John Hughes) from Band of Brothers. Just add the facial hair.
INT: Cruz (54), Ibrahimovic (75)
ACM: Ronaldo (40)
U.S. Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup
FC Dallas 0, Columbus 3
I'd say the most exciting thing about this preseason match up was the amount of times the phrase "you know" showed up in game interviews. Between Frankie Hejduk and 19-year old Dax McCarty the phrase should probably never be used again. Speaking of McCarty, though, his play was pretty damn good for that age and I would love to see him on the field more for FC Dallas this year. At times, FSC commentators proceeded to call Alex Yi - Alex Lee, Dax McCarty was Dax McCartney, and Clarence Goodson was Clarence Goodness. Was this the same guy who called the D.C. United vs. CD Olimpia match-up a couple weeks ago? Half-time when posted - will certainly update.
Update: Sigi Schmid's Crew lit a match under their butt in the second half to dispatch of FC Dallas, 3-0. Good play by Dax McCarty, Eddie Gaven, and we even got a glimpse of the new Crew acquisition, Robbie Rogers. Stefani Miglioranzi (i.e. the injury king) also assisted on each of Columbus' 3 goals.
CLB: Ngwenya (58), Kei Kamara (62), A. Chandler (86)
DAL: NONE
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