Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea
Henry (pen) Hasselbaink
Wiltord 2
Two goals off the bench from Sylvain Wiltord put holders Chelsea out of the FA Cup, and Arsenal into the last 8.
Goalless at the break, after a first half most remarkable for a burst of (ahem) indiscipline which saw almost everyone booked or spoken to, Arsenal went 1-up a few minutes into the second - from a Henry penalty which ref Graham Barber didn't initially want to give, until the linesman gave the nod.
Chelsea equalised as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - who seems intent on being the new Robbie Fowler, sadly - hooked a shot in from the edge of the D, around a couple of defenders and inside the flying Seaman's left post. Probably a fluke.
But Sylvain Wiltord, who seems to enjoy the FA Cup a darn site more than the Premiership, popped up to score twice, and give Arsenal the 3-1 win. His first was remarkable, and should surely win Assist of the Season. Stepanovs pumped a long (speculative??) ball from defence, right up the middle, and Wiltord bravely flipped it over the advancing Chelsea keeper to give Arsenal the lead.
And the third was almost as delightful - with Lauren winning a 'might as well have a go' kind of challenge at the corner flag against two defenders, and cut it back for Wiltord to smack home.
From then on, it was really just a question of whether Wiltord would get his hat-trick - and although Chelsea didn't ever give up, Arsenal seemed to relax a little as the minutes died out.
Quite a comfortable win, on reflection - although it didn't seem it at the time. It's now a 1-in-7 chance of getting Spurs in the quarter finals. Gulp.
(see match reports page for list of links to reports on other sites, and
this newsreel item
for the QF draw) |