Togo Join Ivory Coast In A Tempestuous Match

Togo will face Burkina Faso in the quarter finals after holding on to a point against Tunisia in a rather tempestuous affair and a real tale of penalties. Ivory Coast had already won the group and as Algeria were already eliminated, the other game in Group D was a dead rubber. But it was actually one of the most entertaining games as the Ivorians had to battle back from 2-0 down before finding two goals in the remaining 13-minutes to also scrape a draw before meeting Nigeria in the last eight.

With Togo and Tunisia playing on the beach pitch in Nelspruit, many would have been expecting a poor game especially with the crowd being at a minimal. With Togo only needing a draw to go through, it may have been a surprise to see them start the more attacking. They would get the breakthrough after 13-minutes when Emmanuel Adebayor put Serge Gapke through and neatly scored. But Gapke was clearly offside when Adebayor finally played the ball through and Tunisia had every right to feel aggrieved, especially if that cost them their place in the next round.

Tunisia finally got into the game a bit more halfway into the second half and they were awarded a penalty on the half hour mark. Dare Nibombe pushed Walid Hichri during a corner, Hichri did go down rather easily but a penalty was the right decision. Khaled Mouelhi stepped up and rather walked up to the ball before nonchalantly rolling the ball into the bottom corner.

The second half was more about penalties given and not given than any real clear cut shots or outstanding goalkeeping. Adebayor had a penalty shout early on in the second half before having a stone wall claim turned down on 69-minutes. The Spurs striker rounded the keeper, Agassa Kossi, before Kossi brought him down.

The Togolese were furious at the South African referee for somehow not awarding the penalty and seven minutes later Tunisia had been awarded a second penalty. Saber Khelifa had been tripped by Nibombe and the referee instantly pointed to the spot. Togo's anger threatened to boil over and Florian Ayite was booked for dissent before Adebayor joined for knocking the yellow card out of the referee's hand. Togo's protests hadn't finished as Kossi required a yellow card before finally going back onto his line. Mouelhi again stepped up and was as nonchalant as before. But this time his carelessness cost him as his effort hit the outside of the post and went to safety. Tunisia had a glorious chance to win it at the death but Fakhereddine Ben Youssef's close range effort was somehow parried away by Kossi and Togo's progression was ensured.

Despite already winning the group, it was a surprise to see Ivory Coast play a rather strong team against Algeria. Algeria had a glorious chance to take the lead after five minutes El Arbi Soudani was brought down by Ismael Traore, the referee pointed to the spot even though the foul took place just outside the box. Ryad Boudebouz stepped up but hit the post and Algeria remained without a goal in the tournament.

Algeria managed to redeem themselves when they were awarded another penalty on 64-minutes when Arthur Boka handled in the box. This time substitute Sofiane Feghouli stepped up smashed his effort into the corner. Algeria made it 2-0 seven minutes later Soudani headed a cross home, almost giving Algeria a surprise three points.

Ivory Coast responded on 77-minutes with Didier Drogba making 2-1 with a header from a looping delivery. Ivory Coast then levelled ten minutes from time with Wilfried Bony scoring after his shot was met with a wicked deflection to keep Ivory Coast unbeaten. Final table:

1. Ivory Coast 7 +4
2. Togo           4  +1
3. Tunisia         4  -2
4. Algeria         1 -3        

United Open Gap To Seven, Villa Go Second Bottom, Reading, QPR and Wigan All Get Points

Manchester United 2-1 Southampton: The gap at the top has been extended to seven points after United once again come from behind to win it. Michael Carrick's poor back pass let Jay Rodriguez in and the striker benefited from David De Gea somehow jumping over the ball to stroke it home after just three minutes. United were level five minutes later when Shinji Kagawa played the ball through for Wayne Rooney to slot under Artur Boruc and level George Best's goal tally. United took the lead on 27-minutes when Robin Van Persie's free-kick was headed by Patrice Evra for Rooney to tap home and scoring United 1600th Premier League goal. Southampton are now three points from the relegation zone.

Reading 2-2 Chelsea: Reading somehow find another extraordinary comeback to come out of the relegation zone on goal difference. Chelsea took the lead in the dying moments of the first half when Fernando Torres' floated through ball was finished off by Juan Mata. Chelsea's man of the moment, Frank Lampard, doubled Chelsea's lead with a header from a corner which was helped in by Pavel Pogrebnyak on 66-minutes. Once again Adam Le Fondre came off the bench and once again he gave Reading the point. He neatly finished off a Hope Akpan ball with one touch, three minutes from time. An injury time free-kick from Adam Federici was headed on twice before Le Fondre volleyed home. Chelsea are now 13-points from the top but five points ahead of Everton in fifth.

Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool: Liverpool remain three points behind Arsenal as the Gunners sit four points off the Champions League after coming from behind to get a draw. An absolute shambles from Arsenal's defence was finally rolled home by Luis Suarez after five minutes. Liverpool were 2-0 ahead on the hour mark when Jordan Henderson finished it off after his run had initially been blocked. Arsenal responded and pulled a goal back four minutes later when Jack Wilshere's free-kick was headed home by Olivier Giroud. Arsenal would then make it 2-2 a further three minutes later when Theo Walcott found a magnificent finish into the bottom corner from an acute angle.

Fulham 3-1 West Ham: This is Fulham's second win at Craven Cottage over West Ham since 1974. The result also puts Fulham a point ahead of West Ham who are still seven points from the relegation zone. The deadlock was broken on ten minutes by Dimitar Berbatov who headed home a Damien Duff free-kick on the Bulgarians birthday, although he was in an offside position. Kevin Nolan equalised three minutes into the second half, latching onto a quick free-kick. But parity lasted for a minute as Fulham went up the other end and Duff's cross was headed in by Hugo Rodallega. The points were sealed in injury time when Mladen Petric knocked the ball off the post before the ball bounced off Joey O'Brien to make it 3-1.

Everton 2-1 West Brom: Everton go to within a point of Tottenham and fourth place after this win over West Brom. Everton took the lead just before the half hour mark when Leighton Baines fired in a shot from the edge of the area. Everton were awarded a penalty in first half injury time when Claudio Yacob felled Victor Anichebe. Baines again stepped up and beautifully put it into the bottom corner, sending Ben Foster the wrong way. Substitute Shane Long pulled a goal back on 65-minutes when Jonny Heitinga's touch on the goal line went up in the air for the striker to head home.

Norwich 1-1 Tottenham: Tottenham remain a point clear of Everton in fourth place after a late equaliser. Norwich took the lead on 32-minutes when Wes Hoolahan finished off an Anthony Pilkington ball across. The Spurs equaliser came ten minutes from time when Gareth Bale produced a fantastic run before unleashing a great shot into the top corner. Norwich are still only seven points ahead of the relegation zone.

Aston Villa 1-2 Newcastle: Villa fall to 19th on goal difference after another crucial defeat. Newcastle took the lead through Papiss Cisse on 19-minutes before Yohan Cabaye fired in another special goal just after the half hour mark. Villa were given a penalty four minutes into the second half when Mathieu Debuchy pushed Gabriel Agbonlahor in the box. Christian Benteke stepped up and coolly converted but it wasn't enough and Newcastle now move four points clear of the relegation.

QPR 0-0 Manchester City: Another huge point for QPR sees them now move to within four points of safety. The point for City means that they slip to seven points behind Manchester United. It was the last game for Ryan Nelsen who is leaving QPR to become FC Toronto's head coach in the MLS.

Stoke 2-2 Wigan: Wigan come back from 2-0 down but still slip into the bottom three on goal difference. Ryan Shawcross put Stoke ahead on 23-minutes from a Charlie Adam free-kick. Peter Crouch then made it 2-0 three minutes in to the second half, finishing off a parried shot. James McArthur pulled one back three minutes later with a cool chip finish. Franco Di Santo equalised just after the hour mark to give Wigan a crucial point.

Sunderland 0-0 Swansea: This game was more of a mid-table battle than anything else. Swansea perhaps should have had a penalty and missed a couple of chances to win the game, but Sunderland held on.

2013 World Cup of Darts Preview

Hamburg again hosts the third World Cup of Darts which starts on Friday afternoon. The tournament has been expanded, creating eight groups of three nations for the first round. Defending champions England will be looking to retain their title with world number one and two, Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis, again donning the colours. If the tournament goes with seeding, England could meet Netherlands in a mouthwatering final with Raymond Van Barneveld and Michael Van Gerwen flying the Dutch flag. Here's a round-up of the groups:

Group A: England headline this group and although they should progress comfortably, there could be a potential shock if Taylor or Lewis fail to turn up. Mensur Suljovic returns for Austria and can perform on the big stage, on paper he'll be the carrier of the team with Maik Langendorf backing him up. Suljovic is ranked 59th in the world with Langendorf miles down in 175th. Austria did make it into the second round last year. Japan are the other nation in this group and Haruki Muramatsu had a good showing in the World Championships. He's currently ranked 91st while his partner, Sho Katsumi is unranked in the PDC and a real unknown. They'll be hoping for a better showing than last year where they lost to Sweden in the first round. If England play at their best or even in second gear, they should easily brush the other two nations away.

Group B: Eighth seeds Republic of Ireland are probably expected to get through, but if there is a seeded nation to fall short, it could be Ireland. William O'Connor hasn't quite lived up to expectation and sits 54th in the world while his partner, Connie Finnan sits way down in 109th which makes them arguably the weakest seeds. They did get into the second round after beating Malaysia last year. Denmark have the lowest ranked player in this competition with Jan Hoffman 258th in the world, but he did beat Brendan Dolan last year. Per Laursen is definitely the better known Dane and may be the carrier of the team, although he still sits 203rd in the world which makes them arguably the worst team in the competition. But Denmark did progress to the second round of last year's competition by beating Gibraltar. South Africa are definitely the dark horse in the group and had a good showing last year by getting to the quarter finals. Charl Pietersen, 119th in the world, and unranked Shawn Hogan once again team up despite Devon Peterson being 61st. This group could be decided in the match between Ireland and South Africa.

Group C: Fourth seeds Scotland were the disappointment of last year's tournament, losing in the second round to South Africa. Gary Anderson has just slipped out of the top ten this year but he and UK Open champion, Robert Thornton, should get through. Canada got into the second round last year with 24th in the world, John Part, headlining the side while his partner Jeff Smith may met the side down being 179th in the world. Sweden are the third team in this trio and are another one of those average sides. Sweden did make into the second round last year with Magnus Caris working his way up to 44th in the world. Par Riihonen is another unranked player in this tournament after failing to earn a tour card in q-school. Again if Scotland don't perform then they could be in for a shock against either side.

Group D: The promising Welsh team would have a horror group if this was football with Spain and Italy. But in darts, there should only be one winner if Mark Webster and Richie Burnett play like they can. The Welsh made it to the semi-finals last year before losing to England. The Spanish side do boast a victory over England in that shock result in 2010. Last year the Spaniards lost in the first round to South Africa and the pairing of Antonio Alcinas, 113th in the world, and Carlos Rodriguez, 148th in the world, return for their third attempt at the world stage. Italy are a late inclusion after the Philippines pulled out due to travel reasons. This gives two completely unranked and unknown players a chance to grace the television stage so it will be interesting to see Daniele Petri and Matteo Dal Monte play. Spain could be a dark horse in this group but, like with the others, Wales should have enough even in second gear.

Group E: Second seeds and last year's semi-finalists Netherlands grace this group and really should get through comfortably. World Championship runner-up Van Gerwen and the rejuvenated Van Barneveld really do look like an ominous pairing. Gibraltar narrowly lost to Denmark in the first round of last year's competition and Dyson Parody, 124th in the world, and Dylan Duo, 182nd in the world, return for their third appearance. Both can play on their day but really don't have enough to worry the Dutch. Poland didn't participate in the last World Cup but were involved in the inaugural competition in 2010. They lost to Russia in the first round but the unranked players, Krzystof Kciuk and Krzystof Ratajski, do return for their second showing.

Group F: The hosts will compete in this group and like Ireland would be candidates for a seed, if any were to, go out. Germany lost in the second round to USA last year and Jyhan Artut, 143rd in the world, and Andree Welge, 116th in the world, will get the opportunity to avenge that result when they meet USA again this year. Perhaps the much talked about youngster Kevin Munch is upset to miss out being 136th in the world but both Bernd Roith and Michael Rosenauer are ranked higher than Welge which poses further questions. The USA did lose to England in the following round last year and Darin Young will be confident about being able to do it again. Young is unranked but has shown that he can play, this time though, Young will be partnered Larry Butler who is also unranked instead of Gary Mawson. The final team in this group is Finland who narrowly lost to Croatia last year. Jani Haavisto looked very good in the World Championships yet is unranked and is joined by Jarkko Komula who is also unranked but did participate in the 2010 World Cup. This may end up being the most open group of the tournament, with Germany in real danger of missing out.

Group G: Last year's runners-up Australia will be looking for the same thing this year and will face New Zealand in the battle of Oceania. Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson made a good partnership last year and should easily have enough to go through. Croatia beat Finland in the first round last year before losing 4-0 to Wales. Tonci Restovic, 149th in the world, returns from last year's competition but this time he is joined by Robert Marijanovic who is ranked 119th in the world. New Zealand had the second lowest average last year as they lost to Austria. This time they have a different pairing altogether as Preston Ridd and Warren French make way for Phil Hazel and Craig Caldwell who are both unranked and are again a completely unknown team.

Group H: Northern Ireland have probably been given the worst group out of all the seeded sides. The sixth seeds are captained by Brendan Dolan with 51st in the world Michael Mansell again partnering him. The Northern Irish did make into the quarter finals before losing to Netherlands. It looks like it'll be a shoot-out between these and Belgium who is captained by Kim Huybrechts. The Belgians also made it to the quarter finals last year before losing to Australia. That year, Huybrechts was partnered by Kurt Van De Rijk. This time Huybrechts is partnered by his brother Ronny who is 155th in the world which is 13-places higher than Van De Rijk. If Ronny is as half as good as Kim, Belgium will be a very exciting team. Hungary will be the minnows of the group and may be able to improve on their 5-3 defeat against Canada in the first round last year. Nandor Bezzeg returns from last year but Meszaros Zsolt replaces Kristian Kaufmann in another completely unranked team.

Holders Out as Ethiopia's Ill-Discipline Puts Nigeria Through

The holders of African Cup of Nations have been eliminated in the group stage. Zambia could only muster a goalless draw against Burkina Faso and it proved not to be enough, but become the third unbeaten to be ousted from the competition. Burkina Faso will avoid Ivory Coast in the quarter finals after managing to win the group on goal difference. On paper, Nigeria have set up a mouthwatering tie against the tournament favourites, but based on their performances so far, Ivory Coast may well be quite content with this fixture.

Nigeria only just scraped through to the knock-out phase and did so because of two penalties conceded by Ethiopia. Before either of the penalties had been conceding, it was looking like second place would be farcically decided by how many yellow and red cards Zambia and Nigeria had picked up. It almost got even worse as the second placed team could have been selected by a mere picking of lots.

With three of the four teams needing a win to secure a passage into the next round, it was extremely disappointing to see the lack of attacking intent or indeed goal threat imposed by them. With Burkina Faso only needing to avoid defeat to qualify, it was perhaps surprising to see them start the better against Zambia. But they were dealt an early blow when striker Alain Traore had to be stretchered off.

Despite this, Zambia should have taken the lead on 17-minutes when Collins Mbesuma was played in by Chisamba Lungu. But Mbesuma would strike it to the only place where he wouldn't score, apart from missing the target altogether, and hit it straight at the keeper. In the other game, it was Nigeria who started the better before they started conceding set-pieces.

With discipline a possible deciding factor on who progresses through, it was perhaps remarkable to see amount of bad challenges in both games. But the referees often dismissed a number of two footed challenges as just fouls. This may give a slight insight into why discipline does seem a little awry in this year's tournament.

It has also been disappointing to see how poor some of the service has been from the wings, but when the service has been good, the strikers have either not been in a good position or squandered the chance. Isaac Chansa was guilty of this right before half-time when his weak header was more catching practice for the keeper.

Nigeria had been the better side in the first half, but Ethiopia responded in the second in a bid to make a fight of the game. But they became unstuck 11-minutes from time when Victor Moses was brought down by Alula Girma in the box. The Chelsea man then got back to his feet to take the penalty and rolled it calmly into the bottom corner, asking the question why he didn't take the one against Zambia.

This question was even more affirmed in injury time when Moses converted a second penalty to guarantee their place in the knock-out phase. Moses was again brought down, this time by the keeper Sisay Bancha. Bancha had already been booked and would receive a second yellow card. This occurred five minutes before the end but because Ethiopia had used all three subs, Addis Hintsa had to go in goal. But he wasn't allowed to do so until he had changed his number to 23. After that rigmarole, Moses stepped up and again scored despite Hintsa guessing right. Final table:

1. Burkina Faso 5 +4
2. Nigeria          5 +2
3. Zambia          3  0
4. Ethiopia         1  -6  

Ghana Comfortably Through As Mali Also Progress

Ghana set up a quarter final tie against Cape Verde after comfortably winning Group B. A point for Mali was enough for them to oust DR Congo out of the competition and will now face the hosts South Africa in the second last eight tie. Unlike the late drama in Group A, all of the twists and turns came early on although there were chances for both Mali and DR Congo to win their match.

DR Congo quickly put themselves into the ascendency as Lomana LuaLua hit the post before Yves Ilunga was brought down by former Liverpool man, Mohamed Sissoko. The referee pointed to spot and Dieumerci Mbokani of Anderlecht stepped up and converted, giving DR Congo the lead after just three minutes. If the scores remained the same for the remaining 87-minutes DR Congo would go through with Ghana still winning the group on goal difference.

 Ghana began to take control of the group after just six minutes in their match with Asamoah Gyan finally opening his account with a cool short-range finish after a low cross. Niger thought that they had scored their first goal of the tournament by equalising and giving themselves a hope of qualifying on ten minutes. The ball went into the net from a set-piece but the referee disallowed it for an adjudged push in the box, a decision which was a little harsh.

Mali put themselves back into second spot after 14-minutes with the equaliser. Adama Tamboura worked well inside the box before laying the ball for Mamadou Samassa to tap home. This meant Mali would join Ghana with four points compared to DR Congo's three.

Ghana doubled their lead on 23-minutes when 21-year old Christian Atsu of Porto took full advantage of his first start in the tournament. Gyan floated the ball in for Atsu to chest down and roll home to almost guarantee themselves the three points.

Mali and DR Congo both created chances during the remainder of the first half. But the referee blew the whistle with the teams still level and Mali still going through. If anyone was going to score again in the other game, it was going to be Ghana as Niger failed to create and looked like they had already accepted their fate by half-time.

The only other goal in either game came four minutes into the second half and it once again came from Ghana to cap off a resounding victory. A header from Gyan was spilled by Kassaly Daouda and John Boye was on hand to scramble the ball over the line.

Mali were the stronger of the two sides in the second half but did have to face a late onslaught from DR Congo after being unable to find a winner. Fortunately for Mali, they managed to hold on as DR Congo couldn't produce a clear cut opportunity. Mali progress and, like Morocco, DR Congo fail to qualify despite being unbeaten while Niger exit the tournament without scoring a goal. Final table:

1. Ghana        7 +4
2. Mali           4   0
3. DR Congo  3  0    
4. Niger          1 -4

The Hosts and Little Cape Verde Through

The island of Cape Verde is populated by just 500,000 people. They progressed into this year's African Cup of Nations by beating Cameroon over two legs. Now they have overcome all odds by progressing to the quarter finals in a dramatic victory over Angola. The hosts South Africa ended up winning the group after coming from behind twice to earn a point against Morocco. All four members of Group A were on course for progression at one stage in a dramatic end to the group.

At the start of play, South Africa knew that they just had to avoid defeat to guarantee progression. A win for both Morocco and Cape Verde would also be enough for both of them progress. Angola had to win too and hope that South Africa didn't lose.

Morocco hit first when South Africa failed to deal with a corner. Issam El Adoua beats Itumeleng Khune to the corner and headed into the floor. The ball bounced up onto the underside of the crossbar before just crossing the line. As it stood, at this early stage, Morocco would win the group with South Africa progressing by a point over Cape Verde.

Angola kept their dream alive 12-minutes before half-time when Amaro's low cross was turned into his own net by Nando. At this point it still wouldn't have been enough for Angola as South Africa would still go through courtesy of that 2-0 victory over the Angolans. Morocco were still firmly in control of winning the group.

The remaining drama was late in coming, but it would come thick and fast. South Africa put Morocco's qualification in doubt on 79-minutes when May Mahlangu played a one-two with Tokelo Rantie before curling the ball beautifully into the top corner. This turned the group on its head as South Africa would now win it. But with Angola winning 1-0 in the other match, Angola would now scrape through on four points compared to Morocco's three.

But Cape Verde changed all of that with nine minutes to play when Heldon's corner was turned in by Fernando Varela after a goalmouth scramble. But Cape Verde's joy wouldn't last too long as Morocco would retake the lead in the other match a minute later. Abdelilah Hafidi found a cool finish after finding space in the box. This meant that with only eight minutes remaining, Morocco were once again going to win the group. South Africa would still just progress with four points compared to Cape Verde's three.

The drama still wasn't completed as South Africa would once again fight back with four minutes left. In slight deja vu to their first goal, South Africa's auxiliary striker, Siyabonga Sangweni, broke the offside trap before cutting back inside and curling the ball around the defender and classily into the bottom corner. This put South Africa back at the top of the group and Morocco would go through, agonisingly, on goals scored which was just one more than Cape Verde.

But the small Archipelago nation would have the last word in injury time and the substitute Heldon was at it again. This time he was the scorer that would send Cape Verde through whilst eliminating the Moroccan's with the latest of shows. Final Table:

1. South Africa    5 +2
2. Cape Verde    5 +1
3. Morocco         3  0
4. Angola            1 -3

FA Cup Fifth Round Draw

Huddersfield Town/Leicester City v Wigan Athletic

Milton Keynes Dons v Barnsley

Oldham Athletic v Everton

Luton Town v Millwall

Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers

Manchester City v Leeds United

Manchester United v Reading

Middlesbrough v Brentford/Chelsea

FA Cup Fourth Round Results

Oldham Athletic 3-2 Liverpool: Matt Smith (3') gave Oldham a dream start before Luis Suarez (17') equalised. Smith (45') regained the lead for Oldham and Reece Wabara (48') put the League One side in dreamland. Joe Allen (80') pulled one back but it wasn't enough to save the Premiership side.

Leeds United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Luke Varney (15') and Ross McCormack (50') did enough to dump the Premiership side out. Clint Dempsey (58') pulled one back but it is Leeds who progress.

Brentford 2-2 Chelsea: The Premiership side force a replay back at Stamford Bridge. Marcelo Trotta (42') gave Brentford the lead before Oscar (55') equalised. Harry Forrester (73') then made it 2-1 from the penalty spot. But Fernando Torres spared Chelsea's blushes seven minutes from time.

Manchester United 4-1 Fulham: A Ryan Giggs penalty (3'), Wayne Rooney (50') and Javier Hernandez (52' & 66') gave United a comfortable 4-0 lead. Aaron Hughes (77') got the consolation after conceding the early penalty.

Reading 4-0 Sheffield United: Noel Hunt (6' & 50'), Mikele Leigertwood (40') and Garath McCleary (54') dished out a thrashing for Reading over the League One side.

Queens Park Rangers 2-4 Milton Keynes Dons: The Premiership side were well beaten by the League One team. An Armand Traore own goal (4'), Ryan Lowe (40'), Ryan Harley (50') and Darren Potter (56') made it 4-0 before Jay Bothroyd (83') and Fabio (90') scored two consolation goals.

Norwich City 0-1 Luton Town: Norwich become the first Premiership side to ever get knocked out by a non-league outfit, the first top tier side to lose to non-league side in 27-years. Scott Rendell scored the historic goal ten minutes from the end.

Macclesfield Town 0-1 Wigan Athletic: A Jordi Gomez penalty after seven minutes is enough for the Premiership side to squeeze through.

Hull City 0-1 Barnsley: Chris Dagnall (70') scores the only goal to send Barnsley into the fifth round.

Huddersfield Town 1-1 Leicester City: A Lee Novak penalty (74') gave Huddersfield the lead. But Chris Wood earned a replay at the King Power Stadium eight minutes from time.

Derby County 0-3 Blackburn Rovers: Colin Kazim-Richards (44'), Scott Dann (66') and Jordan Rhodes (71') ensure a safe passage for Blackburn.

Brighton & Hove Albion 2-3 Arsenal: Theo Walcott spares Arsenal's blushes with the winner five minutes from time. Olivier Giroud (16') fired Arsenal in front before Ashley Barnes (33') equalised. Giroud (56') put Arsenal back in front but Leonardo Ulloa (62') thought he'd earned a replay for the Championship side.

Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Everton: Jonny Heitinga prevents replay with injury time winner. Steven Pienaar (18') had given Everton the lead before Marvin Sordell (27') equalised.

Stoke City 0-1 Manchester City: Pablo Zabaleta scores his first ever FA Cup goal five minutes from time to secure the 2011 champions' passage.

Millwall 2-1 Aston Villa: Villa's cup torment continues as Championship side Millwall knock the Premiership side out. Darren Bent (22) gave Villa the lead before Danny Shittu (27') equalised from yet another corner. John Marquis then won the game in the final minute of normal time.

Ivory Coast Through As Togo Set Up Winner Takes All Battle With Tunisia

Ivory Coast have become the first nation to definitely be through to the quarter finals. This comes courtesy of their second win in the tournament; a rather flattering 3-0 victory over Tunisia. Tunisia will now meet Togo in the final group game in a winner goes through match. A 2-0 win for Togo also means that Algeria become the first nation who are unable to progress into the knock-out round, setting up a dead rubber with Ivory Coast who are guaranteed to win the group.

Ivory Coast were extremely comfortable against Tunisia who didn't turn up in the first half. However, Tunisia did start the better with a few early corners that came to nothing. Gervinho was again looking dangerous and looked to be linking up well with Lacina Traore who started ahead of Didier Drogba. After all the possession, the breakthrough finally came on 21-minutes when again Gervinho and Traore played a neat one-two before the Arsenal striker classily looped the ball into the top corner, his second in the tournament.

Salomon Kalou should have made it 2-0 soon after, but failed to do so. From there, Ivory Coast had complete control of the half without really creating any more clear cut chances. Tunisia did have a little spell of pressure in the last five minutes of the half, but Ivory Coast were still at their most comfortable.

Tunisia were more involved in the second half without really creating anything, Youseff Msakni once again looking like a threat. Ivory Coast thought they had hit Tunisia with a sucker punch when Kalou netted from a Gervinho cross, but it was wrongly ruled out for offside and Tunisia were still in the match. Tunisia's best chance of the match came five minutes from the end when Saber Khelifa volleyed a cross while in acres of space, but his volley was straight at Boubacar Barry and the striker probably should have done better.

It was surprise that the chance Khelifa missed would prove to be crucial as Ivory Coast went up the other end with Yaya Toure unleashing that Premier League quality to beat a couple of defenders before smashing an excellent shot home, assuring all three points to the Elephants with three minutes to go. The icing was put onto the cake when substitute Didier Ya Konan finished a low shot within seconds of coming on.

Algeria and Togo shared the early moments in the match with Emmanuel Adebayor and Sofiane Feghouli both looking in the mood. It was a Feghouli corner that gave Algeria their best chance of taking the lead but Adlene Guedioura's header was well saved by Kossi Agassa. Shortly afterwards, Togo would break the deadlock when Adebayor was able to beat the offside trap a coolly finish with 13-minutes of the half remaining.

A couple of saves from Agassa prevented Algeria equalising and Togo went in with the lead at half-time. Algeria became slightly ill tempered in the second half, even more so when their decent shouts for a penalty were waved away even though Dejen Dakonam did look to bring Islam Slimani down. Algeria did put a lot of pressure on Togo but the Togolese defence was standing strong despite conceding numerous corners and free-kicks.

There was an extremely bizarre stoppage within the final ten minutes as Togo's goal frame was leaning in an unstable manner and needed sorting out after Feghouli had crashed into the net from a previous corner. The lengthy stoppage resulted in the goal being substituted for another and 13-minutes of injury time was to be played. This may have broken Algeria's momentum and Togo finally secured the victory when substitute Dove Wome slotted home after being put through on goal.

Possible Group Outcomes:

 - If Ivory Coast and Togo win = Both through with CIV group winners.
 - If Ivory Coast and Tunisia win = Both through with CIV group winners.
 - If Ivory Coast win and Togo v Tunisia ends in a draw = CIV win group, Togo progress on goal difference
 - If both games end in a draw = CIV win group, Togo progress on goal difference.
 - If Ivory Coast v Algeria ends in a draw & Togo win = CIV &Togo progress with CIV winning group.
 - If Ivory Coast v Algeria ends in a draw & Tunisia win - CIV & Tunisia progress with CIV winning group.
 - If Algeria & Togo win = CIV & Togo progress with CIV winning group on head to head.
 - If Algeria & Tunisia win = CIV & Tunisia progress with CIV winning group on head to head.
 - If Algeria win & Togo v Tunisia ends in a draw = CIV win group, Togo progress on goal difference.


 

Goalkeeper Equalises For Zambia While Ten Man Burkina Thrash Ethiopia

There was finally lots of goals to talk about as Burkina Faso take a surprise lead of Group C. It was a tale of two penalties between Zambia and Nigeria as goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene secured a point for Zambia five minutes from time. In perhaps, on paper, the most unappetising tie of the tournament, Burkina Faso versus Ethiopia, there was four goals and a sending off. The possible group outcomes will be reported further in.

The pitch at the Mbombela Stadium resembled more of a beach than a football carpet and it definitely caused problems for both teams. In fairness, both teams made a good go of it and made for a pretty entertaining game. Emmanuel Mayuka and Victor Moses didn't start in their opening matches but both looked threatening in the early going.

Nigeria were awarded a penalty halfway into the first half when Ahmed Musa was brought down by Davis Nkousa. For some reason, captain John Obi Mikel, who has been sent off more times for Chelsea than he has actually scored for them, decided to take it. Mikel has scored twice in 261 appearances for Chelsea and only three times for Nigeria in 38 games and he never looked like scoring as he stood over the penalty. True to form, Mikel ran up and his scuffed effort hit the post and somehow went out for a corner.

Zambia's best chance of the half came just before the half hour mark when Chisamba Lungu's effort was smartly saved by Vincent Enyeama. Nigeria started the better in the second half and Mikel managed to redeem himself 12-minutes into it. The Chelsea midfielder dispossessed Lungu and found Emmanuel Emenike to slot home for his second goal of the tournament.

Zambia looked to reply instantly but Rainford Kalaba couldn't beat Enyeama. But Zambia were given their chance five minutes before the end when Mayuka was tugged in the box by Ogenyi Onazi. It was a bit soft but well worth giving as everyone got to see the keeper, Mweene, step up and coolly sent Enyeama the wrong way to seal a point.

Burkina Faso, maybe surprisingly, dealt the first thrashing of the tournament. But it was Ethiopia who had the best opening chance when Shimeles Bekele was put through one on one, but his effort could only come back off the post. Both teams created chances in a rather attacking match and the deadlock was broken 11-minutes before half-time when Charles Kabore's cross was controlled and rifled into the roof of the net by Alain Traore, his second goal of the tournament.

Ethiopia looked unable to recover from the hammer blow, but were given a chance when Burkina Faso were down to ten men on the hour mark. In a similar incident to Ghana in the previous day, Abdoulaye Soulama caught the ball just outside of the box. But unlike Ghana, Soulama was sent off for deliberate handball.

But this didn't deter Burkina Faso and they would be 2-0 ahead on 74-minutes; Jonathan Pitroipa laid the ball off to Traore who smashed a magnificent shot from outside the box into the net. Five minutes later and Burkina had assured themselves of all three points when Djakaridja Kone finished off a neat one-two with Pitroipa. With two assists under his belt, Pitroipa deserved a goal and it came via a powered shot from the edge of the box in injury time.

Possible Group Outcomes

 - If Zambia & Nigeria both win = Both go through with goal difference determining group winner.
 - If Zambia & Ethiopia both win = Zambia win group, Burkina Faso progress on head to head with Ethiopia.
 - If Zambia win & Ethiopia v Nigeria ends in a draw = Zambia win group with Burkina Faso second.
 - If both games end in a draw = Burkina Faso win group, goals scored will determine who progresses out of Nigeria & Zambia.
 - If Zambia v Burkina Faso ends in a draw & Nigeria win = Nigeria and Burkina Faso progress, Nigeria will have to win by five goals to win group.
 - If Zambia v Burkina Faso ends in a draw & Ethiopia win = Burkina Faso win group, Ethiopia second.
 - If Burkina Faso & Nigeria both win = Both progress with Burkina Faso group winners.
 - If Burkina Faso & Ethiopia both win = Both progress with Burkina Faso group winners.
 - If Burkina Faso win & Ethiopia v Nigeria ends in a draw = Burkina Faso win group, Nigeria second.

Ghana Control Group B As Niger & DR Congo Share Another Goalless Draw

Ghana will go into the final group games as the most confident in Group B after a 1-0 victory over Mali. The defeat for Mali may set up a winner takes all battle against DR Congo who recorded a goalless draw against Niger, who claim their first ever point in African Cup of Nations history. Niger aren't out by any means but knowing that they have to win against Ghana and hope Mali fail to win can only grant them a place in the knock-out phase, and that's only on goal difference. Group possibilities will be outlined at the end.

The action between Ghana and Mali was rather few and far between in yet another underwhelming match between two, on paper, attacking teams. Ghana could have been down to ten men just after five minutes when Fatau Dauda mis-read a pass back and ended up handling the ball outside the box. This was deliberate handball and the Ivorian referee could have easily sent the keeper off instead of just brandishing the yellow.

Both teams showed some attacking intent without actually working either keeper. With only six shots on target throughout the whole game, it implies the little attacking class that shone through for another small crowd. The only goal of the game came seven minutes before half-time when Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu was brought down by Adama Tamboura. Mubarak Wakaso stepped to take the penalty and slotted it home.

Asamoah Gyan did look dangerous when Ghana attacked, but was never on hand to test the keeper or get a shot away. Another seven yellow cards also add to the already enormous tally and shows, again, how stop start African football has become, it turned to be a foul after every other minute.

The game between Niger and DR Congo fared no better as they had nearly 30 fouls in the first half alone. In fairness to them, only three yellow cards were brandished during the match. The closest anyone came to breaking the deadlock was on four minutes when Niger had broken through the defence and Modibo Sidibe was one-on-one with the keeper. The unattached striker opened his body up to curl the ball into the bottom corner, but he over thought his approach and ended up hitting the post.

DR Congo's main reason as to why they didn't score was Kassaly Daouda who performed a number of great saves. Niger had the best of the possession in the first half as DR Congo were happy to hit them on the counter attack with Lomana LuaLua being thwarted a number of times. The second half was largely uneventful with the teams easily cancelling each other out. But Niger will be the happiest as they gain their first AFCoN point.    

Possible Group Outcomes

 - If Ghana & Mali both win = Both through with Ghana group winners
 - If Ghana & DR Congo both win = Both through with Ghana group winners
 - If Ghana win & Mali v DR Congo ends in a draw = Ghana win group and Mali progress
 - If both games end in a draw = Ghana win group and Mali progress
 - If Ghana v Niger ends in a draw & Mali win = Mali win group and Ghana progress
 - If Ghana v Niger ends in a draw & DR Congo win = Ghana & DR Congo through. DR Cong will win group if they win by more than one goal otherwise it'll go on goals scored.
 - If Niger & Mali both win = Mali win group and Niger will progress on the head-to-head record with Ghana.
 - If Niger & DR Congo both win = Congo DR will progress on goal difference, Niger will progress on head-to-head with Ghana, may win group on goal difference.
 - If Niger win & Mali v DR Congo ends in a draw = Depending on goal difference, who progresses out of Ghana, Mali & Niger may be decided on goals scored.

Swansea and Bradford Set Wembley Date (Arsenal Hammer Hammers)

For the first time in their history, Swansea City will be in a major tournament final after beating Chelsea 2-0 on aggregate in the Capital One Cup semi-finals. They will meet Bradford who become the first fourth tier side to reach a major final since Rochdale in 1962 after beating Aston Villa 4-3 on aggregate.

With Swansea bringing a 2-0 advantage back with them to the Liberty Stadium, they knew they didn't have to chase the second leg against Chelsea. But Chelsea seemed uninterested for large parts of the game as the match finished goalless and will be remembered for a very stupid and disgusting red card for Eden Hazard.

Unsurprisingly, Chelsea had more possession in the early going and thought they should have had a penalty on seven minutes when Demba Ba went down. But replays clearly showed Ba kicked his trailing leg against Ben Davies and the penalty was rightly not given. The resulting corner ended up giving Swansea their opening chance of the match and Wayne Routledge would have surely scored if it wasn't for Cesar Azpilicueta deflecting the volley just over the bar.

Out of the two keepers, Petr Cech was far the busier as Gerhard Tremmel was largely untested. After his howlers in the first leg, Branislav Ivanovic looked equally as nervous in this and looked a liability at times. Chelsea's best chance came on 21-minutes when a deflected Ashley Cole cross was headed off the line by Angel Rangel.

The only incident of the entire match came ten minutes from time and it was somewhat bizarre. Like many home ball boys, the Swansea lads were deliberately wasting time and this was clearly frustrating the Chelsea players. But Eden Hazard took it too far when a ball boy held onto the ball after it had gone out for a goal kick. The ball boy was challenged by Hazard and the ball boy ended up on the floor with the ball beneath his body. He still wouldn't give it up and Hazard unforgivably kicked him in the ribs in a stupid attempt to get the ball. After a few minutes to assess the situation and make sure the ball boy was fine, referee Chris Foy, who undoubtedly would have added the time on for the ball boy's time wasting, had no option but to send the despicable Frenchman and it this incident which will grab the headlines, not Swansea's majestic performance over the two legs.

They will now meet Bradford who booked their place in the final on Tuesday despite a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park. Unlike the first leg, Villa came out all guns blazing and were once again cursing Matt Duke for not being ahead. But Duke's resistance was finally broken on 24-minutes when Christian Benteke poked a lofted Joe Bennett ball home.

It was a dominant first half by the Villa and they may be should have been level on aggregate at half-time. The second half though saw a return of the Valley Parade Villa side which lacked a killer final ball or any creativity to beat Duke again. Zavon Hines was also shadowed by Bennett in the first half, but he began to bully the full back once again in the second.

It was Hines pestering Bennett that forced a corner ten minutes into the second half when Bennett should have just cleared the ball. Once again, Villa's Achilles heel haunted them as Peter Hanson outsmarted Ron Vlaar to head the ball home, equalising on the night and making it 4-2 on aggregate. The big striker would almost make it 5-2 from another set piece, but this time his header came crashing off the crossbar.

Villa's search for two goals saw them have four strikers on the pitch. This caused them to be far too narrow and the width that Charles N'Zogbia and Joe Bennett had largely provided in the first half was nowhere to be seen. But Villa did manage to pull one back through Andreas Weimann in the final minute of normal time. This set up a nervy injury time period but Bradford were able to keep the ball in the Villa half for the majority of it and the League Two side held on to the famous victory.

Besides the Capital One Cup action, Arsenal and West Ham met in their rearranged Boxing Day clash. Jack Collison gave West Ham the lead at the Emirates after 18-minutes before Lukas Podolski cancelled it out four minutes later. The teams departed at half-time with the score at 1-1, by the hour mark though Arsenal would be leading 5-1.

It took just two minutes in the second half for Olivier Giroud to give Arsenal the lead. Santi Cazorla made it 3-1 on 52-minutes before Theo Walcott made it four a minute later. Giroud would then complete a crazy start to the half with Arsenal's fifth and his second on 57-minutes. The crushing victory was somewhat marred though by a sickening injury to 18-year old Dan Potts seven minutes from time. A collision left Potts unconscious and requiring medical attention. It was ten minutes before Potts finally left the pitch on a stretcher and aided by an oxygen mask. Thankfully, Potts regained consciousness in hospital and has been kept in overnight to make sure that he is okay and hasn't suffered any serious ill-effects.

The win for Arsenal sees them close the gap on Everton to just a point and they now sit four points behind Tottenham in fourth. West Ham remain in 12th and eight points clear of the relegation zone and staggeringly only ten points behind Arsenal.       

Hosts Too Good For Angola As El Arabi Spares Morocco Defeat

Hosts South Africa will be the most confident team in Group A going into the final round of fixtures. That is because they have four points from their first two games after beating a lacklustre Angola 2-0. The defeat doesn't spell disaster for Angola though as Morocco managed an equaliser 12-minutes from time to get a draw in a tempestuous match against Cape Verde. This means that Morocco and Cape Verde have two points with Angola on one. Only a defeat for South Africa against Morocco will potentially prevent them from progressing. (Possible group outcomes shown at end of report)

After no goals in the opening fixtures, everyone was hoping it wouldn't take long for a goal to come between South Africa and Angola. Unfortunately for Angola fans, their side didn't really turn up for much of the game but it was a bit more flowing than the previous matches seen so far.

Angola did, however, have the first opening chances but were unable to hit the target. But South Africa quickly took hold of the game and were largely camped in the Angolan half, Thuso Phala posing a big threat down the wing and from set pieces. Numerous free-kicks were awarded to Tokelo Rantie and it finally caused Angola's down fall just before the half hour mark. Bernard Parker stood over the set piece and crossed for centre back Siyabongo Sangweni of the Orlando Pirates to smash home.

It's a worrying sign when your only striker is heading balls clear from your own box. This is exactly what Manucho spent most of the half doing, but when he was given the opportunity in the opposing half, he looked very threatening. A long ball easily beat the high South African line and Manucho almost got onto it except for Itumeleng Khune's header clear as he was just outside of his box. Another chance saw Manucho win the ball the air before heading it to Mateus who horribly fired over.  

Manucho would also have the opening chance in the second half but his shot from Mateus' cross was hit straight at Khune. The South African fans were upset when the danger man, Rantie, was substituted for Lehlohonolo Majoro, but within minutes Majoro breaks free down the wing before cutting inside the six yard box and scoring through the goalkeeper's legs, making it 2-0 on 62-minutes.

The final moments of play were end to end as Angola finally looked to spark into life. But they couldn't beat Khune who almost set up Majoro for a second if the striker's lob had finished underneath the net instead of on the roof. But South Africa easily held on and are all but assured of their place in the next round.

After a largely free-flowing game, many hoped for the same between Morocco and Cape Verde but they were largely disappointed. 25 fouls in just under the opening 30-minutes goes to show how bitty this game was but it was actually Cape Verde who looked the more threatening.

Morocco were once again largely underwhelming despite Oussama Assaidi having the first real shot in anger. Cape Verde also went close just after 20-minutes when Ryan Mendes had his dangerous free-kick smartly parried away. It was no surprise to see Cape Verde take the lead ten minutes before half-time as they were well worth it. Luis Platini had a good showing against South Africa in the last match and it was he who scored the goal; sloppy defending allowed Mendes to steal the ball and play Platini in and the striker coolly chips the ball over the diving keeper to score Cape Verde's first ever African Cup of Nations goal.

The same was largely present in the second half, Morocco poor and relying on route one stuff with Mendes and Platini providing a real threat for Cape Verde. The tension rose in the second half as more tackles flew in, a big blow for Morocco saw Younes Belhanda pick up his second booking in the tournament and could be a crucial miss against South Africa.

Perhaps undeservedly, Morocco would level 12-minutes from time when Abelaziz Barrada worked his way down the wing before pulling the back for half-time substitute Youssef El-Arabi to slot home. From there, both teams looked dangerous and Morocco were perhaps more deserving of the point based on their last 20-minutes. El-Arabi looked the most dangerous but he couldn't find a winner and the teams walked off with a point apiece.

Possible Outcomes in Final Group Games:

 - South Africa & Cape Verde both win = both through with SA group winners.
 - South Africa & Angola both win = both through with SA group winners.
 - South Africa win & Cape Verde v Angola is a draw = SA and CV through with SA group winners.
 - Both games end in a draw = SA win group, whoever scores the most goals between Cape Verde and  - Morocco goes through.
 - South Africa v Morocco is a draw & Cape Verde win = CV and SA through, goal difference determines group winner.
 - South Africa v Morocco is a draw & Angola win = SA win group and Angola progress
 - Morocco win & Cape Verde v Angola is a draw = Morocco and SA go through with Morocco group winners.
 - Morocco & Cape Verde both win = Both through, goal difference determines group winner.
 - Morocco & Angola both win = Morocco win group, SA progress on head-to-head with Angola

Ivory Just Out-Class Togo as Msakni Magic Wins It For Tunisia

After five draws in the opening six games, it was refreshing to see Group D begin with two winning results. Ivory Coast were expected to walk over Togo with the amount of past and present Premiership quality on show, but they needed a late goal from Gervinho to win 2-1. Algeria and Tunisia also looked to be heading to the second goalless draw of the tournament, but a screamer from Youssef Msakni in injury time gave Tunisia the valuable three points.

Togo looked much quicker out of the blocks and Kolo Toure also cost Ivory Coast within the opening two minutes when his failed pass back put Emmanuel Adebayor in. But the Spurs striker couldn't convert chance after the defence got back to recover to force him wide. But Ivory Coast's class shone through as they took the lead with their first chance after just eight minutes. Arsenal's Gervinho jinxed his way through the defence before the ball sprung loose. It fell into the path of Manchester City's Yaya Toure who smashed it home via a deflection.

This seemed the set the tone of the game and would it become a question of how many. But this wasn't the case as Togo dealt with the lively Gervinho while Adebayor continued to threaten his former Arsenal teammate, Kolo Toure. A minute before half time and it was almost deja vu when Yaya Toure found himself in the same sort of space he scored from. But this time his shot cannoned off the post and Togo were spared.

Straight from that miss, Togo went up the other end and won a corner. The Ivory Coast defence didn't deal with it properly and Jonathan Ayite crept in to stab it home with virtually the last kick of the half. Togo though they should have taken the lead just before the hour mark. It was another corner which got turned in. But the referee disallowed it because he felt substitute Salomon Kalou was still entering the field of play.

The speed and flow of the game decreased as the second half progressed but both teams had chances to win it. Yaya Toure had a shot smartly saved by Kossi Agassa while Togo were seeking to create another chance from another corner. The winner finally came two minutes from time when Yaya Toure's free-kick flew over everyone until Gervinho managed a smart flick with the outside of his foot to score from an acute angle. Togo did get a corner in the dying seconds, but it was easily defended and Ivory Coast held onto the three points.

The second match between Algeria and Tunisia was just as easily anticipated and on paper looked to be a heated but talented affair from the two rivals. But, like many of the opening eight games, it failed to really hit the highs of international football.

Also like many of the games so far, a lot of fouls caused the match to be very stop-start. Tunisia were dealt a blow just after the quarter of an hour mark when Issam Jemaa had to be substituted after picking up an injury. The fouls continued to to hamper the game but Algeria came the closest to breaking the deadlock when Islam Slimani smashed the crossbar from a header just before the half hour mark.

The first half would only really remembered for the amount of petty fouls but Rais Mbolhi did produce a good save to prevent Saber Khelifa from breaking the deadlock. The second half was just as bitty as the first, the first real chance came to Djamel Mesbah but his shot just missed the post and went wide.

Algeria did have most of the ball in the second half but couldn't carve any real opportunities to give them lead. Tunisia's best effort of the half came 15-minutes from the end when Hamdi Harbaoui's shot also just sailed wide. With the game petering out to a goalless draw until 22-year old Youssef Msakni smashed a fantastic shot, out of nowhere, into the top corner to give Tunisia all three points. Msakni looked a hot young prospect last year and this goal may begin to continue to prove it.  
  

Pochettino Starts With Bore Draw

Southampton 0-0 Everton: Mauricio Pochettino's first game in charge of Southampton ends with a respectful point against Everton. The point for Southampton sees them move four points clear of the relegation zone. The point for Everton sees them sit four points ahead of Arsenal, who have a game in hand, but three points Tottenham in the battle for fourth place.

Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United: United's lead at the top has been cut to five after a late equaliser by Tottenham. Robin Van Persie was on hand to head home a Tom Cleverley cross on 25-minutes to give United the lead. United were holding on throughout the second half and should have had a penalty when Wayne Rooney was brought down. But United's resistance was finally broken in the final minute of injury time when a poor punch from David De Gea went straight to Aaron Lennon who squared the ball for Clint Dempsey to slot home, moving them four points clear of Everton in fourth.

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal: Chelsea move 11-points behind Manchester United after staving off an Arsenal comeback. The deadlock was broken after just six minutes when Juan Mata fired Chelsea ahead following a great chance missed by Olivier Giroud. Chelsea were awarded a penalty on 16-minutes when Ramires was tripped by Wojiech Szczesny. Szczesny was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch and try to save Frank Lampard's spot-kick, but the midfielder expertly placed the effort into the bottom corner. Arsenal pulled one back two minutes before the hour mark when Theo Walcott broke through the offside trap. But it wasn't enough for them to find an equaliser late on and they sit seven points off the Champions League places.

Newcastle 1-2 Reading: Newcastle are now eerily just two points ahead of relegation and right in the middle of the scrap after surrendering their lead to lose to Reading. The deadlock was broken ten minutes before half-time when Yohan Cabaye chipped the nine-man wall from a free-kick into the top corner. But, just like against West Brom, Reading fought back and Adam Le Fondre equalised on 71-minutes with his first touch. It was a low cross from Jimmy Kebe that Le Fondre somehow slid over the line with his body. Le Fondre made it 2-1 six minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball after Hope Akpan hit an air shot. This is Reading's first away victory courtesy of Le Fondre's first away goals in the Premiership which moves them up to 18th and just a point away from safety.

Liverpool 5-0 Norwich: For the second time this season, Liverpool smash five past Norwich. Jordan Henderson gave Liverpool the lead on 26-minutes with a smashing half volley from long range. After getting at hat-trick at Carrow Road, Luis Suarez made it 2-0 ten minutes later after being played through by Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge would make it 3-0 with his third goal in three games just before the hour mark, turning in Stewart Downing's low cross. The irrepressible Steven Gerrard added the fourth from long range into the bottom corner on 66-minutes with Ryan Bennett completing the rout by putting the ball into his own net from Raheem Sterling's cross on 74-minutes. The win sees them move to seventh, level on points with Arsenal above them and West Brom below them. Norwich may begin to start looking over their shoulders as they are now seven points from safety.

Wigan 2-3 Sunderland: Wigan move back into the relegation zone and a point from safety. Wigan took the lead after just four minutes when David Vaughn put the ball into his own net. Sunderland were given a penalty for handball in the wall from a free-kick on 17-minutes. Craig Gardner stepped up and converted it coolly into the bottom corner to level the match. Steven Fletcher scored the only goal when these two met at the Stadium of Light and it was he who made it 2-1 three minutes later with a volley from close distance after Ali Al-Habsi had parried the initial shot from him. Fletcher would then make it 3-1 with a strike into the top corner three minutes before half-time. On-loan striker Angelo Henriquez managed to pull one back 11-minutes from time with a header from a Shaun Maloney cross, his first in English football, but it wasn't enough to inspire a comeback.

West Brom 2-2 Aston Villa: Villa surrender a two goal lead, but the point is enough to move out of the relegation by that solitary point. Villa took the lead on 12-minutes when Christian Benteke hit a great finish on the turn for his tenth of the season. It was 2-0 just after the half hour mark when Gabriel Agbonlahor finished well after cutting inside for only his second goal in the league this season. West Brom pulled one back four minutes into the second half when Romelu Lukaku played the ball back to Chris Brunt to smash inside the post. The point was then secured seven minutes from time when Peter Odemwingie volleyed in a Gareth McAuley header from a corner.

West Ham 1-1 QPR: QPR remain bottom of the table, five points from safety, after this point on Harry Redknapp's return to Upton Park. Loic Remy's debut sprung into life after just 14-minutes after breaking the offside trap to give QPR the lead. West Ham equalised on 68-minutes when Joe Cole rebounded a parried Carlton Cole header for his first West Ham goal in his second spell.

Swansea 3-1 Stoke: Swansea move four points clear of Stoke after this midfield battle. The deadlock was broken four minutes into the second half with Ben Davies scoring his first senior goal with great composure. Jonathan De Guzman made it 2-0 with a great free-kick on 57-minutes. De Guzman would make it 3-0 ten minutes from the end when he rounded off a great team goal after being put through one-on-one by Danny Graham. Stoke's consolation came in injury time with Michael Owen scoring his 150th Premier League goal, heading home a Cameron Jerome cross for his first Stoke goal.

Manchester City 2-0 Fulham: City close the gap to five points. David Silva made it 1-0 after just 95-seconds when he slotted Dzeko's parried shot past Mark Schwarzer. David Silva also got the second with a silky goal and slight lob over Schwarzer on 69-minutes.

Zambia and Nigeria Start With 1-1 Draws

Both of the favourites to progress from Group C began their campaigns with 1-1 draws after initially taking the lead. Defending champions Zambia were in perhaps the most dramatic match of the tournament so far against 10-man Ethiopia while 10-man Nigeria suffered a late blow against Burkina Faso.

Zambia began the match looking the much better team and perhaps the brightest of the tournament so far. Ethiopia were struggling to resist the passing game run by Christopher Katongo and their bungled attempts of playing from the back only gave Zambia more impetus.

Despite this attacking intent, it was actually Ethiopia would claim the first corner and also have the clearest sight on goal. A long ball from the defence was completely missed by Stophira Sunzu which allowed Saladin Said in on goal. The hard, dry pitch caused the ball to bounce higher than normal and Said could only poke the ball over Kennedy Mweene. On any other pitch, the poke would have been enough to drop right into the net to give Ethiopia the lead. But the pitch caused the ball to bounce just as high as before and over the bar.

25-minutes in and Ethiopia were given another fantastic opportunity to take a shock lead in the match. Said was tripped by Chisamba Lungu in the box and the referee had no option but to award a penalty. Said stepped up but his placement was telegraphed and easily saved by Mweene.

Ten minutes before half-time Ethiopia were in trouble as Jemal Tassew tried to kung-fu clear a ball. But Lungu got their first and the keeper firmly caught Lungu in the mid-riff. Whether he knew it or not, Tassew was always going to get red carded for it. But the keeper rolled on the floor and ultimately got stretchered off  whilst the red card was brandished. If that stoppage wasn't enough, officials then delayed play even more as some Ethiopian fans had thrown bottles and other items onto the field.

Once action had got back underway, Zambia looked to take immediate advantage of the man deficit. They did so just before half-time when a great passing move ended with Issac Chansa playing the ball in for Collins Mbesuma to chest down and score.

Again, Ethiopia's wish to play the ball from the back caused them problems in the second half as Zambia tried to score more goals. Zambia did miss chances to get a second and the were caught cold by the ten men. Said found himself in acres of space on the right and played the ball into Adane Grima who coolly finished in off the post to find that crowd lifting equaliser.

This opened the game right up but neither could find that killer blow to take all three points. Emmanuel Mayuka came on for a late spell and looked very energetic, but he also couldn't beat substitute keeper Zerihun Tadele. It's a result that Zambia will be slightly upset with and will be hoping for more next time around but Ethiopia will be celebrating their first match in the AFCoN since the 70s.

With Zambia only managing a draw, this gave Nigeria a huge opportunity to take control with victory over Burkina Faso. They looked to be grabbing the chance with both hands as Burkina Faso couldn't handle them to begin with. Ideye Aide Brown should have given Nigeria the lead, but his effort from a low cross from ten yards sailed over the bar.

The Nigerians' class finally broke the deadlock on 23-minutes when a classy Ideye flick with his heel found Spartak Moscow's Emmanuel Emenike who neatly finished with the outside of his foot. Burkina Faso didn't really threaten much in the first apart from a number of free-kicks caused by cynical Nigerian fouls.

Burkina Faso created a few more chances in the second half and probably should have equalised but Vincent Enyeama was doing his very best to keep Nigeria in front. But Nigeria's ill-discipline would finally cost them as Efe Ambrose was shown a second yellow card with 16-minutes to play.

This didn't seem to deter Nigeria until the final minutes where Burkina Faso began to play better and look more attacking. Jonathan Pitroipa managed to find pull back which Nigeria couldn't intercept. It fell to the path of Alain Traore who managed to slot home to pick up a surprise point with the final kick of the match.

Ghana Stunned As They Lose Two Goal Lead - Mali Take Control of Group

The goals came on the second day of the African Cup of Nations. The teams of Group B took to the stage for their opening matches and shared five goals between them. Group favourites Ghana faced DR Congo and looked like comfortable winners at 2-0, only to see DR Congo fight back to earn a dramatic point. Mali would then have to wait until late on to see off Niger and take the lead of the group.

The first half between Ghana and DR Congo was pretty balanced. The former Newcastle ace Lomana LuaLua would have the best chance early on but his shot was smartly tipped over the bar. That early chance provided momentum for DR Congo and they grew further into the game with Youssouf Mulumbu enjoying his key role.

As the half drew to a close, the ball began to camp in the midfield before Ghana started creating opportunities, Asamoah Gyan missing a shot where he probably should have scored. Ghana then managed to break the deadlock five minutes before half-time when 22-year old Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu from Udinese finished off a neat move that saw a one-two between Gyan and Kwadwo Asamoah.

The goal didn't seem to dampen DR Congo's spirits but it would be Ghana who struck first in the second period; Asamoah heading a corner in off the crossbar after just four minutes to make it 2-0. Ghana's two goal advantage only lasted four minutes as DR Congo again continued to battle well. Cedric Makiadi of Freiburg would find a great low cross for Mazembe's Tresor Mputu to stab home.

Mputu would almost equalise moments later, but his shot was blocked by John Pantsil. That was followed by Gyan missing another fabulous opportunity to open his account for the tournament. With just over 20-minutes to play, Makiadi would be fouled in the box by Jerry Akaminko giving DR Congo a penalty. Makiadi stepped up and converted it to draw the sides level. Both Mulumbu and Gyan had a late chance to win the game, but neither keeper would be beaten a third time.

With that game ending in a draw, Mali and Niger both had the chance to go top of the group and take control. Both teams looked quite content in the middle of the park and down the wings but neither could quite their crosses to an intended target. Kassaly Daouda was made to look fragile in the Niger goal as he made hard work of a few lofted balls.

When the ball was slow or along the floor, Daouda had no trouble. But his weakness in the air would be highlighted once again from a free-kick before the half was over. Mali looked to be in control throughout most of the match but they just couldn't find the killer blow to beat Daouda. The only goal of the game finally came six minutes from time when their main man, Seydou Keita pounced after Daouda once again failed to deal with a cross.      

No Goals To Start African Cup of Nations

The 2013 African Cup of Nations didn't really get going on opening night. The two games produced no goals as the nerves looked to get the better of Group A. The hosts South Africa faced Cape Verde as Angola went on to face Morocco.

The unknown package of Cape Verde had a rather good showing in the first half against South Africa. They had the best chance in the half when Platini was played through, but unlike his UEFA namesake, the striker scuffed his shot wide of the mark. Apart from that, neither team could grab the game by the scruff of the neck and this left the South African crowd very flat.

The changes during the second half made South Africa a little more attacking and arguably the better team as Cape Verde looked to tire. The only problem was South Africa quickly ran out of ideas when their long ball technique failed. As for Cape Verde, they also couldn't find a killer pass in the final third and would be quick to surrender to possession in the midfield. The fans looked more interested in their continuous Mexican wave rather than the underwhelming action on the pitch.

After the first 0-0, this should have given both Angola and Morocco the impetus to take control of the group.  Morocco were the better team in the first half without really putting the keeper under any pressure. Oussama Assaidi looked the brightest and continued to find space down the wing. Manucho was Angola's only real attacking option on the pitch but he didn't a shot in anger until the final minute of the half due to the poor service.

Angola were much improved in the second period but Morocco still looked the more threatening. The biggest problem Morocco faced was their own discipline, they continuously fouled throughout the game. This allowed Angola to continue to try and find Manucho with hopeful punts forward.

It could be argued that Morocco missed that spark that perhaps Adel Taarabt would have brought to the table on his day. Angola came on stronger in the final minutes with Manucho having two glorious chances to score, but failed with both of them.

Unfortunately, based on these performances, it wouldn't appear that the overall winner will emerge from this group unless a massive improvement is made. But things will improve and the African Cup of Nations will spark into life.

2013 African Cup of Nations Preview

The 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa kicks off later today and here's a round-up of the groups and teams participating:

Group A: The hosts sit in a rather tough group where only two of three candidates will make it through. South Africa are likely to progress but only have two English football representatives. Kagisho Dikgacoi from Crystal Palace and Oldham's Dean Furman. Perhaps the surprise omission is Steven Pienaar. The Kaizer Chiefs boast a strong representation, full of players to watch: Itumeleng Khune is a very capable goalkeeper with defenders Siboniso Gaxa and Tsepo Masilela the most experienced defenders in the squad. Siphiwe Tshabalala scored that World Cup goal against Mexico and is their most capped player with Reneilwe Letsholonyane providing a service on the other wing for strikers Bernard Parker and Orlando Pirates' Katlego Mphela.

Angola and Morocco are likely to be fighting for a spot alongside South Africa in the next round. Angola's most notable player is former Manchester United striker Manucho, who had a very good tournament last year. Only eight players from the squad play outside of Angola so it's hard to know how good they'll be. Marco Airosa, Zuela, Dede and Gilberto do play in Cyprus. Angola missed out on the knock-out phase last year on goal difference, so will be looking to get through this time.

Morocco were underwhelming last year, finishing third in their group. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Marouane Chamakh and Adel Taarabt both miss out on a place in the squad but Aston Villa's Karim El Ahmadi and Liverpool's Oussama Assaidi will feature. Galatasaray's Nordin Amrabat will be looking to provide the biggest goal threat.

It's the first time Cape Verde have qualified for the African Cup of Nations. But they already boast the biggest shock of the tournament, preventing Cameroon from qualifying. Despite this, only two members of their squad actually play in their native country. As Cape Verde speak Portuguese, it's no surprise to see that the majority of squad play in Portugal. Ryan Mendes may be the player to watch as he plies his trade for Lille.

Group B: Ghana should be pretty comfortable in group B with only Mali looking to provide any real threat. They were in the same group last year and both managed to progress before Mali managed to beat them in the third/fourth place play-off. Only Bristol City's Albert Adomah represent's Ghana from English football. But it will be a chance to once again watch former Premier League players, John Pantsil and Asamoah Gyan. Juventus' Kwadwo Asamoah will also be a good watch. As for an unknown, how about Solomon Asante from the interestingly named Berekum Chelsea.

Mali have three Premier League players in their squad; Mahamadou Diarra from Fulham, Samba Diakite from QPR and Modibo Maiga from West Ham with Tongo Doumbia coming from Wolves. The majority of the squad come from France with Lens' Samba Sow and former Premier League star, Mohamed Sissoko being the most appetising. Former Barcelona player, Seydou Keita, will also be a joy to watch.

Niger qualified for the first time in their history last year and will be looking to at least get a point this time around. Only three members of their squad play outside of Africa; Ismael Alassane for Al Sahel of Kuwait, William N'Gounou of Sweden's Limhamn and 19-year old Amadou Moutari of Le Mans B team.With only three players above the age of 30, this team is very youthful and inexperienced which could make them minnows or be a scouting dream.

DR Congo are two times winners of the ACN but haven't qualified since 2006. West Brom's Youssouf Mulumbu headlines the squad with Crystal Palace's Yannick Bolasie providing great back-up. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the squad do play in DR Congo and again only three players are older than 30. Toko Nzuzi will be an interesting watch. The 22-year old plays for Switzerland's Grasshopper Zurich but his eligibility has been questioned after already playing a full international for the Congo national team before deciding to play for DR Congo.

Group C: Reigning champions, Zambia, should progress through this group. After last year's success, Emmanuel Mayuka managed to get a transfer to Southampton, although it hasn't been a great start to Premiership life. Stophira Sunzu is assigned to Reading but, like Mayuka, hasn't really featured this season. Christopher Katongo was also vital for Zambia last year and has since managed to get a move to China. The interesting statistic surrounds Porto's Emmanuel Mbola. At just 19-years old, Mbola has already represented Zambia a staggering 32-times. A player to watch will be defender Nathan Sinkala who is only 21 and currently plays for Mazembe in DR Congo.

Nigeria surprisingly didn't qualify for last year's tournament but should be pretty strong this year. Chelsea's John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses are the Premier League's only representatives with Efe Ambrose of Celtic also in the squad. Former Everton star Joseph Yobo will also be gracing the television screens once again. Keep an eye on Spartak Moscow's Emmanuel Emenike who should be amongst the goals and their goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who has actually scored for Nigeria.

Burkina Faso will hoping for a better showing than their pointless showing last year. Their three notable players are defender Bakary Kone of Lyon, midfielder Charles Kabore of Marseille and striker Alain Traore of Auxerre. Despite only having two players older than 30, it is quite an old squad as Germain Sanou is their youngest player at 20 but is their third choice keeper so may not get a look in. Soumaila Belem is the second youngest member at 21, he plays in defence for Ivory Coast's Africa Sports.

Ethiopia haven't played in an ACN tournament since 1982 and will very much be the minnows in the group. Only three of their players play football outside of Ethiopia so they are very much the unknown package. Midfielder Yussuf Saleh plays for Sweden's Syrianska, while strikers Saladin Said and Fuad Ibrahim play for Egypt's Wadi Degla and USA's Minnesota Stars respectively. With four of their five strikers under the age of 25, the stage could be set for one of them to shine and gain a big money move.

Group D: The tournament favourites, Ivory Coast, are arguably in the group of death but shouldn't really have any problems if they play to their fullest. Their team boasts the most stars with Kolo and Yaya Toure, Abdul Razak, Cheick Tiote, Gervinho and Arouna Kone all coming from the Premier League. But there are also plenty of former English league representatives, Emmanuel Eboue (formerly of Arsenal), Sol Bamba (formerly of Leicester), Didier Zokora (formerly of Tottenham), Max Gradel (formerly of Leeds) and of course Didier Drogba making this team the strongest.

From there it should be one team from the remaining three as all have a chance of qualifying. The 2004 champions, Tunisia, made it to the quarter finals last year. The majority of their squad do play in Tunisia but strikers Zouheir Dhaouadi and Saber Khelifa, midfielder Wahbi Khazri and defender Aymen Abdennour do play in France. 22-year old Youssef Msakni looked very good last year and currently plays for Qatar's Lekhwiya.

Algeria may be the slight favourites to join Ivory Coast. Only Adlene Guedioura for Nottingham Forest plays his football in England. Former Millwall player Hamuer Bouazza, Sofiane Feghouli, Medhi Lacen and Liassane Cadamuro-Bentaiba play in Spain while Carl Medjani, Foued Kadir, Ryad Boudebouz and Mehdi Mostefa play in France. Perhaps the player to watch may be defender Djamel Mesbah who plays for AC Milan.

Togo haven't qualified since 2006 after being hit by that rebel attack in 2010. That attack did see Emmanuel Adebayor announce his retirement from international football, but he has undone that by choosing to participate this year. Adebayor is joined by Wolves' Abdoul-Razak Boukari from the English ranks. Former Aston Villa player Moustapha Salifou has also been called up. The majority of the squad do play in France and there are a number of 21-22 year olds. Dove Wome of South Africa's Free State Stars and Prince Segbefia of Auxerre may be worth watching in the midfield.        
                         

               

FA Cup Third Round Replays While Saints Hold Chelsea in the Prem

Chelsea 2-2 Southampton: Southampton now move three points clear of the drop zone after coming from behind to get a point against Chelsea. Demba Ba put Chelsea ahead with his first Premiership goal, third in 11-days for Chelsea, after 25-minutes. Eden Hazard made it 2-0 just before half-time to look like Chelsea were cruising to victory. But Rickie Lambert would pull a goal back 13-minutes into the second half before Jason Puncheon scored the equaliser 15-minutes from time. Chelsea are still 13-points behind Manchester United at the top.

Manchester United 1-0 West Ham: Rooney's ninth minute goal was enough to set up a fourth round tie against Fulham at home. Rooney went onto miss a penalty on his comeback from injury.

Arsenal 1-0 Swansea: Jack Wilshere's goal four minutes from time finally broke the Swansea resistance. The Gunners will now travel to Brighton.

Birmingham City 1-2 Leeds United: An El-Hadji Diouf penalty (76') puts Leeds into the fourth round where they will host Tottenham. Wade Elliott (36') had put Birmingham ahead before Ross McCormack (70') equalised.

AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Wigan Athletic: Mauro Boselli (18') places the Premier League side into the fourth round where they will travel to Macclesfield.

Brentford 2-1 Southend United: Brentford get the opportunity to host Chelsea in the next round. Paul Hayes (26') had given Brentford the lead before Barry Corr (69') equalised. Clayton Donaldson (76') scored the winner to ensure Brentford progress.

Leyton Orient 1-2 Hull City AET: The Championship side needed extra time to squeeze into the next round, setting up a home tie against Barnsley. Nick Proschwitz (14') before Dean Cox equalised three minutes before the end. Tom Cairney prevented penalties with the winner three minutes before the end of extra time.

Milton Keynes Dons 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday: A Shaun Williams penalty (28') and Dean Bowditch (75') takes the League One side through to face QPR at Loftus Road.

Stoke City 4-1 Crystal Palace AET: The Premiership side required extra time to see of their Championship counterparts. Kenwyne Jones (69') gave the hosts the lead before a Glenn Murray equalised with a penalty three minutes from time. A brace from Jon Walters (95' & 110') gave Stoke the lead once again with Cameron Jerome (120') completing the victory. Stoke will now host Manchester City.

Sunderland 0-2 Bolton Wanderers: A Marvin Sordell double (64' pen & 73') gave the Championship side the victory over their Premiership rivals. Bolton will now host another Premiership side, Everton, in the fourth round.

Blackpool 1-2 Fulham AET: Fulham also required extra time to see off the Championship side. Nathan Delfouneso thought he had given Blackpool the victory eight minutes from time. But Kieron Richardson levelled in the fourth minute of extra time before Brede Hangeland won the match four minutes from the end. Fulham will now travel to Old Trafford.

West Brom 0-1 Queens Park Rangers: Jay Bothroyd (75') takes the Premier League's bottom club into the fourth round where they will host MK Dons. 

United Do Double Over Liverpool, 10-Man City Beat 10-Man Arsenal For First Time In 37-Years

Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City: City manage to keep the deficit at seven after this drama-filled game. The action began after just minutes when Laurent Koscielny pulled Edin Dzeko down in the box. The penalty was given and the Frenchman was shown a red card for being last man and denying a goalscoring opportunity. Dzeko stepped up but Wojiech Szczesny managed to save it onto the post before the ball rolled across the line for the keeper to smother. City did take advantage of the numerical difference and James Milner smashed a great shot in after a disguised pass after 21-minutes. Sloppy defending allowed City to take another shot which Szczesny could only parry to Dzeko who couldn't miss from two yards out on 32-minutes. The numbers were levelled again with 15-minutes to play when Vincent Kompany was shown a straight red for jumping in tackle on Jack Wilshere. The ball was won and it wasn't that forceful but the jumping action was what made Mike Dean produce the red. Arsenal are now six points from the Champions League places with a game in hand.

Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool: United remain seven points clear at the top after doing the double over Liverpool. A good move from United was clinically finished off by Robin Van Persie from a cross after 19-minutes. United then went 2-0 nine minutes into the second half when Patrice Evra looked to have headed home from a corner. But replays showed his header actually hit Nemanja Vidic, who was offside from the header, to go into the net. Substitute Daniel Sturridge did pull a goal back on his Premier League debut three minutes later but it wasn't enough for Liverpool.

Reading 3-2 West Brom: Reading remain second from bottom but are now just three points from safety after this crucial comeback. West Brom took the lead after 19-minutes when James Morrison's pull back was tapped home by Romelu Lukaku, his eighth of the season. That became nine on 69-minutes when Lukaku was allowed to come inside and stroke the ball home, this came after the Belgian had a goal disallowed and hit the woodwork twice. Jimmy Kebe headed Reading back into the game with eight minutes to play. Jonas Olsson would concede a penalty six minutes later for a high challenge on Kebe, Adam Le Fondre stepped up and converted the kick to make it 2-2. But Reading weren't content with just the point and the turn around was completed in injury time when a long free-kick was poked home by Pavel Pogrebnyak, his third in three. West Brom still sit seventh but have dropped to seven points behind the Champions League places.

Stoke 0-4 Chelsea: Chelsea move to 11-points behind Manchester United after ending Stoke's unbeaten home record. This is also the first time Stoke have conceded four goals in the Premier League. Jonathan Walters put Chelsea ahead with diving header from a Cesar Azpilicueta cross into his own net in first half injury time. Walters then made it 2-0 on 62-minutes with another headed own goal, this time from a corner. Chelsea were awarded a penalty three minutes later when Juan Mata went down very innocuously, Frank Lampard stepped up and rifled the spot kick home to become the second highest all-time goalscorer for Chelsea. Eden Hazard rounded off the scoring on 73-minutes with a beauty into the top corner from long range. Stoke had the chance to get a consolation when Walters was fouled by John Terry. Walters then stepped up but he smashed the ball high into the stand off the crossbar to complete his day.

Sunderland 3-0 West Ham: Sunderland climb six points clear of the relegation zone. The deadlock was broken on 12-minutes when Sebastian Larsson scored a screamer from long range. Adam Johnson made it 2-0 two minutes into the second half when Jussi Jaaskelainen parried a James McLean shot before the ball wasn't cleared a scrambled to Johnson to tap home. McLean would make it 3-0 on 74-minutes when Stephane Sessegnon's scuffed shot made it's way into the Irishman's path.

Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton: Villa fall into the relegation zone on goal difference after this controversial result. The win means Southampton now sit two points ahead of the drop. The only goal of the game came 11-minutes before half-time when Jay Rodriguez went down in the box, under no contact. Rickie Lambert stepped up and converted, condemning Villa to defeat courtesy of a dive.

Fulham 1-1 Wigan: Wigan move out of the relegation zone on goal difference after gaining a point at Craven Cottage. Giorgos Karagounis made it two goals in two games, his first Premier League goal, with a rifled shot in off the post on 22-minutes. Franco Di Santo levelled with 19-minutes left via a  brilliant long range effort, the Argentine's first in 15-games. The point puts Fulham six points clear of the drop.

Everton 0-0 Swansea: Everton record their goalless draw of the season after this drab result against Swansea. Both teams did hit the woodwork and test the other keeper, but neither had quite enough to break the deadlock. Everton are still three points behind the Champions League places.

QPR 0-0 Tottenham: QPR are now just five points from safety after Harry Redknapp takes a point against his former players. Jermain Defoe came closest after hitting the post for Spurs in the first half. Shaun Wright-Phillips was QPR's best player and created numerous chances, but the winger just couldn't quite find a finish. Spurs remain in the Champions League places, three points ahead of Everton.

Norwich 0-0 Newcastle: Newcastle have fallen into a relegation fight after another game without a win, they now sit just two points ahead of the drop.

Ivanovic Gifts Swansea

Swansea City will take a 2-0 lead back to the Liberty after beating Chelsea in the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Branislav Ivanovic will be wishing to play that game again as he was at fault for both of the Swansea away goals.

It initially started much better for Chelsea. They were very dominant in the opening and for most of the first half. But they failed to take advantage of their numerous corners and put the ball past Gerhard Tremmel. Then Chelsea were hit with the sucker punch; Ross Turnbull's pass played Ivanovic into trouble, the Serbian then failed to deal with it and was dispossessed by Jonathan De Guzman. De Guzman would then play Michu through for the Spaniard to smash his 16th goal of the season past Turnbull, six minutes before half-time.

Tremmel's best save of the first half came just before the whistle when Ivanovic tried to atone for his error with a powerful curling shot. But the Tremmel was able to turn it around the post and keep Swansea's lead at half-time.

Chelsea gained even more possession in the second half, but they still couldn't find a breakthrough. David Luiz came the closest with another fierce shot from point blank range. But it was hit towards Tremmel's side and the keeper managed to somehow hold onto the ball. Substitute Demba Ba also came pretty close, but his header was again at the right height for Tremmel to hold.

Ba then thought he should have had a penalty at the beginning of injury time. The ball was played in and it was a race between the striker and Tremmel. Ba got to it first as Tremmel then tried to dive out of Ba's way. If there was any contact is was minimal and Ba actually got booked for diving. The ball went straight up the other end and a blind pass from Ivanovic left substitute Danny Graham one-on-one with Turnbull. The striker went around the keeper before rolling it home, despite David Luiz's best efforts to recover, making it 2-0 with yet another sucker punch.

Chelsea did think that they had put themselves back into it for the second leg when Ba had the ball in the net. But the linesman flagged the striker offside, which he was by centimetres. Chelsea aren't completely out of it by any means, but it is a huge task to recover from a two goal deficit at the Liberty.

Bradford On Cloud Nine

Bradford City of the NPower League Two are just one game away from a place in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley. This comes courtesy of a stunning 3-1 victory in the first leg of the semi-final at home to Premier League side Aston Villa. This victory also means that Bradford have beaten more top flight sides this season than both QPR and Reading.

The start of the match was very end to end, with both teams showing some attacking promise. But something had to give and it did on 19-minutes; a deflected shot fell to Bermuda's Nahki Wells who was onside, despite appeals from the Villa players, to smash Bradford ahead.

Villa should have scored earlier than they did in the game. They bombarded the Bradford goal for the remainder of the first half and even the start of the second half. But former Premier League goalkeeper, Matt Duke, was in the form of his life and produced countless saves from Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor. It was he that kept the score at 1-0 at half-time.

Darren Bent would become the latest to be stopped by Duke when he came on as a second half substitute. But Bradford hadn't shut up shop and fired a few more warning shots at Shay Given. With 13-minutes remaining, Bradford had a corner that was only half cleared. The ball went back out wide to be swung in again for Rory McArdle to head home and make it 2-0.

It could have been 3-0 when another Bradford header beat Given, but this time it cannoned off the crossbar. This looked to a crucial point in the match because Villa went up the other end and Andreas Weimann finally broke Duke's resistance to reduce the arrears with eight minutes to play, but more importantly securing an away goal.

Villa would have been content with a 2-1 deficit to take to Villa Park, especially with that away goal. But they were hit by another sucker punch with just two minutes remaining. Another corner was whipped in and Carl McHugh managed to get to it with a powerful header from around the penalty spot to make it 3-1, and also making them favourites for the final.

FA Cup Fourth Round Draw

Norwich City v Luton Town

Oldham Athletic v Liverpool

Macclesfield Town v Wigan Athletic/AFC Bournemouth

Derby County v Blackburn Rovers

Hull City/Leyton Orient v Barnsley

Middlesbrough v Aldershot Town

Millwall v Aston Villa

Leeds United/Birmingham City v Tottenham Hotspur

Brighton & Hove Albion v Swansea City/Arsenal

Crystal Palace/Stoke City v Manchester City

West Ham United/Manchester United v Fulham/Blackpool

Southend United/Brentford v Chelsea

Reading v Sheffield United

Huddersfield Town v Leicester City

Queens Park Rangers/West Bromwich Albion v Sheffield Wednesday/Milton Keynes Dons

Bolton Wanderers/Sunderland v Everton

FA Cup 3rd Round Results

Cheltenham Town 1-5 Everton: Nikica Jelavic (12'), Leighton Baines (pen 21') and Leon Osman (49') put the Premiership side 3-0. Russell Penn (51') gave Cheltenham hope before Seamus Coleman (58') and Marouane Fellaini (89') eased Everton through.

Mansfield Town 1-2 Liverpool: Daniel Sturridge (7') marked his debut with the opening goal before Luis Suarez (59') made it 2-0 after just three minutes of coming on, although there was a clear handball from the Uruguayan to help him score. Matt Green (79') did manage to pull one back for the minnows.

Swansea City 2-2 Arsenal: The Emirates will host a replay after three late goals. Substitute Michu (58') put Swansea ahead. But Lukas Podolski (81') & Kieron Gibbs (83') looked to put Arsenal in the fourth round before Danny Graham (87') earned a draw. 

West Ham United 2-2 Manchester United: Robin Van Persie (90') manages to force a replay at Old Trafford. Tom Cleverley (23') had put Manchester United into the lead before James Collins (27' & 59') made it 2-1 with two fantastic headers from two Joe Cole crosses.

Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Newcastle United: Brighton knock the Premier League side out for the second year running. Andrea Orlandi (33') and Will Hoskins (87') got the goals as Shola Ameobi (63') was sent off for Newcastle.

Aldershot Town 3-1 Rotherham United: Danny Hylton had a day to remember. Aldershot took a 3-0 lead with Hylton getting a hat-trick (6', 23' & 62'). Liam Frecklington (pen 71') pulled a goal back before Kari Arnason (84') and Hylton (85') were both sent off.

Aston Villa 2-1 Ipswich Town: Villa escape a cup shock to the Championship side. Michael Chopra (31') put Ipswich ahead. But Darren Bent on his return from injury (46') and Andreas Weimann (83') turned it around to progress.

Barnsley 1-0 Burnley: Brian Stock (37') left Burnley with ten men for a long time in the game. Danny Rose (85') finally took advantage to put Barnsley through in the all-Championship tie.

Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Bristol City: Danny Murphy (7') and Grant Hanley (58') put Blackburn through at the hands of the Championship strugglers.

Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Sunderland: Sunderland force a replay at the Stadium of Light against the Championship side. Chung-Yong Lee (12') and Marvin Sordell (48') put Bolton 2-0 ahead. But Connor Wickham (60') and Craig Gardner (75') earned a draw.

Charlton Athletic 0-1 Huddersfield Town: Jermaine Beckford (11') scored the only goal to put Huddersfield through. Dorian Dervite (57') made it harder for Charlton by getting sent off.

Crawley Town 1-3 Reading: Reading come from behind to avoid a cup upset. Nicky Adams (1') gave Crawley the lead. But Adam Le Fondre (13' & pen 49') and Nicky Hunt (44') put the Premiership side safely through.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Stoke City: The Premiership side force a replay back the Britannia.

Derby County 5-0 Tranmere Rovers: Ben Davies (42'), Conor Sammon (54'), John Brayford (63'), Jeff Hendrick (72') and Mason Bennett (87') serve up the thrashing of the round for Derby.

Fulham 1-1 Blackpool: The Premiership have to travel to Bloomfield Road after forcing a replay. Ludovic Sylvestre (60') put the Championship side ahead before Giorgos Karagounis (80') earned the draw.

Hull City 1-1 Leyton Orient: Nick Proschwitz (90') forces a late replay, preventing a cup upset against the League One side. Dave Mooney (78') had given Orient the lead and now hope to beat Hull in the Matchroom Stadium.

Leeds United 1-1 Birmingham City: The all-Championship tie will have to be settled at St.Andrews in a replay. Wade Elliott (32') had given Birmingham the lead before Luciano Becchio (60') equalised.

Leicester City 2-0 Burton Albion: Chris Wood (3') and Ritchie De Laet (21') put the Championship side ahead.

Luton Town 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: The non-league side provide one of the shocks of the round against the Championship side. Alex Lawless (46') scored the only goal that has cost Stale Solbakken his job at Wolves.

Macclesfield Town 2-1 Cardiff City: The non-league outfit dump the Championship leaders out. Nathaniel Jarvis (57') had put Cardiff ahead before Matthew Barnes-Homer (85' & pen 88') turned the tie on its head.

Manchester City 3-0 Watford: Carlos Tevez (25'), Gareth Barry (44') and Marcos Lopes (90') ease the Premiership champions through.

Middlesbrough 4-1 Hastings United: Merouane Zemmama (22' & 68') and Andy Halliday (47') had put the Championship side 3-0 ahead. Bradley Goldburg (69') scored a consolation for the non-league side before Ishmael Miller (85') made it 4-1.

Millwall 1-0 Preston North End: Liam Feeney (31') scores the only goal to put Millwall through.

Nottingham Forest 2-3 Oldham Athletic: The League One side dump Forest out of the cup. Matt Smith (og 13') gave Forest the lead. Robbie Simpson (54' & 58') turned the tie around before Danny Collins (60') was sent off for Forest. Jose Baxter (61') made it 3-1 before Billy Sharp (90') pulled one back, but far too late.

Oxford United 0-3 Sheffield United: Tony McMahon (17'), Dave Kitson (68') and Nick Blackman (87') put the in form League One side through.

Peterborough United 0-3 Norwich City: Elliott Bennett (30'), Simeon Jackson (41') and Robert Snodgrass (70') ease the Premiership side into the next round.

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 West Bromwich Albion: The all Premiership tie will have to be settled at the Hawthornes after Kieron Dyer's stoppage time equaliser. Shane Long (79') had looked to have put West Brom through.

Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Milton Keynes Dons: The League One side manage to earn a replay at the Stadium MK against their Championship counterparts.

Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Demba Ba shines on his Chelsea debut. Jay Rodriguez (22') had given the hosts the lead. But Ba (35' & 61'), Victor Moses (45'), Branislav Ivanovic (52') and Frank Lampard (pen 83') put the defending champions through.

Southend United 2-2 Brentford: The League Two side manage to force a replay against the League One side, albeit at Brentford's Griffin Park. Tom Adeyemi (29') and Ryan Cresswell (og 38') put Brentford 2-0 ahead. But Barry Corr (39' & 54') earned the draw for Southend.

Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Coventry City: Clint Dempsey (14' & 37') and Gareth Bale (33') ease the Premiership side into the fourth round.

Wigan Athletic 1-1 AFC Bournemouth: Jordi Gomez (70') spares Wigan's blushes by forcing a replay at Dean Court. Eunan O'Kane (41') gave Bournemouth the lead and may be quite content at having the replay at home.