Congratulations to Wigan Athletic, 2012-2013 FA Cup Champions!

Wigan Coach Roberto Martinez and Chairman Dave Whelan with the FA Cup (Lee Smith/Action Images)

Congratulations are in order for Wigan Athletic, who won their first ever major title on Saturday with an improbable FA Cup Final victory over a Premier League giant at Wembley.  The Latics stunned Manchester City 1-0 with a goal from Ben Watson right at the end of the match, leaving City, who were also down a man, with pretty much no time to push for an equalizer.

It was, one thinks, the perfect Wigan victory.  They were by far the more positive of the two sides all match long, playing football in their methodical fashion while City looked sluggish.  Honestly, despite the fact that there was a major trophy on the line, City looked as though they had already checked out to the beach or to the golf course for the summer, and Wigan took their one, best chance.

Check out Watson's stunning header as City stand around with their zonal marking:

The celebrations might be short lived for Wigan however, as they face a tough road to avoid relegation from the Barclay's Premier League. They have to win both of their final matches against Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday and at home against fellow relegation battlers Aston Villa on Sunday. To add to the difficulty of Tuesday, the match is pretty much a must win for Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League next season. The Gunners will be well rested and motivated. But whatever happens in the Premier League, Wigan deserve credit for creating one of the FA Cup's most memorable moments, and keeping the romance or the tournament alive and well. I'll be hoping they can hang on to the Premier League spot as well.

City Bulldoze Leeds to Advance in FA Cup

Sergio Aguero celebrates a goal vs Leeds (mirror.co.uk

Once upon a time, Leeds United was one of the top teams in English football and Manchester City were the club trying to come back up through the ranks.  That is certainly not the case anymore, and hasn't been for awhile.  Leeds took on City yesterday in the 5th round of the FA Cup, but couldn't call up any memories of their storied past as Sergio Aguero and company ran roughshod over the Championship side.  At one point the Leeds fans began chanting "You're nothing special, we lose every week."

City took ownership of the contest right from the opening whistle and converted the very first chance of the game on five minutes.  They engaged in some gorgeous one and two touch passing in the Leeds penalty area, which lead to Carlos Tevez finding Yaya Toure driving toward the goal.  Toure secured the pinpoint pass from the Argentine, gave the last Leeds defender and the goalkeeper the traffic cone treatment, and easily slotted the ball into the empty net to give City the 1-0 lead.

The home side continued to press the advantage as well, as it seemed like Leeds couldn't get a touch on the ball.  City looked every bit the Premier League Champions.  In the 14th minute, they played in Sergio Aguero who came at the goal from Leeds' right along the end line. Trying to stop him, Leeds defender Tom Lees grabbed him a couple of times about the arm and chest.  Aguero looked pleadingly at the referee, who somewhat hesitantly blew for a penalty. Aguero put the PK in top of the net to make it 2-0 on 15 minutes and effectively took all the pace out of the match.  Personally, I thought it was a pretty cheap penalty.  Was it a foul and thus a PK by the letter of the law? Probably, but you often see far more contact go unpunished in the penalty area.

In the end it didn't matter much though, but it took City until well into the second half to go further ahead.  In the 52nd minute Aguero again found himself coming up the end line.  This time he unleashed a nifty little cross to the front of goal, which Tevez eagerly connected with, jumping into the air and basically deflecting the ball over the line with his body to make it 3-0.

Surely Leeds must have had some quality chances though, right?  Well, not really.  In the 56th minute Rodolph Austin smacked a shot from distance that ended up being closer to row ZZZ than the goal.  The Leeds fans behind the goal had a bit of a laugh at this, refusing to throw the ball back onto the pitch.  Finally after security started to make their way to the spot, the Leeds folks gave up their entertainment and returned the expensive match ball.  One could hardly blame them for having a bit of sport though, there was nothing going on to interest them down on the pitch.

The match began to resemble a training session, with players completely out of position and zero intensity.  City finally put the last nail the in Leeds FA Cup coffin on 74 minutes and made it a complete laugher.  David Silva dropped a ball into Aguero who was running in straight on this time.  He easily volleyed the ball inside the far post to make it 4-0 and end the day's scoring.

As for City, they now look forward to a big clash this coming weekend with Chelsea in the Premier League.  Leeds, who are stuck in midtable in the Championship, will have to go back to the drawing board as a push for promotion seems to be all that they have left.  Still, eight points back of the playoff positions, that almost seems out of reach at this point as well.

Liverpool Escape Mansfield Town With More Suarez Controversy

Luis Suarez clearly handled the ball on his match winning goal. (AP Photo)

Luis Suarez.  Is there a more controversial player today in the Premier League?  Perhaps Mario Balotelli, but to be fair, a lot of his "issues" happen off the pitch.  As for Suarez, he put himself right back in the thick of things in an FA Cup third round tie at Mansfield Town today, clearly settling the ball with his hand before banging into an empty net for what turned out to be the match winning goal for Liverpool.

The Reds visited the non-league side at One Call Stadium, where 93 places separated the clubs on the English pyramid.  Despite the rather horrendous condition of the pitch, Liverpool were able to employ their passing game early on to control the match.  It looked like they might run away with the proceedings after Jonjo Shelvey slipped a through ball to new man Daniel Sturridge in the seventh minute.  Sturridge easily tapped  the ball by Mansfield 'keeper Alan Marriott to make it 0-1 to Liverpool.  It was his first goal in a Liverpool shirt.

After that, Mansfield Town went into survival mode and were somewhat able to stymie Liverpool's offense, largely through the efforts of Marriott.  In the 15th minute he managed smother the ball as Sturridge once again drove on goal, then got low again in a 1v1 with Shelvey in the 29th to keep the score 0-1.

Manfield finally found their feet though, and weren't about to roll over for the EPL side.  Forward Matthew Green, in particular, gave Liverpool fits for much of the match.   In the 33rd minute he came up with Mansfield's best chance of the first half, driving a shot in on goal from the edge of the penalty area and forcing a good save out of Brad Jones for Liverpool

Toward the end of the first half Liverpool really sat back and started to absorb Mansfield's pressure, resigning themselves to try to hit on the counter attack.  It almost worked in the 45h minute as Sturridge again found himself through on goal.  He drove the ball along the ground toward the outside of the far post only to be foiled by Marriott, who hit the deck at full stretch, parrying the shot away to keep it 0-1 going into halftime.

Mansfield came out like a whirlwind in the second half and immediately took the match to Liverpool, heaping the pressure on Brad Jones' goal.  In the 52nd minute Green put a ball on target that Jones was able to haul in, but not before it took a bounce off of a Liverpool player's hand.  It would not be the last controversial handball no-call of the match.  One minute later Louis Briscoe slammed a shot in from aways out, but Jones was again up to the task.

Knowing his team needed a second goal in a bad way, Brendan Rodgers subbed Luis Suarez into the game.  He made an immediate impact and caused immediate controversy.  In the 58th minute, he used chaos in the box for cover as he raised his right hand, settling the bouncing ball down to his foot.  Now having the ball under control, he tapped it into the net for the second goal, with all the Mansfield town players instantly screaming for handball.  Suarez even kissed his arm as he celebrated, but it seemed everyone in the stadium saw it except for the referee and the linesman, and the goal stood.  It really was obvious.

The "goal" really took the steam out of Mansfield, and the match devolved into a scrappy affair on both sides as the pitch continued to scar up.  However hope was restored to Mansfield fans in the 79th minute.  Colin Daniel crossed the ball into the box where Green was waiting for it.  He turned it toward the goal, where it defected off of a couple of different players and in to make it 1-2 with 11 minutes left.

Mansfield piled on the pressure in the final minutes, but was never able to get the equalizer.  They came the closest in the first minute of stoppage time when Green cranked a shot in on target, but once again Jones turned him away to preserve the full time score at 1-2 to Liverpool.

So in the end, Liverpool moves on in controversial style.  Mansfield Town acquitted itself very well though as Liverpool's second line players again failed to impress.  As for Suarez, as much as he handles the ball, he should take up goalkeeping.  You have to feel for Mansfield, who really were hard done by.

Congrats to Chelsea FC, 2012 FA Cup Champions

Chelsea FC celebrate after winning their 4th FA Cup in 6 years.

Yes I know I'm way late to the party on this one, which is especially odd as Chelsea is my team, but Congrats to them on winning the 2012 FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Liverpool.  It's nice to see them pick up a trophy, even with the Champions League final still to come.

The Blues got out to a 2-0 lead over Liverpool with goals form Ramires in the first half and Didier Drogba in the second.  Andy Carroll came in and managed to cut it to 2-1, but Petr Cech stood firm and Chelsea went on to win the hardware.

Some cool facts:  Ashley Cole won his 7th FA Cup overall. Didier Drogba became the first person to score in four different FA Cup finals and John Terry became the first captain to lift the Cup 4 times with some club.

Congratulations boys and Up the Blues!

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Frank Lampard's FA Cup Free Kick Goal

With all due respect for David Beckham's sweet goal against the Portland Timbers last night, my goal of the week has to go to Super Frank Lampard. You know, that one guy that MLS keeps wanting to insist is finished at Chelsea so he's coming here? Right...

At any rate, check out his awesome free kick verses Spurs in today's FA Cup Semi Final:

FA Cup Semifinals 2012: Liverpool vs. Everton

Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll celebrate Carrol's winning goal.  (Getty Images)

It's obvious to state that Liverpool's Premier League campaign has fallen short of the mark this season.  Also, a lot of the major news off the pitch (Suarez) has overshadowed what the club has already done.  However, Liverpool have kept the faith in the domestic cups this season, and after winning the Carling Cup earlier this year, now stand just one win from claiming the FA Cup as well.

Their eternal Merseyside rivals, Everton, didn't make it easy on them though.  They're in a much longer trophy drought than Liverpool, and coming into this one they were very much the in form team and a trendy pick to upset their more famous red clad neighbors. 

In fact, Everton was the stronger team in the first half.  After some initial possession from Liverpool, Everton really started to get their attack together.  Their first chance came in the sixth minute, in the form of a set piece chance from Leighton Baines.   Unfortunately he put his kick just slightly over the bar and Liverpool breathed a sigh of relief.  In the 21st minute, Nikica Jelavic tried a bit of a scruffy overhead kick, but it was saved by Brad Jones in goal for Liverpool.  However the former Rangers man drew first blood just 3 minutes later.  Liverpool's Jamie Carragher tried to clear the ball out of his own box, but it bounced off of Tim Cahill and fell right to Jelavic, who slotted past Jones to give Everton the 0-1 lead.

The goal did seem to wake Liverpool up a bit, and they slowly got better as the half wore on.   Still, at the halftime whistle, Everton still clung  to the 0-1 lead.

Liverpool ratcheted up their play in the second half though, while Everton seemed to come out dragging.  The Reds had a great chance to equalize in the 47th minute, but somehow Andy Carroll put his free header wide of the near post and it was Everton's turn to breathe again.

Unfortunately for the Toffees and their supporters, it was an Everton defensive blunder that gifted Liverpool their first goal and really let them back into the match.   In the 62nd minute, Sylvain Distin tried a long back pass to Tim Howard, but it didn't hit it anywhere near hard enough.  Luis Suarez rushed onto the ball, beat Howard one on one, and slapped the ball into the net to tie the match at 1-1.

After that the energy seemed to drain from Everton even faster.  They carved out a couple of half chances but never again threatened Jones.  Finally in the 87th minute, Carroll went from goat to hero.  The big center forward rose on a Craig Bellamy corner kick and headed it into the net to stun Wembley Stadium and hand Liverpool the 2-1 win.

Everton wallowed in the despairing loss as Liverpool celebrated.  They really were the better team in the first half, and were holding their own in the second until Distin's major defensive miscue.  From there, it was pretty much all Reds, as they now look ahead to their second cup final of the year.

FA Cup 4th Round: Liverpool vs. Manchester United

Liverpool has been somewhat underwhelming in the league this year, nobody could really deny that. Their cup form has been impressive though, especially at the expense of the Manchester sides. Earlier this week they eliminated City from the Carling Cup and looked to take United out of the FA Cup on Saturday.

The match was pretty heated, as it usually is when they two sides get together. Though United had the better of the possession throughout the match, Liverpool were more than able to get the touches they needed to get the job done. Maxi Rodriguez woke David De Gea early in goal, with a stinging shot in the 4th minute. Ryan Giggs responded a few minutes later for United though, hitting a shot right at Pepe Reina.

The teams continued to exchange chances throughout the first half. Andy Carroll sent yet another disappointing header high in the 11th minute, and Antonio Valencia hit the post for United in the 17th. The first goal of the match would go to Liverpool though, as Daniel Agger headed home a goal in the 21st to make it 1-0 to Liverpool. United's marking on the set piece left a lot to be desired, but De Gea's positioning was horrid on the play as well.

United would strike back before half time however. Ji-Sung Park, who always seems to come up with the big moments in the big games, volleyed in a goal from a fantastic cross by Rafael to equalize the match at 1-1.

Again United came out controlling the ball for much of the second half, but Liverpool had the best chances. United looked somewhat lost in the final third without the injured Wayne Rooney. Steven Gerrard forced a save out of De Gea off of a free kick in the 67th minute, but United immediately countered that resulted in a shot by Michael Carrick going just wide of the Liverpool goal.

Dirk Kuyt came in as a second half sub for Liverpool and again put the hurt on United, as he is known to do. In the 88th minute Reina booted the ball down field to the head of Andy Carroll, the big center forward flicked on to Kuyt who, absolutely torched Patrice Evra and slammed the ball past a struggling De Gea to give Liverpool the 2-1 win.

The loss puts United out of both domestic cups and the Champions League. It's tough to see them really caring much about the Europa League, so I suspect their focus will continue to be on retaining the Premiership. Liverpool of course, are still in the running for both domestic cups.

DANIEL AGGER SCORES FOR LIVERPOOL. (Alex Livesey--Getty Images)

FA Cup 5th Round Draw

The draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup was held Sunday as an exciting weekend of matches wound down. There are still a few replays to sort out, but here is the draw:


FA Cup Fifth Round

Chelsea vs. Birmingham
Crawley vs. Stoke
Everton vs. Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday
Liverpool vs. Brighton
Millwall or Southhampton vs. Bolton
Norwich vs. Leicester
Stevenage vs. Tottenham
Sunderland or Middlesbrough vs. Arsenal


Interestingly enough, the big clubs all managed to avoid each other in the draw. Only Arsenal could potentially go up against another EPL side. As a Chelsea fan, I'm very nervy about playing last year's League Cup Champs Birmingham. Also, former Colorado Rapids manager Gary Smith will be leading the Stevenage side against Spurs. That will be a HUGE deal for them.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend; Dirk Kuyt Sinks United

Okay my fine readers, I present to you my choice for goal of the weekend in this 4th round FA Cup weekend. In the 88th minute at Anfield, Dirk Kuyt took a flick on from Andy Carroll and blasted it into the net to give Liverpool the 2-1 win. To ad to the enjoyment of the Liverpool faithful, Kuyt just torched Patrice Evra on the play. I'm sure after this, Evra would rather walk alone.

FA Cup 4th Round: Everton vs. Fulham

If there was ever an FA Cup match that was going to garner interest in the USA, it was this one. Of course I mean interest by people who aren't like me and don't obsess over world football. This match featured what are probably the three biggest names in US Soccer right now. For Everton Tim Howard was in goal as per usual, and Landon Donovan started in the midfield. Fulham featured Clint Dempsey, scorer of two hat tricks in the last month, in the midfield.

Of course beyond the interest in the Americans abroad, those of us who do follow English football knew that this was the FA Cup, and really the only chance either of these clubs had at winning a trophy this year. The loser would be done.

Everton has had the Cottagers' number at home over the years, but Fulham had been the dominant side in the FA Cup. Everton came out of the gates looking to put an end to the latter trend. Outside of a wild shot by Dempsey in the 2nd minute, the Toffees controlled possession in the early going. Fulham seemed largely lethargic, not chasing the ball much and turning it over when they did get it.

All that changed in the 12th minute as Fulham had the chance to take the lead. Damien Duff drove into the box, and John Heitinga got in front of his shot, handling the ball as he went. Referee Howard Webb quickly and correctly pointed to the spot. Heitinga was given a yellow for the handball. Fulham captain Danny Murphy converted the PK and Fulham took the 0-1 lead, totally against the run of play.

Everton didn't waste any time in responding though and to their credit went right back into their game plan. It's hard to panic a David Moyes side, even with an early goal. Around the 20th minute the Toffees brought a ton of pressure to bare on the Fulham goal that culminated in a great shot from Magaye Gueye being blocked to end the threat.

However Everton got their much deserved equalizer in the 28th minute, and one of the Americans on the pitch featured prominently. Landon Donovan sent a beautiful and spot on cross into Denis Stracqualursi, who got up and headed it past the helpless Fulham 'keeper and into the net to tie the match at 1-1. Great goal.

After halftime, Clint Dempsey really tried to make a difference for Fulham. Unfortunately for the Cottagers, only Dempsey, Duff, and Ruiz really showed, and they couldn't not get the ball to Deuce to get him involved. Still, in the 52nd minute he put a header over the bar and had a decent effort blocked in the 58th, but that would be about the extent of his involvement.

Everton were still firmly control and looking for the go ahead goal. Landon Donovan was constantly getting himself in position to be helpful for his club. In the 70th minute he rolled a shot just wide of the post, but made a significant contribution again just 3 minutes later as he sent another finally crafted cross into the area. This one found the head of Marouane Fellaini, who tucked it into the net to give Everton the 2-1 lead. Just aim for the hair, Landon.

Everton continued to dominate for the rest of the match, but Fulham did get one good look in stoppage time that almost forced a replay. In the 1st extra minute, Bryan Ruiz, who was the biggest bright spot on the day for Fulham, got a hold of a good strike but sent it just agonizingly wide of Tim Howard's goal. The Toffees held on for the 2-1 win.

They advance to the 5th round of the FA Cup. They will play at home against the winner of Blackpool/Sheffield Wednesday.

Puddle's Goal of the Day: Danny Welbeck

My goal of the day for Sunday was an easy choice. This superb volley by Danny Welbeck in the Manc derby made it 0-2 to United at the time. The Red Devils would go on to knock the holders from the FA Cup by a 2-3 margin of victory at Etihad Stadium.

FA Cup 3rd Round: Manchester City vs. Manchester United

Yesterday's Manchester derby was undoubtedly the marquee match of the FA Cup's 3rd round. For some of my readers that don't always follow the English game, the 3rd round is where all the big teams from the top 2 flights come in and play all the minnows. However, this match was a clash of the titans, and it had pretty much everything.

After trouncing United 1-6 at Old Trafford earlier this season, City were coming out to finally assert their dominance over their more experienced rivals. They controlled the match in the opening minutes. United had pretty much everybody back behind the ball as they tried to weather the opening storm. However the storm ended up being nothing more than a rumble of thunder. The best chance City got in the first 10 minutes was a free kick from Aleksandar Kolarov, which he disappointingly hit into the wall.

After that United took their first real attack of the match and made it count. In the 10 minute Antonio Valencia provided a great cross into the box. Wayne Rooney was there to meet it and head it in under the bar to make it 0-1 to United. Rooney ran over to the City fans clutching the crest on his shirt, showing them who he thought ruled Manchester.

It got worse for City just a couple of minutes later. Captain Vincent Kompany went sliding in with two feet on Nani just outside the penalty area. Kompany got all ball, and Nani didn't even go to ground, but the referee went straight red on him and reduced City to 10 men.

City didn't shy away though and over the next ten minutes they put together a pretty good response, despite being down a man. In the 14th minute Sergio Aguero came the closest for City drilling in a shot from distance, but Anders Lindegaard grabbed it and held on to keep United in the lead.

However, the loss of a man finally started to tell on City later in the half. If I'm honest with you, they had trouble all day with United bringing the ball in from wide. In the 30th minute Patrice Evra sent in yet another quality cross that Danny Welbeck brilliantly volleyed into the net to make it 0-2.

Then just before half time it looked like United was going to put the game on ice. City conceded a PK and Wayne Rooney stepped up to take the spot kick. However, Rooney hit it rather lamely and Costel Pantilimon made the save for City. Unfortunately for him, the rebound went straight back to Rooney who nodded it easily into the empty net to make it 0-3 United at the half.

All eyes focused on Roberto Mancini's side in the second half. Would City park the bus just to prevent a United route, or would they go for it and try to get back in the match? Thankfully for us neutrals that were watching they fought, and they fought hard.

It took them less than 4 minutes to nick their first goal. Patrice Evra made a dumb foul for United right outside his own area, He was shown the yellow card, but more importantly gave up the free kick. Kolarov again stepped up and this time he made amends for the poor kick in the first half by slotting it over the wall and past Lindegaard to make it 1-3.

At that point you could feel the energy start to surge back into the City players and fans. United tried to check the momentum by changing personnel, including bringing in formerly retired Paul Scholes, who had recently just resigned with the club to help them fill in down the stretch.

However, the United legend spoiled his own return in the 64th minute by giving the ball up on a throw in deep in his own half. City took it and managed to get it to Aguero in the box. His first shot was blocked, but this time it was Lindegaard who gave up the rebound, and the Argentine promptly mopped up and calmly finished to make it 2-3.

Unfortunately for City, the tired legs caught up with them and they failed to really mount a serious charge to equalize. United did give them once good chance though. Rio Ferdinand committed a foul right outside his own area in stoppage time to give City one more free kick chance to score and force a replay. However, Lindegaard parried Kolarov's kick and United cleared it, ending the match at 2-3.

So the holders are out. Next up for United is a 4th round clash against Liverpool at Anfield later this month.