THE SPHINX
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Sport
Cheltenham Festival page 26
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Rugby
Everton frustrated as Sunderland battle for replay Everton again had a penalty appeal turned down when Jelavic headed a Baines cross onto the arm of John O’Shea but Marriner was unimpressed and once again waved play on. The hosts remained the more urgent throughout the half as it became apparent that a replay at the Stadium of Light was becoming an exceedingly more appealing prospect for the visitors, with O’Neill replacing the pace of Frazier Campbell with the work rate of David Vaughan in order to steady the Sunderland ship. With the game heading towards a replay David Moyes brought on the imposing Argentine Denis Stracqualursi in place of Royston Drenthe but it was not to be for Everton as Mignolet produced a fine double save at the death to force a replay. Mignolet first denied John Heitinga, diving well to his right in
Mark Bradford Tim Cahill’s headed equaliser cancelled out Phil Bardsley’s opener as Everton fought back to send their quarter final tie versus Sunderland to a replay following a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. Everton approached the game under a certain amount of (arguably unnecessary) pressure following their 3-0 humbling at the hands of Liverpool in last week’s Merseyside derby. David Moyes controversially rested six players at Anfield ahead of this F.A. Cup quarter final fixture and following the embarrassing nature of last Tuesday’s defeat, the manager would have been anxious not to see his selection policy backfire versus Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland. O’Neill has transformed the Wearsiders’ fortunes since his appointment in December, taking them from the fringes of the relegation zone to the top half of the Premier League table and the visitors would have approached the game in confident mood as they searched for their first win at Goodison Park since November 1996. Everton, with their confidence visibly dented by defeat at Anfield, started slowly and it was Sunderland who looked considerably livelier in the opening stages as they passed the ball crisply and at high tempo without creating any clear cut opportunities. Against the run of play Everton should have had an early penalty when Sunderland’s Craig Gardner brought down Royston Drenthe. Andre Marriner, whose refereeing decisions were inconsistent throughout the game, was yards away from the incident but chose to wave play on. Everton’s dismay was made worse soon after as Sunderland opened the scoring. Jack Colback passed a short free-kick to Phil Bardsley, who was then allowed to steady himself before firing a powerful effort low into the bottom corner of Tim Howard’s net. The time that Bardsley was afforded on the ball was remarkable considering his noted ability to score from such opportunities, epitomising how the hosts had been unable to match Sunderland’s enthusiasm and vigour
• Tim Cahill scored only his second goal of the season • O’Neill looking to end his club’s 39 year trophyless spell
during the game’s opening 15 minutes. For all of Sunderland’s dynamism in their build up to play they weren't able to convert their exuberance into goal-scoring opportunities and Everton found themselves level after 23 minutes. Leighton Baines sent a crisp ball into the box from the left to find Nikica Jelavic, whose headed effort appeared to be going wide. Tim
Cahill was swift to intervene and exemplified all of his wiliness to guide the header beyond Simon Mignolet for Everton’s equaliser. The goal proved to be the boost in confidence that Everton had so urgently needed and they sprung into life to finish the half strongly. Sylvain Distin sliced an effort wide from close range after Mignolet’s weak punch from a Cahill header was met
Liverpool FC: The season so far Simon Blank Liverpool Football Club has had a season of mixed success. On the one hand, one cup already won, another still achievable and some good football played that hasn’t always
been rewarded with the right results. Yet, these impressive performances in the domestic cups cannot and should not mask what, on the face of it, has been a disappointing Premier League campaign. At the moment, Liverpool lie 10 points behind 4th placed Arsenal. What looked like being a close-fought
battle that would go right down to the wire between 4 prominent clubs in the race for 4th has seen a slight chasm emerge between Arsenal and Chelsea and Newcastle and Liverpool. Any realistic ambitions Liverpool had about finishing in that much coveted Champions League spot may have been extinguished when Robin Van
by the Frenchman inside the box. Soon after, Mignolet was well beaten by Drenthe's thunderous long-range free-kick, only for the Dutchman's effort to skim off the woodwork. The opening stages of the 2nd half offered the visitors no reprieve from Everton pressure. Cahill’s shot forced a scrambling save from Mignolet before Jelavic headed narrowly over the target with a glancing header.
Persie scored a wonderful late winner for Arsenal at Anfield in which the away side took all 3 points in a 2-1 win. It was always a game Liverpool perhaps had to win, could only just afford a draw, and could not think about losing. Arsenal players will admit it was a smash and grab and Liverpool’s performance on the day certainly didn’t warrant their cruel fate but that’s football and only further exemplified their lack of ruthlessness and cutting edge which... Continues on page 25...
order to prevent the shot finding the bottom corner. The rebound fell to Jelavic deep inside the box but the Belgian ‘keeper was not to be beaten and repositioned himself instantly to block the shot and deny Everton a return to Wembley. Mignolet’s fine piece of goalkeeping concluded the action as Sunderland’s boisterous supporters took great delight in hearing Marriner’s final whistle. They had good reason to, as not only did they survive a 2nd half in which Everton’s constant pressure failed to penetrate their dogged defence but the replay will see Stephane Sessegnon and Lee Cattermole return from suspension, making O’Neill’s side an even more daunting obstacle for Everton. For Everton the outcome of the match can only be viewed with disappointment in consideration to their domination of the 2nd half. Additionally Moyes will now face further criticism over his contentious squad rotation as the gamble to rest players in the Merseyside derby failed in its intention to ensure a swift passage into the F.A. Cup semi-finals.