Apart from the exciting race for Champions League qualification, the second highlight of English football this season is the importance of the FA Cup. Even giants Man.City now have to rely on the FA Cup - the only place that can bring them the championship title this season.
Not only Man.City, 7 out of 8 teams that have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals are Premier League teams. All have ambitions to win the oldest tournament in the world that still exists. This is the highest level of the FA Cup quarter-finals (in terms of the number of Premier League teams participating) compared to the last 3 seasons. The only team that is not from the Premier League to reach the quarter-finals is Preston North End (Second Division). They have reached this stage mainly because they have not faced opponents of a higher level, since the beginning of the tournament until now.
Coach Pep Guardiola hopes Man.City will win a title this season
There was no surprise when the second-tier Plymouth Argyle took the lead away from home, but eventually lost 1-3 to the home team Man.City. Observers paid special attention to this match because if Plymouth won, it would be the biggest surprise in the history of the FA Cup. They beat Premier League team Brentford in the third round and Liverpool in the fourth round. Until opening the scoring against Man.City, Plymouth had not conceded a goal against Premier League opponents in the FA Cup this season. In the end, 19-year-old left-back Nico O'Reilly became Man.City's surprise hero, scoring two goals in a row, helping Pep Guardiola's team win 3-1. Erling Haaland passed the ball to Kevin de Bruyne to seal the score in the 90th minute, ending all hopes of Plymouth.
O'Reilly was wanted by Chelsea in the final days of the mid-season transfer window, but Man.City did not sell. Asked about this, Guardiola replied: "Sometimes you have to make the right decision." Until O'Reilly scored the second goal, Plymouth had always shown that they were capable of causing a surprise.
Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are the other teams that have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup this season. If they win just one more game, it will be a new record for Bournemouth, who have never progressed further than the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. On the one hand, Bournemouth fans are hopeful because their manager, Andoni Iraola, is considered an expert in leading small teams to success in the Spanish cup format. On the other hand, this is still a great season for Bournemouth. They are fiercely participating in the race for a Champions League place in the Premier League. In the last round, Bournemouth beat Wolverhampton in a penalty shootout, after a 1-1 draw.
Any team has the right to hope to lift the FA Cup because they only need to win 2 more matches to reach the final. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea are strong teams that have been eliminated early in this arena. It is almost certain that England will be granted a 5th place in the Champions League next season by UEFA, considering the progress of the 3 European Cups this season. If that 5th place is reserved for the team that wins the FA Cup, how exciting will the race from the quarter-finals be?
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cup-fa-bat-dau-hap-dan-18525030221240432.htm
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