everton 1-1 aet ( 3-4 pens )

Independent:

Neville spot on for Everton
Chelsea 1 Everton 1 (aet; Everton win 4-3 on penalties)
By Conrad Leach at Stamford Bridge

It is a good thing Chelsea are still in the Champions' League, because if they were not, then Carlo Ancelotti's hint yesterday that he might not stay in the job after the summer would have seemed a rather optimistic bit of forecasting.
With this exit from the FA Cup, and with the Blues out of contention for the Premier League, let alone their fight to qualify for the Champions' League next season, Roman Abramovich might have decided to call time on the Italian's 20-month tenure before spring has truly sprung.
Ancelotti saw his side take the lead in extra time and in the penalty shoot-out, but the club still suffered their first defeat in the Cup in three years, thanks to Leighton Baines's brilliant free-kick in the penultimate minute of extra time and Phil Neville's decisive effort in the shoot-out.
But Ancelotti always has FC Copenhagen. The Danes are their opponents in the first leg of the last 16 in Europe on Tuesday and progress is imperative for many reasons, not least Ancelotti's job security.
Chelsea met David Moyes's men on the rebound from their 2-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers last weekend. The Scot, who will now prepare for a home fifth round tie against Reading, said: "You have to prod people now and again and they responded. They were top notch. We've always been high energy and committed although it didn't look that last week and we were at Chelsea from the off."
Added to that, Chelsea are back in a mini-slump. After their home League defeat by Liverpool they only scraped a draw at Fulham on Monday, failing to score in either game.
Yet Frank Lampard's goal here was scant reward for dominating the two hours. Time and again the midfielder went close, as did Florent Malouda and even John Terry, while Phil Jagielka headed on to his own post. Didier Drogba, in for the ineligible Fernando Torres, always posed a threat.
And then there was the penalty that should have been. At the end of the first half of normal time Ramires was set free into the penalty area and Tim Howard raced out. The Brazilian went to ground as the two had a minor collision, but the referee, Phil Dowd, booked the midfielder for simulation. Ancelotti, and virtually everyone inside the ground, thought it was a penalty but Dowd decided he had seen a dive. From this perspective, there was enough contact to warrant a penalty.
That decision should have been redundant as Chelsea continued to test Howard and his well-organised defence. Howard's best save came after 65 minutes, when Malouda teed up Lampard whose effort was smothered. From the ensuing corner, Branislav Ivanovic's header was cleared off the line.
Nothing much changed in extra-time, beyond Lampard finally getting the reward for 104 minutes of persistence. Drogba touched down Nicolas Anelka's cross, and Lampard was free, eight yards out.
In the Cup final two years ago, Everton took the lead against Chelsea before losing. This time the pattern was reversed. Baines stepped up with a minute of extra time remaining, after Ivanovic had fouled Jagielka 22 yards out. When the left-back's effort was in mid-air it was already clear it was going to beat Petr Cech.
Cue delirium, cue penalties. Baines had his effort saved but so did Anelkawhile Ashley Cole fired over, leaving Neville to wrap things up.
"We are disappointed," said Ancelotti. "We worked hard for two hours, we created a lot of chances, we deserved to win."
Moyes was happy to take the creditfor putting Neville, not most people's choice for penalty taker, at the end of the shoot-out. He said: "I had a feeling he should go last. His experience, his nous, I thought he could handle the situation." He was right.

Attendance: 41,113
Referee: Phil Dowd
Man of the match: Baines
Match rating: 7/10


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Observer:

Phil Neville puts Everton through in FA Cup as Chelsea pay penalty
FA Cup Fourth Round replay

Chelsea 1 Lampard 104 Everton 1 Baines 119
Everton won 4-3 on penalties

Jamie Jackson at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea were European football's great runners-up in 2008. Second in the Premier League, second in the Carling Cup, and a John Terry penalty away from becoming the capital's inaugural holders of the Champions League.
Yet in Avram Grant's single season in charge the bitter disappointment was tempered for Terry and company in knowing that they would at least be back for a crack at the European Cup the following campaign.
Three years on and after this penalty shoot-out defeat in their FA Cup fourth-round replay – following the 1-1 stalemate over 120 minutes – Carlo Ancelotti faces the prospect of taking his Chelsea project from claiming the Double in his debut year in English football to a trophyless second season and the possibility of competing only in the Europa League in 2011-12.
The Italian hinted this week that this might trigger his resignation – if he was, of course, to first dodge the bullet from Roman Abramovich – and though Chelsea go to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday and are only two points from fourth position an opinion is forming that they may now finish outside the top four for the first time since Abramovich walked into the club in June 2003.
Asked if he was still confident of securing a Champions League berth Ancelotti said: "I think so. We have the possibility. We were unlucky today, the FA Cup was a very important competition for us. Now we have to look forward and keep going and prepare well [for] the next game. It is not an easy moment obviously [but] we cannot be afraid to play Copenhagen and Manchester United [on Tuesday-week] — it can be a good motivation. We have to use these days to recover well – it will not be easy."
The Italian's quest to rescue the season appeared to have struggled on courtesy of Frank Lampard's 104th-minute goal after Everton had coasted through the first half and Chelsea subsequently claimed the second. When Phil Jagielka, who had the post to thank for not scoring an own goal before the break, and John Heitinga each missed a Nicolas Anelka cross, Lampard stepped in to crack the ball beyond Tim Howard.
Before this, on an afternoon in which Didier Drogba did little to silence those who have told him Fernando Torres's £50m arrival had instantly made him a Chelsea has-been, Everton had what would have been a winner chalked off in the closing moments of normal time.
Leighton Baines, who foraged successfully throughout the game down his flank, collected the ball from a free-kick and then unloaded a right-foot shot that Petr Cech could not hold. Marouane Fellaini snaffled up the rebound to finish but the officials ruled he had been offside when following in.
When extra-time moved into the final minute the prospect that Chelsea were about to imbibe a particularly bitter pill began to emerge. Baines stepped up to curl in a left-foot free-kick that meant penalties would now decide the tie.
A showdown on the spot on a Saturday in the FA Cup is surely a collectors' item. Aiming at the goal behind which Everton's travelling support howled throughout, Lampard began the shoot-out by blasting beyond Howard. Next up was Baines, who had his effort saved by Cech to the goalkeeper's left. A Drogba boot-shuffle preceded a confident finish to Howard's left and Phil Jagielka did the same with Everton's second, which he sent beyond Cech's right.
Now came the first augury of disaster for Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka followed his miss in that 2008 Champions League final, which allowed Manchester United to claim the cup, with a lazy-looking chip that Howard stopped at half-height. Mikel Arteta's placing of the next kick to the right of Cech offered relief to David Moyes and his bench as the score was now level at 2-2. When Michael Essien and John Heitinga each coolly slotted in, Ashley Cole strode up to take the side's fifth conscious that if he missed and Everton then scored the Cup holders would be knocked out.
To the delight of Moyes he scooped his penalty over Howard's bar before Phil Neville secured victory.
Ancelotti, inevitably, was then asked who precisely had chosen Cole to take what can often be the crucial kick in the shoot-out. "I decided," the manager said. "He wanted to take a penalty. Because we try in the training session and Lampard, Drogba, Anelka, Essien and Ashley Cole were the best shooters of the penalty," Ancelotti added, reeling off the five who had taken the responsibility.
What, then, of Anelka: had he been too casual when taking his? "No. In the training session he tried a lot of times to shoot and he always scored. Obviously penalties are a lottery: sometimes you can win and sometimes you can lose. It could [still] be a very good season for us. We want to stay in the Champions League and obviously reach fourth place."
It could indeed. But Ancelotti and Chelsea need to start picking up results again. Or he could be on his way in May, along with a few of this now visibly ageing team.


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Mail:

Chelsea 1 Everton 1 AET (Everton win on penalties):

Cole and Anelka bottle it in shoot-out as Blues crash out

By Patrick Collins

As the triumphant anthems of the Mersey erupted around The Shed, the blue shirts of Chelsea slunk away to confront their crisis.
A season which started with a stylish swagger is ending in a protracted train crash. The Premier League has disappeared over the hills. The FA Cup is merely a memory. All that remains is the distant prospect of the Champions League. And Stamford Bridge is not holding its breath.
Everton deserved their celebrations, for their collective character as much as their performance. After toiling through 90 tepid minutes of normal time, they fell behind to a Frank Lampard goal in the 14th minute of extra-time, but found equality with Leighton Baines’s beautifully flighted free-kick with 70 seconds remaining.
They were behind once more after the first penalties, but their heads were up, their ambition was fierce and Phil Neville’s thumpingly emphatic final kick saw them through.
But while Everton attacked their task with spirited optimism, Chelsea could not make a similar claim. The manager, Carlo Ancelotti, made all the approved noises yesterday. He thought his team deserved to win, that they had created ‘lots of chances’ and that penalties are ‘a lottery’. He thought this could still be ‘a very good season for us’.
But, significantly, he conceded: ‘Every time the team doesn’t make the result, the manager is under pressure.’
This is the way of things at Chelsea, where the manager’s head is usually the first to roll while the players are encouraged to draw a line under their own incompetence. Certainly students of body language would have detected few signs of loyal support for Ancelotti yesterday, especially when the penalty drama unfolded.
Yet this time, the executioners might search elsewhere for their victims. In truth, they would not have far to look. John Terry looks more vulnerable than at any time in his career, an accident in waiting. We can only imagine how much injury has taken out of him, but the player who remains seems unequal to his task.
Lampard, despite the opening goal, was almost wholly irrelevant; his finishing insipid, his distribution mundane. Didier Drogba was at his self-indulgent worst, posturing and preening in a manner which mocks his talent.
And Nicolas Anelka, arriving as substitute, once again missed a crucial penalty with a flaccid swish. Pity the manager who finds himself at the mercy of their collective whims and fancies. Where Chelsea lacked serious intent, Everton exceeded their own limitations.
‘The way they set about the game was great,’ said Eveton manager David Moyes, and indeed their application was faultless.
Chelsea missed two or three acceptable chances in the first half then, on half-time, they demanded both a penalty and a red card when Tim Howard’s sprawling body was flung across the path of Ramires. Phil Dowd dismissed the protests and booked the Chelsea player for diving. Replays indicated that it was a correct decision, as well as a brave one.
Chelsea lacked both width and inspiration, and for the second half they brought on Michael Essien for the hapless John Obi Mikel. The match did not improve.
The classic which Arsenal and Barcelona played out in the same city the other evening had taught them nothing, such was the lack of respect for possession. Lampard should have won it with eight minutes remaining, but he chipped over from a dozen yards.
Then, in the final minute, Marouane Fellaini’s effort was dubiously disallowed for offside. Anelka instigated the Chelsea goal with a moment of skill out on the right touchline, producing a cross which Drogba touched on for Lampard to score. It seemed sufficient until Everton won a free-kick 20 yards out, and Baines contributed the finest touch of the entire match as he chipped the kick into the top corner.
And so to penalties, taken in front of the visiting fans. Lampard scored the first, Baines missed the second, and it seemed Chelsea might put an uncomfortable afternoon behind them. Then Anelka made a slovenly hash of the third Chelsea penalty, while the Everton takers kept their heads. The last Chelsea kick fell to Ashley Cole, who struck the kick so high and so wide that it might be travelling still.
The denouement fell to Neville, and there could have been no better choice. The old pro drove it high into the Chelsea net, far beyond Petr Cech’s right hand, and the music of the Mersey began.
There were no songs for Chelsea, merely the sound of people preparing evidence for the inquest. The easy option would be a guilty verdict on Carlo Ancelotti. But justice demands that this time the real culprits should face the consequences.

MATCH FACTS

CHELSEA (4-4-2): Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires,Lampard, Mikel (Essien 46min), Malouda (Anelka 91); Drogba,Kalou (Zhirkov 111). Subs (not used): Turnbull, Bertrand,McEachran, Sala. Booked: Malouda, Ramires.

EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Howard; Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines;Coleman, Fellani, Arteta, Osman (Heitinga 95); Cahill (Bilyaletdinov70); Beckford (Anichebe 80). Subs (not used):Mucha, Hibbert, Duffy, Baxter. Booked: Baines, Coleman,Distin, Arteta.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).
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Mirror:

Chelsea 1-1 Everton (3-4 pens)
By Gerry Cox

It is never nice having to eat humble pie, but there are two groups of people who should be tucking into it as their breakfast this morning
First, there are those who say the FA Cup has lost its magic.
Pah! Try telling that to the 6,000 travelling Everton fans who ­celebrated this famous victory wildly at the final whistle, as well as the neutrals who witnessed a cracking cup tie.
Then there are those critics who wrote off Everton after their collapse against Bolton last week.
They should take a look at the side who dumped FA Cup holders Chelsea out of the competition and proved yet again that ­Stamford Bridge holds no fear for them.
From goalkeeping hero Tim Howard through to free-kick king Leighton Baines and Phil “Captain ­Marvel” Neville, here was a side who thoroughly ­deserved to go through to a fifth round tie against ­Reading. No ­matter that Chelsea had not lost an FA Cup tie in three years. Everton’s record against the Blues is as good as anyone’s, and the only time they have lost in their past eight meetings was the 2009 FA Cup final.
Didier Drogba scored the winner then, after Louis Saha had opened the scoring for Everton – but both were ­missing yesterday. Saha had a ­hamstring strain, while Drogba WAS on the pitch – but missing everything in sight.
With new signings Fernando Torres and David Luiz ineligible, Chelsea looked back to their pre-Christmas worst.
They clearly lacked fight or guile against an Everton side who were determined to atone for letting Carlo Ancelotti’s side have a ­second chance after the original game two weeks ago.
With Marouane Fellaini ­dictating play from midfield, while Baines and Seamus Coleman were always willing to get down the flanks, Everton had plenty going for them – except a target man. Without Saha, they looked lightweight in attack, where ­Jermaine Backford was no match for John Terry.
Most of the action was in the opposite goalmouth, with Howard in ­defiant form. He made two ­terrific saves from Florent Malouda in the first-half but his most valuable ­contribution came on the stroke of half-time.
Salomon Kalou’s pass gave ­Ramires a free run on goal, and as Howard dived at his feet, the ­Brazilan tumbled. Referee Phil Dowd spotted what TV replays proved – that Howard had got out of the way and Ramires had dived over him, earning a yellow card rather than a penalty.
Howard was beaten once in normal time, when Lampard’s free-kick was headed against his own post by Phil Jagielka, but Terry hit the rebound high and wide.
With 90 minutes almost up, Everton thought they had scored the winner when Fellaini shot home from close range, but he was offside by a whisker and Chelsea took the game into extra time. It was Lampard who broke the deadlock in the 14th minute of extra time. Nicolas Anelka swung in a cross, Drogba controlled the ball with his chest and it dropped for Lampard to thump home from eight yards.
But Everton refused to give up and when Ivanovic fouled ­Jagielka, there was only one man to take the free-kick.
England full-back Baines, who smacked a beauty against Spurs earlier this season, lined up again and, though Chelsea had plenty of men in the wall, his free-kick was perfect, lifted over them and into the top corner of Cech’s goal.
That equaliser – in the 118th minute – meant the game went to penalties and the stats were definitely not in Chelsea’s favour.
And so it proved again.
Baines had his shot saved after Lampard had scored first. But then Howard saved from Anelka, who also missed in the Champions League final three years ago, to restore parity.
When Ashley Cole blazed Chelsea’s fifth penalty high over the bar, it left skipper Neville with the job of putting the ball away – and putting Chelsea out of the cup.

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Star:

CHELSEA 1 - EVERTON 1:
CARLO ANCELOTTI'S ON THE SPOT AS EVERTON GO THROUGH ON PENALTIES

By Tony Stenson

PHIL Neville put Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti’s job in further jeopardy yesterday.
The Everton skipper sparked wild celebrations after firing home a dramatic penalty in an FA Cup shoot-out that could have massive consequences at Stamford Bridge.
It makes Chelsea’s Champions League quest even more important and defeat in Copenhagen on Tuesday certainly won’t make it wonderful for Ancelotti.
Owner Roman Abramovich doesn’t do second place.
He’d have been appalled by missed penalties by Ashley Cole and Nicolas Anelka.
Cole can claim he was knocked off stride when blatantly barged by John Heitinga after he had scored to make it 3-3. The England left-back blasted high and wide but Anelka’s effort was casual, lazy almost.
Ancelotti said: “I’m very disappointed. Every time when a team loses it puts a manager under pressure. But I have the support of my players and the fans.
“Let us see what happens at the end of the season. We could still have a good one. It is, however, very important we pick ourselves up quickly as we have vital games ahead.
“I thought we deserved to win but it didn’t happen and we have to look forward. The penalty takers scored each time in training. These things happen.” Chelsea were aiming to become the first side in 125 years to win three successive FA Cups but Everton destroyed that target when Neville blasted home his penalty.
The shoot-out came thanks to Leighton Baines striking home a magnificent 20-yard equalising free-kick in the last minute of extra-time.
Everton manager David Moyes said: “It did need something special to decide this tie and Baines produced it. Then Phil’s experience and nous got us home. He usually takes our first but I said I wanted him last this time. I just had the feeling this was going to happen. Now I feel we can go all the way.
“This was Chelsea’s first defeat in almost three years in this competition so you can imagine my happiness.
“I hope we sent our 6,000 fans home with a different feeling after Bolton last week.”
Everton deserved their win. For a team that arrived without a clean sheet in 12 games, they defended well, with Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin constantly covering Didier Drogba’s movement and denying the dangerous Frank Lampard shooting opportunities.
Lots of niggling fouls happened across the pitch, making the game too stop-start, although Tim Howard was brilliant, twice making saves from Florent Malouda and denying Lampard.
After a goalless 90 minutes, Chelsea finally made the breakthrough in extra-time when Anelka beat Distin and Baines on the right and crossed. The ball deflected to Lampard, who scored his 22nd FA Cup goal for Chelsea in the 104th minute, moving to just two behind Bobby Tambling’s all-time club record.
Their proud run of 16 unbeaten FA Cup matches looked to be secure until Branislav Ivanovic needlessly gave away a free-kick in the closing minute.
Baines immediately grabbed the ball, teed it up and fired home a cracker to take the game into its epic penalty shoot-out.
Baines marred his heroics by missing Everton’s first penalty, with Petr Cech saving after Lampard had put Chelsea ahead.
Drogba added another. Jagielka replied. Then came Anelka’s dreadful effort. Michael Essien made it 3-2, before Heitinga equalised and Cole missed. Then cometh the hour, cometh the man – Captain Fantastic Neville.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Everton 1 (Everton win 4-3 on penalties)
By Duncan White

This is supposed to be Chelsea’s favourite competition. They had not lost in the FA Cup since March 2008 and won it three times in the last four seasons. This was supposed to be the release valve on the pressure that has built up at the club in a frustrating second season for Carlo Ancelotti.
This game was supposed to be won but, in a dramatic denouement to a fiercely contested game, Everton prevailed.
With a minute left of extra-time, Chelsea were home. They had fought hard against a resilient Everton, missing a series of good chances, before Frank Lampard gave them an extra-time lead.
That left many Everton players stunned, sapped of energy. They thought they had won the game themselves in the last minute of normal time, only for Marouane Fellaini to be flagged offside (he was, just) when he tapped in the rebound from Leighton Baines’ shot.
"At that stage we needed something special," admitted David Moyes. They got it.
From Chelsea's point of view they got themselves into needless trouble with the game almost over. Ancelotti turned, arms flung out in exasperation, to his coaching staff. Branislav Ivanovic, who had been excellent throughout, had given away a free-kick in an aerial challenge with Phil Jagielka just outside the box. With Phil Neville berating referee Phil Down to get Michael Essien 10 yards from the ball, Baines, with Buddhist calm, curled the ball up over the wall and down into the top corner to force penalties.
The psychological momentum swung back and forth. Petr Cech saved Everton’s first effort – from Baines – before Tim Howard then brought his team back in by getting a glove to Nicolas Anelka’s casual effort (he took barely any run up).
Johnny Heitinga, on as a sub, celebrated furiously with the away end after making it 3-3 and, as he walked back to his team-mates, stuck his shoulder into Ashley Cole, who was understandably angry. Cole then sent a wild penalty high and wide. Neville, the Everton captain, converted nervelessly to take his team through to a fifth-round tie with Reading at Goodison on March 1.
“When we got them over after extra-time I told Steve Round [Moyes' assistant] that Phil Neville should take number five,” Moyes said. “I just had a feeling about it, that he should go last. I knew he was someone who could handle the situation.”
As his players and coaching staff sprinted to the away end to celebrate with Neville, Moyes remained dignified by the bench, shaking the hands of his opposition players. It was a revealing contrast to the lack of sportsmanship shown by Heitinga. With Baines, Fellaini and Jagielka taking the fight to Chelsea, they did not need to stoop to that kind of stuff.
It was an absorbing game. With David Luiz and Fernando Torres ineligible, it was back to the old Chelsea set up, although interestingly Ancelotti played Salomon Kalou as a second striker, sticking with a formation that would allow Torres into the team.
There were the same frustrations. With Florent Malouda constantly drifting inside and Ramires uncomfortable on the right, the champions lack width and can get snagged trying to force the ball through a crowded middle. Still, they created enough chances to win this game.
Jagielka sent a header from a Lampard free-kick against his own post in the first half, while the outstanding Howard twice denied Malouda by throwing himself at the ball and spreading his limbs.
Just before half-time Howard made his only serious error of judgement. He came hurtling out to a ball he realised he was not going to get to. Ramires got there first and pushed it past him before appearing to be clipped by the American goalkeeper. Replays showed that Howard had pulled out of the challenge but that there still might have been slight contact. Ramires did not help himself by clearly throwing himself to the floor. Dowd booked the Brazilian for diving.
Chelsea began to dominate around the hour mark. Lampard headed a Drogba free-kick wide while Ivanovic shot against Kalou with the goal clear. Howard was still performing heroics, sticking out his right boot to deny Lampard in the save of the game.
Lampard kept going and going and, just before the break in extra-time, finally got his goal. Anelka, on as a substitute, left Baines and Sylvain Distin for dead and got to the by-line and crossed for Drogba. He in turn chested down the ball to Lampard to finish. It looked too far back for Everton from that. Baines and Neville had other ideas.


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