FA Cup review:Daniel Sturridge ensured Chelsea remain in the FA Cup, as Birmingham held Andre Villas-Boas' side to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea made the worst possible start to their fifth-round tie when David Murphy capitalised on some poor defending to lash the ball home from close range.
Tensions were high around Stamford Bridge, with the away fans basking in their moment, aiming chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" at Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.
The introduction of Didier Drogba for Fernando Torres seemed to ignite the hosts at the break, and Sturridge equalised in the second half to the relief of the home faithful.
The Premier League side dominated possession as they searched for a winner, but they couldn't find another goal and Birmingham earned a replay at St Andrew's.
Andre Villas-Boas conceded it represented another “quite poor” result.
“It was an excellent performance in the second half though, 1-1 is not what we were expecting but it gives us another chance at Birmingham to continue trying to win the trophy," he told ESPN. “The aggression was there and the desire and ambition, but I think Birmingham matched us today in that sense.”
Asked if results would change Abramovich’s support of the current regime, Villas-Boas said: “No, it’s not conditional.”
Birmingham boss Chris Hughton was pleased with his side’s efforts against top-flight opponents and is not concerned about adding a replay to an already congested fixture list.
“We had to cope with a couple of things today, none more so than a very, very good Chelsea team,” Hughton said. “But for large parts of the game we were able to cope with their problems and have our own attacks. This is a changing room that wants to play games, this is an exciting time to play cup competitions against Premier League sides.”
Chelsea and Birmingham will be joined in the hat for tomorrow afternoon's quarter-final draw by Leicester City, who stunned Premier League Norwich2-1 at Carrow Road thanks to David Nugent's second-half strike.
Canaries captain and fomer Shelboure midfielder Wes Hoolahan earlier slotted home an equaliser from the rebound after his spot-kick had been saved by Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, that goal cancelling out Republic of Ireland defender Seán St Ledger’s opener.
Leicester manager Nigel Pearson hailed the performance of Nugent afterwards.
“Nugent is so confident. He plays with a smile on his face,” Pearson sad. “He is a very positive influence and his work-rate is exceptional. He is a very popular player in the team and today he showed the quality he has got. We played with a lot of discipline and desire and didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Nugent, who won one England cap in 2007, played for Portsmouth when they beat Cardiff in the FA Cup final in 2008 and Pearson, whose side are mid-table in
the Championship, admits there will be some players and fans dreaming of Wembley again.
“This is still a very prestigious competition,” said Pearson. “When you get to the latter stages you start dreaming you can be successful.”
Norwich manager Paul Lambert admitted he had no complaints with the result.
“We didn’t do enough. Leicester deserved to go through and good luck to them. We never performed,” he said.
Lambert, whose side lie eighth in the Premier League and have all but guaranteed survival this season, refused to blame the defeat on a weakened side, having made four changes from the team which beat Swansea away last weekend. But he insisted the Premier League had been top of his priorities.
“It (the cup defeat) will be a blessing in disguise if we stay in the league,” he said. “No-one would pat us on the back if we got to the quarter-finals of the cup and got relegated. I don’t think the FA Cup is a discredited competition. But I wouldn’t have wanted to do well in the FA Cup and get relegated at the end of the season.
“I picked a team I thought would win and that’s my fault.”
There were no such worries for Evertonor Boltonagainst npower Championship opposition, though, the top-flight clubs securing 2-0 wins over Blackpooland Millwall, respectively.
Royston Drenthe fired home in the first minute for the Toffees at Goodison Park before Denis Stracqualursi was the quickest to react in a goalmouth scramble to double their lead five minutes later. Kevin Phillips missed a late penalty for the Tangerines.
Ireland's Séamus Coleman played 30 minutes as he continued his comeback from injury, having not featured for the the first team since December.
Bolton appeared to enjoy the distraction of the cup as they clinched their place in the quarter-finals at the New Den.
Arsenal loanee Ryo Miyaichi showed strength, speed and great composure to curl the ball into the far corner in the fourth minute and David Ngog gave them breathing space with a second goal just before the hour.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle was full of praise for Miyaichi.
“His second-half performance against Wigan last week was terrific, and from that moment there was no doubt he was going to start today,” he said. “He showed what a talent he is. There’s other stuff he can learn, but he’s brave and tough — he stood up to some of the treatment he got today — and he always plays with a smile on his face, which I absolutely love.”
Coyle revealed he has been a long-term admirer of the precocious 19-year-old and was determined to bring him in on loan from Arsenal.
“First and foremost I am a football fan and I want to be excited by some of the players I’ve got in my team, and Ryo Miyaichi certainly does that,” he said. "In football terms he is a baby, a kid. I saw when Arsenal brought him in and then watched him on loan at Feyenoord last year, and he always caught my eye.
“I spoke to Arsene a few times about him and did everything I could to get him to the football club.”
The performance pleased Coyle who was expecting a tough match.
“I know from both my playing and coaching days how difficult any cup tie can be,” he said. “I’ve been an underdog many, many times. I think we started well. It probably took Millwall 15 or 20 minutes to get into the game, but when they did they had a few corners and a bit of pressure.
“We stood up to what was always going to be a difficult test. We defended well - Tim Ream had a terrific debut.”
