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French connection Henry, Wiltord sink F.A. Cup champion Chelsea
Updated: Monday February 19, 2001 4:38 AM
LONDON (AP) -- Arsenal defeated Chelsea 3-1 and Liverpool won 4-2 over Manchester City as the two Premier League powers reached the quarterfinals of the F.A. Cup on Sunday. Arsenal picked up two goals from Sylvain Wiltord and another from fellow French international Thierry Henry. Liverpool delighted a sellout at Anfield with strikes from Jari Litmanen, Emile Heskey, Vladimir Smicer and Markus Babbel. Before a sellout at Highbury in north London, Wiltord notched the winner in the 74th as he took a long, nearly pitch-length pass, and then arched an off-balance right-footed shot over Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. Nine minutes later, Wiltord got the clincher as he came free in the area and hammered home a cross pass from 10 meters (yards). After a scoreless first half, Henry gave the Gunners the lead on a 52nd-minute penalty. But Chelsea's Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink equalized in the 62nd with Uruguay's Gustavo Poyet providing the key pass.
Manchester City was never in the match as Litmanen scored on a penalty in the 7th minute with Heskey making it 2-0 just six minutes later. Andrei Kanchelskis got Man City within one in the 29th before Smicer struck on a penalty in the 54th with the German international Babbel knocking home a header five minutes from the end. Shaun Goater scored Man City's final goal in the last minute. There were few surprises on Saturday in the other six matches with three Premier League teams reaching the quarterfinals: West Ham, Leicester and Tottenham. West Ham won 1-0 at Premier rival Sunderland, Leicester was an easy 3-0 victor at home over second-division Bristol City, and Tottenham slammed division-one Stockport 4-0. Saturday's other three fifth-round matches wound up in draw to force replays: first-division clubs Bolton and Blackburn drew 1-1, Southampton drew with first-division Tranmere 0-0, and second-division Wycombe rallied to tie first-division Wimbledon 2-2. In Sunday's draw for the quarterfinals it's: Southampton or Tranmere vs. Liverpool, Leicester vs. Wycombe or Wimbledon, West Ham vs. Tottenham, Arsenal vs. Bolton or Blackburn. In Saturday's best match, French striker Frederic Kanoute, after missing several early chances, scored in the 76th minute on a 20-meter (yard) shot as West Ham won at Sunderland 1-0. West Ham, which last won a major trophy 21 years ago - the F.A. Cup, deserved the victory and is the sentimental favorite after ousting powerful Manchester United in the fourth round. Kanoute took a through pass breaking across midfield and then beat Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen as he came far out of the goalmouth to play the angle. In Scotland, Rangers got two goals from Tore Andre Flo and another from Barry Ferguson to defeat Ross Country 3-2 in the fourth-round of the Scottish Cup Sunday. On Saturday, Dundee United and Hibernian advanced with four other matches ending in draw to force replays. Third-division Peterhead also moved on after getting a forfeit victory over first-division Airdrie. Airdrie has declared bankruptcy and has only a half-dozen players under contract as its face extinction. In all Scottish Cup fourth-round games: Hearts 2, Dundee 2; Inverness 1, Kilmarnock 1; Livingston 0, Aberdeen 0; Motherwell 0, Dundee United 2; Dunfermline 2, Celtic 2; Stirling 2, Hibernian 3.
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