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Romance dies Arsenal, Liverpool win to make FA Cup final
Updated: Sunday April 08, 2001 5:47 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Arsenal, with the winning goal from Robert Pires, defeated Tottenham 2-1 Sunday to reach the FA Cup final. Liverpool got the other berth with a 2-1 victory over second-division Wycombe on late goals by Emile Heskey and Robbie Fowler. Arsenal and Liverpool will square off in the final on May 12 in Cardiff, Wales, for the third time with Arsenal having won the first two in 1971 and 1950. Arsenal has won the cup seven times and Liverpool five. Arsenal last won the FA Cup in 1998 and Liverpool in 1992. Liverpool has already won England's No. 2 cup this season -- the League Cup -- with a victory in February over first-division Birmingham City. The Reds are also into the second-leg semifinals of the UEFA Cup against Barcelona after a 0-0 draw last week in the first leg. In Arsenal's win at Old Trafford in Manchester, Pires got the winner in the 74th as he sidefooted a shot home on a cross from fellow Frenchman Sylvain Wiltord. The Gunners outplayed and outshot Tottenham throughout the 67,000 sellout at Old Trafford. However, the early lead went to Tottenham on a 14th-minute header from Gary Doherty, which sent Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle leaping off the bench in his first match leading Spurs. Arsenal's French international Patrick Vieira equalized in the 33rd on an 8-meter (yard) bouncing header off a Pires free kick. Tottenham defender Sol Campbell gave away the free kick and injured his ankle on the play, forcing him to leave the match just seconds before the scoring play -- leaving Spurs with 10 players on the pitch. The Gunners, who are headed for a second-place finish in the league behind Manchester United, could pull off a double this season by also winning Europe's most important club trophy -- the Champions League. Arsenal takes a 2-1 lead into the Champions League second-leg quarterfinals in 10 days at Spanish side Valencia. "We made it the hard way," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. "We were creating chance after chance and after 20 minutes we were one-nil down." "Unfortunately, we missed chance after chance and you wonder always if you will not pay for that at the end of the game. But we scored the second goal, and then it was all over." Hoddle was openly disappointed, admitted Arsenal was a stronger team, but said "circumstances went against us." "Things have gone against us a little bit today," said Hoddle, who said Campbell went off with an injured right ankle -- not a re-injury of his troublesome left ankle. "I didn't think it warranted a booking. Whilst he was off the pitch they went and scored. ... That got them back into the game." Arsenal outshot Tottenham 22-8 with 11 of those shots on target. Only four Tottenham shots were on target with Spurs' goalkeeper Neil Sullivan making a half-dozen key saves. Tottenham has won the FA Cup eight times with the last trophy coming in 1991. Tottenham has had uncanny luck winning league and cup titles in years ending with "1" -- but not this year. In the driving rain at Villa Park in Birmingham, Wycombe's defense and goalkeeper Martin Taylor thwarted Liverpool until Heskey scored on a header in the 78th. Five minutes later, Fowler struck home of a free kick with Keith Ryan adding a late goal from the losers. Wycombe manager Lawrie Sanchez scored the winning goal in the 1988 FA Cup final to give Wimbledon a 1-0 over Liverpool. This Liverpool was a bit too good. As Sanchez noted, Liverpool striker Michael Owen's salary of 3 million pounds (US$4.5 million) matches his team's sales figures for a season. "We did the best we could," said Sanchez. "For 75 minutes we were in the game." "They are a class apart, the free kick showed that," Sanchez added. "But we came here and for 75 minutes we were in a game. Fowler, the author of the free kick, saluted the modest second-division side. "To be fair, every one of their players performed magnificently. They made us fight until the final whistle." Wycombe's loss left the record in place - no team from outside England's top two divisions have ever made the FA Cup final. Wycombe had never been beyond the third round of the FA Cup until this season. Liverpool could be exhausted by the time it reaches next month's final. The Reds are in the midst of playing three games in six days and manager Gerard Houllier complained bitterly last week when the England Football Association refused to postpone Tuesday's league match with Ipswich. In Scotland, Rangers drew 0-0 with Hibernian a day after Celtic claimed the Scottish Premier League title with five games to spare. Rangers trail Celtic by 21 points in second place. Hibs trail the leaders by 27 points in third place. Everton increase Manchester City's woeLONDON -- Manchester City's hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a serious blow on Sunday when they lost 3-1 at fellow strugglers Everton in the day's only Premier League game. Jeff Whitley gave the visitors a ninth-minute lead but Everton were in front by half time thanks to goals by Duncan Ferguson and Michael Ball. David Weir's header made it 3-1 six minutes from time before Everton's Alessandro Pistone and City striker Paul Dickov were red-carded. The result means Everton move up a place to 14th on 38 points. City stay second bottom on 27 points, four points adrift of fourth-bottom Middlesbrough, who have a game in hand. Wenger: Arsenal risked sucker punchMANCHESTER -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had feared his side would get caught with a sucker punch. Arsenal dominated the match and created 22 chances, but it took 73 minutes before Robert Pires finally put them in front. Earlier Gary Doherty had given Spurs a surprise lead only for Patrick Vieira to level before half-time. "We had an outstanding game but we made it difficult for ourselves,' said Wenger. "Even when we were 1-0 down though I was still sure we would win. We upped the pace, dictated the game and had chance after chance. "The frustrating thing was that the quality was there but we didn't score. "It was frustrating to watch as I've been in football long enough to know that you can lose this type of game." Wenger added: "In the second half it was a question of taking out time without making mistakes at the back. "But that's when it helps to have experience at the back. They didn't rush it, they didn't panic and kept their shape well." Wenger said Vieira's powerful display in the heart of Arsenal's midfield was key to the win. "Even when Patrick is tired he has an inner strength that allows him to find the resources to be decisive," he added. "In his position, he is the best player in England." Spurs manager Glenn Hoddle felt his side's chance of winning the game ended when skipper Sol Campbell limped off the field with an ankle injury in the 34th minute. He was off the pitch when Vieira headed home the leveler from a right flank free-kick. "Once Sol went off there were more holes for them to go into and attack," said Hoddle. The Spurs manager, in charge for the first time since leaving Southampton, claimed his side were hamstrung by a recent run of injuries coming into the game. "We had four or five players that wouldn't have played if it was not a semifinal," the former England coach said. "There were players that came into the side after five weeks out without even a reserve game." But Hoddle admitted his team did not deserve to win the match. They have now lost four FA Cup semifinals in a row. "We are bitterly disappointed in that dressing room. Semifinals are all about winning," he said. "I have no real complaints. We didn't play well enough to win the game, but in cup football it's not always the team that deserves it that wins."
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