F.A. Cup Review – 6th Round

Last Updated : 12-Mar-2001 by
After a cagey opening the game sprang to life moments before half time when Steve Brown fired in a swerving 25 yarder which brought the best out of Simon Royce in the Leicester goal. Five minutes after the break Wycombe took the lead when Paul McCarthy headed home from a Brown free kick.

Leicester continued to struggle to break down Wycombe’s dogged defence unitl the 68th minute when Darren Eadie made a break down the left before firing over an inch perfect cross, which Muzzy Izzet gleefully turned into the net.

Wycombe fought back from that setback to be denied what appeared to be a clear penalty when City midfielder Stefan Oakes handled the ball inside the penalty area with just eleven minutes left.

Then deep into injury time came the moment that stunned the home fans. Danny Bulman floated a free-kick to the far post where veteran defender Jamie Bates headed back into the middle for substitute Roy Essendoh (pictured with assistant manager Terry Gibson) to claim his place in Wycombe folklore by heading the winner.

Blackburn Rovers received their just desserts at Highbury where they were easily swept aside by an imperious Arsenal side who barely broke into a sweat as they cruised to an easy victory. Manager Graham Souness decided an F.A. Cup quarterfinal was a good time to rest several first teamers and as a result Rovers offered little in the way of resistance.

By the fifth minute Arsenal were two goals to the good courtesy of Wilford and Adams and the match was over as a contest when Robert Pires added a third in the 36th minute. The rest of the game was of academic interest as Rovers were just not good enough to trouble the Arsenal defence.

In Sunday’s matches the Merseyside derby at Prenton Park saw giant killers Tranmere finally meet their match in the form of Liverpool although they made their more illustrious neighbours fight every inch of the way.

Liverpool took the lead in the 11th minute with their first serious attack when Danny Murphy was left free to head home a Michael Owen cross at the far post. Liverpool doubled their lead on the half hour mark when Owen ran clear of the Tranmere defence before slipping the ball past Achterberg.

Tranmere dragged them selves back into the game with a Steve Yates goal immediately after the break. Seven minutes later Liverpool restored their two-goal advantage when Steven Gerrard powered a header home from a McAllister corner.

Tranmere then brought on Wayne Allison in a last throw of the dice and within minutes of his arrival on the pitch he had slotted home a second goal for Tranmere to put the game back into the melting pot.

However try as they might Tranmere couldn’t force an equaliser and ten minutes from time Liverpool sealed their victory with a breakaway goal from Fowler.

In the all London tie at Upton Park it was Spurs who came out on top. On a pitch that resembled a paddy field in places record signing Sergei Rebrov paid back a large slice of his transfer fee by netting a brace of goals for Tottenham.

He opened the scoring with a left foot volley when he was left unmarked in the penalty area. A Stuart Pearce special from a free kick brought the Hammers level in the 31st minute.

Tottenham always looked the more likely side and second half efforts from Rebrov and Doherty gave them the upper hand. Todorov reduced the arrears with seventeen minutes left on the clock but the Hammers were then denied an equaliser on several occasions by some inspired goalkeeping from Sullivan in the Tottenham goal.