On an interesting afternoon of FA Cup fifth-round action Brighton & Hove Albion kicked us off by booking their ticket in the quarter-finals with a routine 2-1 win over Derby County.
It was looking like a comfortable victory for Chris Hughton at the Falmer Stadium after first-half strikes from both Anthony Knockaert and Jurgen Locadia, but a late Ashley Cole goal gave Derby some hope, though it would ultimately prove a consolation.
Up next AFC Wimbledon will look to continue their fantastic run in the comeptition, channeling their inner Crazy Gang spirit and try to pull off an upset against Millwall at the Kingsmeadow.
Finally, in the later fixture, Manchester City will travel to the unfamiliar terrain of Rodney Parade and lock horns with Newport County, who are hopeful of pulling off another giantkilling in this competition.
With that considered, what FA Cup action might you have missed this afternoon?
1. Mixed return for Cole
After 1847 days Ashley Cole made his long-awaited return to FA Cup action, coming on as a half-time substitute for Scott Malone against the Seagulls – and he marked the occasion with his first goal for the club.
Seven-time FA Cup winner Ashley Cole has scored in the competition for the first time in his career.
Incredible scenes.
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The veteran left-back joined former Chelsea and England teammate Frank Lampard in Derbyshire until the end of the campaign and made his competitive debut as a last minute sub against Hull last week.
The eight-time FA Cup finalist didn’t look out of place against the South Coast Premier League outfit, and he made his fairytale return by scoring his first goal in English football since September 2012.
Coincidentally the last time the 38-year-old featured in this competition, it was alongside Lampard for Chelsea against Stoke in 2014.
2. Home comfort for Locadia
Locadia netted the second of the match in the dying embers of the first-half, keeping his line, and reacting quickest after Yves Bissouma’s curling effort deflected off the far post, and as a result, the Dutchman netted his fifth goal across all competitions for the club, all of which have come on home turf.
There was huge expectation when Locadia arrived from PSV Eindhoven for a then-club record transfer in January 2018, but the 25-year-old has so far failed to justify his £15m price tag.
This was just Locadia’s third goal of the season and his first of 2019, with his previous two goals coming in consecutive Premier League matches against Arsenal and Everton in the December.
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3. Consecutive quater-finals
This is just the fourth occasion Brighton have reached the FA Cup quarter-final in the club’s history, and it follows up after they achieved the same feat this time last season.
Prior to the club’s quarter-final fixture against Manchester United last season – which they lost 2-0 – Brighton had not featured in that stage of the competition for over 30 years, with their other appearances coming in the 1982/83 season and the 1985/86 season.
This will, therefore, be seen as quite an achievement for Hughton who has not only established Brighton as a consistent Premier League side, but has not primarily set his focus on top-flight survival and really given domestic cup competitions a real go.
4. First-half blank costs Lampard
Of the four matches Derby contested in the FA Cup this season, they failed to score a single goal in the first-half, despite netting four times against Southampton across two fixtures.
The Rams have made a name for themselves as something of a second-half specialist this season, so Brighton would not have resting on their laurels during the half-time interval.
Earlier in the campaign the Saints found themselves two up against Lampard’s side, but Derby fought back and secured a 2-2 draw on both occasions; in fact, their last four FA Cup goals have now come in the final 15 minutes.
Derby continued to demonstrate their intensity and verve in the latter stages of matches, but sooner or later Derby’s goal shy first-half form would always come back to haunt them.
The post Ashley Cole marks return with first Derby goal: The FA Cup action you might have missed appeared first on Squawka News.
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