That noise you could hear at 6.40pm on Sunday evening was the collective sigh from neutrals across the country, as Manchester City were paired with Manchester United or Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals. That means that either Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers or Millwall will appear in this season's final. A fantastic achievement for one of those teams, but we're not going to get the showpiece game we all wanted and the competition arguably needs.
The same thing happened two years ago when Manchester United played Manchester City and Stoke City took on Bolton Wanderers in the last four. We were left with a second-rate final which in all honesty stank the place out and was overshadowed by United wrapping up the Barclays Premier League title anyway. At least it shuts up those people who think the draw is fixed by using hot and cold balls. Believe me, I have heard more than one person tell me their opinion on it!
There are previous examples of 'showpiece' finals and 'underdog' finals in recent history which came about following the two remaining favourites avoiding or not avoiding each other, and often they produce games very different from what we expect. Chelsea beat Manchester United after extra time in the first final at the new Wembley in 2007, in one of the most forgettable finals of living memory after avoiding each other in the semi-finals which also featured Blackburn - then still a Premier League side - and Watford. The previous season's semi-final draw put Liverpool together with Chelsea when most neutrals wanted that as the final. The final we did get - Liverpool v West Ham - was one of the best FA Cup finals in many years, and arguably the best I have ever seen in my lifetime, so maybe I shouldn't be so disappointed I won't get a Manchester derby final after all!
One problem the FA now has is to determine when United and Chelsea will play their 6th round replay. Millwall face Blackburn on Wednesday following their goalless draw on Sunday, but Chelsea's Europa League tie at home to Steaua Bucharest means that it isn't a possibility for the United replay to also take place this week. Next week is the International break, and the following week sees the quarter-finals of the Europa League, a competition which Chelsea still have every chance of being involved in. This sort of fixture congestion is great evidence for those who want done with Cup replays. For me, it could have been avoided, and I don't see any problem with both teams agreeing before the tie whether or not to play extra time and penalties on the original day. A compromise I could live with in future years is to only have a replay after extra time, rather than after 90 minutes.
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