Defending champion Chelsea beat Stoke 2-0 on Sunday to line up an
FA Cup semifinal against Aston Villa, which needed a second-half
hat-trick from John Carew to win 4-2 at Reading.
Frank Lampard and captain John Terry scored Chelsea's goals
at Stamford Bridge against a Stoke side which had knocked Arsenal
and Manchester City out of the competition.
Lampard fired home the first in the 35th minute with a
deflected 20-meter drive after he was set up for the shot by Terry.
In the 67th minute, Lampard's corner found Terry who scored the
second with a deflected header.
"It's never easy after a defeat like last week, we didn't
play to our standards but came back determined to put it right,"
Lampard said in reference to a 4-2 Premier League loss at home to
Manchester City. "It was a difficult game and we handled it very
well.
"Wembley is a great day out for the fans, we hold the trophy
at the minute and we want to get back there."
Trailing to two first-half strikes by Reading's Shane Long,
Villa scored three times in 11 minutes early in the second half and
Carew added a fourth from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
The result means Villa gets to return to Wembley in April,
after losing to Manchester United in the League Cup final at the
home of English football a week ago.
"It was a great spell by us just after halftime and we needed
to do something because we had played so meekly in the first half,"
said Villa manager Martin O'Neill, who said he started Carew only
because Gabriel Agbonlahor was taken ill during the morning.
"I think after all the effort that we have put in in both
cups this season, to go out as meekly as we might have done would
have been very disappointing. But I am delighted with the team, we
have showed great character."
Struggling near the relegation zone in the League
Championship, Reading had already knocked out Liverpool in the
third round of the cup and another shock appeared likely after
Long's first half goals at the Madejski Stadium.
Matt Mills jumped well to head a corner into the goalmouth
and Long was unmarked to deflect the ball past goalkeeper Brad
Friedel in the 27th minute.
Reading went further ahead just before halftime when Jimmy
Kebe broke down the right and pulled the ball back for Long to beat
Friedel from 15 meters.
But Villa hit back within two minutes of the restart when
Carew's pass was flicked on by Carlos Cuellar to Ashley Young, who
turned the ball home at the far post.
It was 2-2 in the 51st when Carew beat two defenders in the
air to meet a cross from Stewart Downing and head home, and the
Norwegian striker added the third in the 57th when he guided home a
cross from Stephen Warnock.
Reading was close to equalizing when Ivar Ingimarsson saw a
header cleared off the line by Young. But it was all over when
Carew was tripped by Ingimarsson in the area and he fired the spot
kick into the roof of the net.
In Saturday's FA Cup games, Portsmouth shrugged off some of
its financial woes and its last place in the Premier League by
reaching the other semifinal with a 2-0 victory over Burnley. It
will now play either Fulham or Tottenham, who drew 0-0 at Craven
Cottage, following Sunday's draw.
The games will be played over the weekend of April 10-11.
