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On Sunday, three more matches were played in the English Football Association Cup. A somewhat unexpected result was recorded in Newcastle, where the local club narrowly defeated the not-so-strong Chelsea.
In the other matches, Premier League clubs Tottenham and Blackburn failed to show superiority against teams from lower leagues, so the matches will have to be replayed.
The match between Newcastle and Chelsea started actively, and already in the 4th minute, the first goal was scored. The Dutchman P. Kluivert, not experiencing the best times, headed the ball into the net after a superb pass from L. Roberto. Later, both teams exchanged several quite dangerous opportunities, but the score remained unchanged. It is worth mentioning that Newcastle last eliminated a London club from the cup competition in 1932.
In the second half, J. Mourinho made three substitutions right away - E. Gudjohnsen, F. Lampard, and D. Duff came on instead of Geremi, J. Cole, and Tiago. However, after a few minutes, the coach had to pay for his somewhat adventurous decision - defender W. Bridge had to leave the field and the team after suffering a serious injury in the tenth minute. He will probably not appear on the field this season.
Nevertheless, even with fewer players, the Londoners played quite actively and had several opportunities to score. However, the final hope of Abramovich's club to reach the equalizer in the 90th minute was crushed by a rough play by the visitors' goalkeeper C. Cudicini. The Italian was sent off the field for the mistake, and defender G. Johnson had to take his place in the goal. Newcastle successfully played the remaining time and secured the victory.
In the other matches, Blackburn couldn't break through the strong defense of Burnley and ended the match goalless. Meanwhile, Tottenham took the lead against Nottingham Forest thanks to a goal by J. Defoe in the 45th minute, but the visitors managed to equalize the score in the 56th minute.
All Sunday's results:
Chelsea 1 - 0
4' [1 - 0] Patrick Kluivert
90' Carlo Cudicini sent off ("Chelsea")
Nottingham Forest 1 - 1
45' [1 - 0] Jermaine Defoe
56' [1 - 1] Gareth Taylor
Burnley 0 - 0
