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On Sunday evening, the second finalist of the famous England FA Cup was revealed - it was the London team "West Ham", who defeated the "Middlesbrough" team after intense battle and a great goal from Marlon Harewood, advancing to the final where they will meet the winner of the other semifinal, "Liverpool" club, and also securing a spot in the UEFA Cup.
0 - 1 London
78` [0 - 1] Marlon Harewood
Before the semifinal match at the neutral "Villa Park" stadium, a minute of silence was supposed to honor the memory of former "West Ham" coach John Lyall, but it did not happen as some of the club's fans decided to chant the coach's name instead of observing a moment of silence.
As the match started, despite having played UEFA Cup matches recently and having three days less rest than their opponents, "Middlesbrough" played aggressively and tried to attack the "West Ham" goal from distance with shots from Fabio Rochemback and a header by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
"West Ham" gradually found their pace, but the "Middlesbrough" team missed good opportunities. Franck Queudrue, who headed over the goal from Stewart Downing's corner, had one of the best chances. Towards the end of the half, Yossi Benayoun tried his luck with a long-range shot for London, while "Middlesbrough" suffered a blow as goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer could not continue the match after colliding with Dean Ashton due to injury.
After the break, "West Ham" recovered and pressed their opponents, but a header by D. Ashton from a corner hit the crossbar from a few meters away. "Middlesbrough" tried to counterattack, but their plays were imprecise and the long-range attempt by Nigel Reo-Coker was slightly off target.
The only goal of the match came in the 78th minute for "Middlesbrough" - after a long pass by Anton Ferdinand, D. Ashton header sent the ball to Marlon Harewood, who evaded Gareth Southgate's challenge and sent the ball into the net, putting "West Ham" ahead.
The score remained unchanged for the rest of the match, so "West Ham", who played in a lower English league last season, not only secured a spot in the FA Cup final on May 13 in Cardiff, but also secured a place in the UEFA Cup tournament for the next season.
