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On Sunday, the last four matches of the fourth round of the FA Cup were played. "Chelsea", "W.B.A", and "Man City" confidently advanced to the quarterfinals, while "Arsenal", who has been demonstrating good sporting form lately, failed to defeat "Bolton", a team climbing up the Premier League standings, and will have to replay the match.
At the beginning of the second half, "Bolton" took the lead when Kevin Nolan redirected the ball into the goal after Kevin Davies' shot - pass. Soon after a beautiful combination with N. Anelka, K. Nolan could have doubled the score from a few meters, but Arsenal's goalkeeper Manuel Almunia played excellently and eliminated the danger.
The goal awakened "Arsenal" and they began to play more actively. Their frequent attacks finally bore fruit in the 78th minute when defender Kolo Toure scored with a header after a penalty kick. The draw meant that the two teams will meet again, this time at "Bolton" stadium, where Arsenal has suffered three defeats in the last 14 months.
In London, "Chelsea" hosted the legendary team "Nottingham Forest", currently playing in the third tier league.
The Blues started the match very actively and soon scored a goal. In the 9th minute, Andriy Shevchenko's shot deflected off opponent John Curtis, changed direction, and found its way into the goal. In the 18th minute, Didier Drogba doubled the score with a long-range shot, and in the 46th minute, John Obi Mikel settled all doubts. "Forest" looked miserable in this match - they only controlled the ball for 27% of the time, had only one shot on goal, and did not earn a single corner kick.
"Southampton" scored the opening goal in their away match against "Man City" but later conceded three goals without reply and had to admit defeat.
In the clash of two Championship division teams with aspirations to return to the Premier League, "W.B.A" easily defeated "Wolves" 3-0 away. Particularly impressive was the first goal, scored by Diomansy Kamara from almost 40 meters away.
Statistics:
"Wolves" 0 - 3 "W.B.A" 44‘ [0 - 1] Diomansy Kamara 49‘ [0 - 2] Kevin Phillips 78‘ [0 - 3] Zoltan Gera
"Chelsea" 3 - 0 "Nottingham Forest" 9‘ [1 - 0] Andriy Shevchenko 18‘ [2 - 0] Didier Drogba 46‘ [3 - 0] John Obi Mikel
"Man City" 3 - 1 "Southampton" 23‘ [0 - 1] Kenwyne Jones 26‘ [1 - 1] Darius Vassell 47‘ [2 - 1] Joey Barton 70‘ [3 - 1] DaMarcus Beasley
"Arsenal" 1 - 1 "Bolton" 50‘ [0 - 1] Kevin Nolan 78‘ [1 - 1] Kolo Toure
On Saturday, the first 12 matches of the fourth round took place. It was revealed that two more matches will need to be replayed - between "Bristol City" and "Middlesbrough" and between "Blackpool" and "Norwich".
