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FA Cup semifinal draw: Manchester City gets Brighton

By Nicholas MendolaMar 17, 2019, 1:03 PM EDT
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The all-Premier League semifinals of the FA Cup are set.

Manchester City’s next obstacle in pursuit of a quadruple is Brighton and Hove Albion, while seventh-place rivals Watford and Wolves will duel for the other spot in the FA Cup Final.

[ RECAP: Brighton beats Millwall in PKs ]

The semifinals will be played April 6, and the Final is May 18. All three matches will be played at Wembley Stadium.

This will be the first FA Cup Final without Manchester United, Chelsea, or Arsenal in the fixture since 2013, when Wigan Athletic stunned Man City 1-0 through a Ben Watson stoppage time goal.

Manchester United shocked by Wolves in FA Cup quarterfinals

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By Kyle BonnMar 16, 2019, 6:18 PM EDT
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed a stunning start to his Manchester United tenure. Now, he might just be facing his first period of adversity.

A quickfire double for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final 20 minutes doomed the Red Devils to a 2-1 defeat at Monlieux as Raul Jiminez and Diogo Jota each found the back of the net.

Manchester United held 61% of the possession throughout the match, but they struggled mightily up front, creating just two shots on target out of their 11 total efforts. Wolves, meanwhile, generated 17 total shots with seven on target despite the significant possessional disadvantage.

Wolves opened the scoring with a fabulous turn-and-fire from Jiminez who picked up the ball atop the penalty spot after United failed to clear and found a way past David De Gea.

Manchester United could not find a response, and instead Wolves put the game to bed with 14 minutes to go as Jota caught the Red Devils way too far out in front. Jota on the fast break shook Luke Shaw aside and found himself free on goal, finishing expertly with the left foot to double the lead.

While Manchester United got a consolation from Marcus Rashford deep into stoppage time, it was too little too late for the Red Devils. It’s the first losing streak of Solskjaer’s career as Manchester United boss, having lost last time out against Arsenal in Premier League play.

They next take on Watford in Premier League play after the international break, followed by another meeting with Wolves, this time in league play.

Live, FA Cup: Man City, Man United in quarterfinal action

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By Joe Prince-WrightMar 16, 2019, 1:19 PM EDT
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Manchester City and Manchester United are both in FA Cup quarterfinal action on Saturday, as the Manchester clubs have two very different tests.

[ LIVE: Follow all the FA Cup scores here ]

Pep Guardiola and City are expected to breeze past second-tier Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium (kick off, 1:20 p.m. ET) as their quest for the quadruple continues.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Man United have a much tougher task as they head to Molinuex to play high-flying Wolverhampton Wanderers (kick off, 3:55 p.m. ET) for a spot in the semifinals.

Click on the link above to follow all of the action live, while we will have you covered for analysis and reaction on both games right here at Pro Soccer Talk.

Premier League Club Power Rankings: Week 30

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsMar 13, 2019, 1:20 PM EDT
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Little has changed at the top, or the bottom, of the Premier League, but the middle of the table — and power rankings — is as tight as could be…

[ MORE: Pep Guardiola loving life as “bold” Man City advances in UCL ]

20. Huddersfield Town — This is a side that is only still a PL club on a procedural technicality. Just give it time.
Last week: 19
Season high: 16
Season low: 20

19. Fulham — See above: Town, Huddersfield.
Last week: 20
Season high: 11
Season low: 20

18. Burnley — Now the eight-game unbeaten run (five wins) is over, it’s been three straight defeats. The Clarets are now just two points clear of the relegation zone (again).
Last week: 17
Season high: 13
Season low: 20

17. Cardiff City — The third side currently occupying a relegation place. The Bluebirds won last weekend, so they get a slight bump in power rankings. It wasn’t, however, enough to move them up in the real-life table.
Last week: 18
Season high: 13
Season low: 20

16. Southampton — Maintained a gap — two points — between themselves and Cardiff by coming back to beating third-place Tottenham.
Last week: 16
Season high: 13
Season low: 20

15. Crystal Palace — Recent form has been decent enough, but a loss to Brighton means they must sit at least one place below the Seagulls in this week’s power rankings.
Last week: 11
Season high: 6
Season low: 17

14. Brighton and Hove Albion — Indeed, Brighton sit one place above Palace. Following back-to-back wins, Chris Hughton‘s side is now five points clear of the drop zone.
Last week: 15
Season high: 9
Season low: 19

13. Bournemouth — Took the free space on their bingo card by beating Huddersfield, snapping a five-game unbeaten run (four losses) in the process.
Last week: 12
Season high: 6
Season low: 14

12. Everton — Just one win in their last six league games (four losses), and the Toffees are teetering on the brink of a freefall (down the power rankings, at least).
Last week: 10
Season high: 5
Season low: 15

11. Newcastle United — Returned to winning ways by knocking off Everton and have won three of four. Remember when we were talking about the Magpies and relegation in the same breath? Well, not us, but everyone else?
Last week: 14
Season high: 11
Season low: 19

10. Leicester City — 10th in the real-life table, 10th in the power rankings. Similarly to Bournemouth, beating Fulham isn’t anything to write home about.
Last week: 13
Season high: 7
Season low: 13

9. West Ham United — With the two sides directly in front of them in the table dropping points last week, the Hammers could have gained ground on 8th and 7th. Instead, they lost 2-0 to a relegation battler.
Last week: 8
Season high: 6
Season low: 20

8. Wolves — Results have turned poor(er) in recent weeks — just one win from their last five games — but maintaining early- and mid-season form for an entire campaign was never that likely to begin with.
Last week: 9
Season high: 5
Season low: 13

7. Watford — Hard to punish anyone for losing away to Man City in their current form, and it required some… uh… extenuating circumstances at that.
Last week: 7
Season high: 4
Season low: 14

6. Spurs — Panic-button time at White Hart Lane Wembley Stadium the soon-to-be new White Hart Lane. Zero wins from their last four (three losses), and their 10-point lead on Arsenal and Manchester United is now just one and three points, respectively. As it turns out, signing no new players and proceeding to run the current players into the ground all season is a bad strategy.
Last week: 5
Season high: 2
Season low: 8

5. Chelsea — Things have stabilized a bit since the embarrassing defeat to Man City, but the Blues still sit sixth in the real-life table, three points out of the Champions League places.
Last week: 4
Season high: 1
Season low: 7

4. Manchester United — The defeat to Arsenal was the first PL setback under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but it was a big one.
Last week: 3
Season high: 3
Season low: 14

3. Arsenal — Have the Gunners turned the corner under Unai Emery? They don’t have a single top-six side between now and the end of the season.
Last week: 5
Season high: 2
Season low: 9

2. Liverpool — Back to winning ways against Burnley, but the one point by which they trail Man City looms large.
Last week: 1
Season high: 1
Season low: 4

1. Manchester City — Six straight victories. Just one defeat in their last 11 league games. This is the record-setting, title-winning side of a year ago. They’ve clearly left themselves a thin margin for error, but make no mistake: they are the favorites once again.
Last week: 2
Season high: 1
Season low: 3

Hazard rescues point for Chelsea v. Wolves (video)

By Nicholas MendolaMar 10, 2019, 11:58 AM EDT
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  • Wolves score on lone shot on target
  • Jimenez nabs 6th in last seven PL matches
  • Hazard scores beauty in stoppage time
  • Chelsea remains 6th, Wolves 7th

Eden Hazard‘s vicious stoppage time strike gave Chelsea a point against visiting Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Raul Jimenez’s 12th Premier League goal for Wolves looked to have engineered a season sweep of the Blues.

Wolves take a one-point lead on Watford in the race for seventh in the Premier League, while Chelsea will finish the day at least one point back of fourth.

Wolves beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Molineux earlier this season, with Jimenez and Diogo Jota scoring in the win.

[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]

There wasn’t a lot to write home about in the sluggish first half.

Raul Jimenez was fortunate not to concede a penalty for a handball, and a Wolves handball stopped Diogo Jota’s goal from counting later in the period.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

The second half began with more invention, Gonzalo Higuain seeing a shot blocked and Eden Hazard winning a free kick a yard outside the box that David Luiz blazed off the wall for a corner.

Yet that’s when Wolves struck, Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez leading a counter attack down the right which ended with the in-form Mexican hitting a shot that deflected off Cesar Azpilicueta to beat Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Higuain then won a corner with a hard drive that was seemingly headed wide, but N'Golo Kante mishit the resulting chance. Then Pedro was thwarted by Rui Patricio before Higuain couldn’t tap in at the back post.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek won a central free kick a few yards outside the arc, and Willian‘s effort was pushed over the goal by the wall.

Loftus-Cheek’s stoppage time bid to equalize was partially blocked for a corner kick, and the Blues took advantage of the second ensuing set piece.

That’s when Hazard lashed a shot from the edge of the 18 that zipped across goal and inside the far post.

[ MORE: Premier League stats ]