Barnsley

Terrific Tykes Topple Chelsea



Barnsley 1-0 Chelsea

The magic and romance of the FA Cup is alive and kicking after
Championship strugglers Barnsley, who beat Liverpool at Anfield in the
last round, knocked out Cup holders Chelsea at Oakwell

Kayode Odejay scored the decisive goal on 66 minutes with a superb header from Martin Devaney's cross.

Barnsley worked prodigiously in the first-half, refusing to let Chelsea
settle at Oakwell. The Championship side consistently got men behind
the ball when Chelsea had possession, and also supported their own
attacks in numbers, with twin strikers Odejayi and Istvan Ferenczi
giving John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho a testing time.

Ferenczi struck the outside of the post with one effort and Odejayi
went close on a couple of occasions with marauding runs as Barnsley
gave every bit as good as they got, and Chelsea too often resorted to
the long ball which the Tyles, with Rob Kozluk outstanding at the back,
dealt with comfortably.

Chelsea boss Avram Grant had made five changes to the side that cruised
passed Olympiakos in the Champions League in midweek, with Michael
Essien, Florent Malouda, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips and
Juliano Belletti all recalled to the starting line-up. But Frank
Lampard was out with an injury, and neither Didier Drogba nor Ashley
Cole travelled north.

Barnsley manager Simon Davey, mindful of the upset caused by Portsmouth
earlier in the day, made three changes to the side that drew with
Blackpool in midweek, Lewin Nyatanga and Jon Macken being cup-tied after appearing for Derby
earlier in the competition, and winger Martin Devaney being brought
back.

The early pressure was exerted by Barnsley as Jamal Campbell-Ryce cut
in from the left and slid a ball through to Brian Howard which the
alert Terry intercepted. A minute later, the Tykes raided down the left
again, but Campbell-Ryce's cross was headed clear this time by
Terry.

Barnsley were setting a brisk if not frenetic tempo, looking to put
pressure on their illustrious visitors. A deflection fell kindly
for Campbell-Ryce, who headed for goal but was forced wide by Carvalho
before crossing, which Terry again dealt with.

At the other end, Cole's cheeky back-heel nearly found Nicolas Anelka in the area, but Dennis Souza got a foot to the ball.

Carvalho was forced into bringing down the dashing Odejayi at the
expense of a free-kick 40 yards from goal, which the Blues dealt
with. Barnsley were attacking with brio, but their final ball
into the area too often lacked quality.

Chelsea were looking uninspired, but threatened whenever the inventive
Joe Cole was in possession. On 19 minutes, the ball dropped to Cole on
the edge of the area and he danced inside to shoot, but Kozluk produced
a crucial block to divert the ball wide for a corner.

Then the Blues had a scary moment when Terry knocked the ball back to
Cudicini, who opted against picking it up in case it was deemed a
back-pass, but Odejayi closed in and nearly managed to flick the ball
in, but it rolled just wide of the far post.

Essien was given a final warning after another foul in midfield as
Barnsley continued to repel Chelsea's mostly aerial attacks. And
when Shaun Wright-Phillips got into the Barnsley area, he could only
knock the ball over the bar under pressure.

On 37 minutes, a long ball into the area was pounced on by Ferenczi,
who spun and hit a right-footed shot against the outside of Cudicini's
left post. It was a let-off for the Premier League giants, and a minute
later, Odejayi broke into the box, and forced Cudicini to save from a
tight angle.

After the break, Anelka's cut-back found Cole, whose shot flew wildly
off-target. And when Cole cut in from the right and tried a shot
with his left foot, it hit Wright-Phillips.

Barnsley were beginning to resort to long balls more themselves, but
were continuing to press with great effect when the Blues got
possession.

Anelka shot from the edge of the area, but Steele saved comfortably.
Then Bridge had an effort cleared by the first defender, but Chelsea
worked it out to the right from where Cole crossed to Terry at the back
post. He headed it down for Anelka to shoot, but Marciano Van Homoet
was swift to block and deflect the ball wide.

Barnsley took a dsereved lead in the 66th minute when Devaney swung in
a perfect cross from the right which Odejayi rose above Cudicini to
head home emphatically at the far post. It was a superb jump by the big
striker, but poor goalkeeping by the Italian.

Chelsea were stung and came at Barnsley with renewed purpose, but
Odejayi eased the pressure expertly by holding the ball up despite the
attentions of three Chelsea players to win throw-in.

Avram Grant took off Belletti and brought on Claudio Pizarro.
Simon Davey responded by taking off Devaney and replacing him
with Sam Togwell.

Wright-Phillips dragged his shot wide from a promising position inside
the area, with the Tykes penned back in their own half. Hero
Odejayi was taken off for Michael Coulson, but then Cole was
brought down by Campbell-Ryce on the edge of the area. However,
Ballack hit the free-kick low but it rebounded off a defender to
safety. Then Cole was closed down as he went to shot in a dangerous
position.

Carvalho was lucky not to see his red as he hacked down Howard, but
Barnsley held on heroically to achieve a magnificent win and reach the
FA Cup semi-final.

Teams:

Barnsley: Steele, Van Homoet, Foster, Souza, Kozluk, Campbell-Ryce,
Hassell, Howard, Devaney, Odejayi, Ferenczi. Subs: Togwell,
Nardiello, Butterfield, Coulson, Leon

Chelsea: Cudicini, Belletti, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge, Essien, Ballack,
Malouda, Wright-Phillips, Anelka, Joe Cole. Subs: Hilario, Obi,
Pizarro, Kalou, Ben-Haim

Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)

Impressive indeed...

go on !! win it!! now that manU are out of the way.. anything is possible !