FA Cup Semifinals: Chelsea Defeat Spurs 5-1 Setting Up Final With Liverpool

The second period was a complete turnaround form the way the first started, with incident and controversy right from the whistle.

With 15 minutes to play though, the game was put out of reach when Ramires beat the offside trap, ran on to Mata’s perfectly weighted ball to dink it over Cudicini to give Chelsea a 3-1 lead.

The game didn’t get off to the best of starts when during a moment’s silence for the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster and Piermario Morosini was interrupted by small group of very vocal fans who couldn’t pay their respects.

Once the football started it wasn’t a whole lot better as we saw a slow and sloppy start from both sides.

The game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET, and 6 p.m. UK time. It will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel (USA), Sportsnet World (Canada) and ITV1 (UK).

For more buildup to the game check out our Tottenham Hotspur site, Cartilage Free Captain, and our Chelsea site, We Ain’t Got No History.

The ball went straight down the other end however, and as Suarez and Steve Gerrard flew into tackles in and around the Everton penalty area, Andy Carroll picked up the ball and flashed a shot just inches wide as the final ten minutes approached.

Liverpool saw a penalty appeal turned down in the 83rd minute when following a bit of a scramble, there were calls for handball against an Everton defender, however they fell on deaf ears, and would have only masked the fact that Carroll missed another easy chance during the melee.

Everton might want to have considered themselves lucky to be ahead, as on the TV replays it showed Jelavic was ever so slightly offside before scoring the games opening goal. Not that anyone at the time seemed to complain.

As the half continued, Liverpool looked decidedly toothless in their attempts to get back into the game, where as Everton were standing strong, and looking like they could increase their lead in a very open and exciting game.

Kick off is at 7:30am ET, and 12:30pm UK time, and is available on Fox Soccer Channel (USA), Sportsnet World (Canada) and ESPN (UK).

For more on the game check out our Liverpool site, Anfield Asylum, and our Everton site, Royal Blue Mersey.

*Chelsea and Tottenham are probably both going to be unhappy if they miss the top four, though.

Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET, 12:30 p.m. local