Cup Run Goes On But Footy Comes Second

 A good home performance today saw us beat a determined but limited Stoke side with a goal in each half, Suarez and Downing netting either side of a Peter Crouch header. The main story of the day, and the weekend, however was Fabrice Muamba collapsing in the Spurs v Bolton cup tie and suffering cardiac arrest. The reports seem to suggest it's pretty serious and he's not out of the woods yet. Both sets of fans at our game today and indeed fans up and down the country showed their support for the Bolton midfielder and it's times like this that makes you appreciate the 'football family' and just how special it is. Muamba is hardly a household name or a standout player but in these circumstances it's the person and not the profile that takes precedence and it will give supporters of all clubs a lift to see him pull through. Fingers crossed for him and his family and let's all hope for a speedy recovery.

 In another twist of life being far more important than football today's semi final draw has brought with it a possibility of Liverpool meeting Everton at Wembley on the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy. With any other association I'd be certain common sense would prevail and Liverpool will play on the 14th of April not the 15th but with the FA you just can never be sure.

 The team deserves alot of credit for beating Stoke today, it's our fourth meeting with them this season and the second time we've come out on top 2-1. Both sets of players were committed from the off and despite a physical approach the visitors more than played their part in some of the good football on show in the first half.
 We took the lead thanks to a fantastic 20 yard strike from Luis Suarez after a one-two with the mostly quiet Maxi Rodriguez but we were only ahead for three minutes. A corner from the left was headed wide by a Stoke attacker but the ref decided to point for another corner from which Crouch headed in. Pepe Reina was booked for complaining to the referee about being blocked off but in my opinion it wasn't a foul. I think it was Ryan Shotton who was standing in front of Reina and he was in our keeper's way but I don't think Reina made enough of an attempt to actually get past him for it to be a foul. Letting the most obvious target have a free header at goal inside the six yard box is not clever defending and is far more of an issue than whether or not Pepe was fouled. We've won all four FA Cup ties so far this season with no need for any replays but we're still waiting for our first clean sheet in the competition. It doesn't matter how many goals you concede on the way to winning a trophy but it certainly makes it easier if the opposition feel they have no chance of scoring. Stuart Downing made his most significant contribution so far to his new club early in the second half after an accidental one-two with Steven Gerrard when he powerfully finished past Sorenson in the Stoke goal. There were a few worrying moments towards the end as Stoke launched the ball into our box at every opportunity but it was never really heart in mouth time and an equaliser never came close to happening.

 Being in the semi final isn't an aim in itself but is a great step forwards and we've definitely got the most favourable draw of the potential ties that could have emerged from the FA's ball bag. A second Wembley trip of the season is something to look forward to (though does anybody seriously like having the semi finals at Wembley? Surely it should be saved for the final) and we'll all be keeping a very close eye on the Sunderland v Everton replay, probably half of our fans wanting to play the blues with the other half much keener on playing the black cats.

 Well done to all of the players today and a special mention for Suarez dedicating his goal and our victory to Fabrice Muamba. Football is not a matter of life or death, and for that we should be thankful.