In this dark horse showdown, Leicester City had the last laugh.
This result did not surprise the public.
Facing Leicester City, which has the strongest offensive firepower in the British Championship, Sheffield United, whose forwards have been mute for most of the season, cannot pose any threat to Leicester City no matter how good their defense is.
After all, in a football match, no matter how strong the defense is, you still need to score goals to defeat your opponent...
Two days later, the results of the other three games were also released.
The final four finalists in the FA Cup in the 2013-14 season are the Premier League team Arsenal, the Premier League team Hull City, the English Championship team Wigan Athletic, and the English Championship team Overlord "Blue Fox" Leicester City!
On the "Match of the Day" program broadcast on weekend nights, in addition to the highlights of this round of Premier League games, the program also specially introduces and analyzes the chances of winning the FA Cup semi-finals.
The first is Arsenal, the strongest favorite on paper among the semi-finals!
Arsenal have been having a hard time lately.
Entering February, Arsenal, which had occupied the top spot in the standings for the first fifteen rounds, began to fall behind.
First, they were defeated by Liverpool 5-1 in an away game, and then they had a goalless draw with Manchester United at home.
Although they faced bottom-ranked Sunderland in the latter half, they achieved a 4-1 victory.
But in March, they lost to Stoke City, the "Sky City" in the lower reaches.
Even if the team's main players are injured, their status fluctuates.
Arsenal are still in contention for the Premier League title.
However, since winning the FA Cup in the 2004-05 season, Arsenal has been without a championship for nine years.
Wenger and his disciples urgently need a championship trophy to prove to the world that our Arsenal is still a strong team that can compete for the championship!
Therefore, whether it is the Premier League or the FA Cup, Arsenal hopes to fight until the last minute!
Next, there is Hull City, who are also in the Premier League.
Even when they faced Newcastle at home on the first day of March, they lost 4-1.
However, Hull City is still ranked 12th in the standings, in the middle of the table.
The task of relegation this season is relatively easy.
This allows them to focus more on the FA Cup.
In the original history, Hull City reached the FA Cup final of this season without worrying about league relegation, and met Arsenal on the same road at Wembley Stadium.
Finally, there are two dark horses that have performed well this season.
Leicester City vs Wigan Athletic!
At the end of the 33rd round of the league, Wigan Athletic was only ranked seventh, with no hope of ranking top two.
If they want to be promoted to the Premier League, they can only go through the promotion play-offs.
Therefore, they must keep the top six to maintain the possibility of promotion to the Premier League.
As for Leicester City's league situation, it is much better than Wigan Athletic.
The league occupies the top spot and is already more than ten points ahead of the third place.
Even if the focus is temporarily focused on the cup competition and all the league players are substituted, there is no possibility of overturning.
For Leicester City's head coach and players, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup is an unexpected surprise.
It is also another opportunity for them to create new history.
If they can reach the FA Cup final, regardless of whether they win the championship or not, their names will be firmly remembered in the club's history!
Because this will be the first time Leicester City has reached the FA Cup final after 46 years since the 1968-69 season!
There is only one game left before Leicester City completes this great achievement!
The day after the "Match Day" program was broadcast, the Football Association conducted a live draw for the FA Cup semi-finals.
Everyone in Leicester City gathered at captain Morgan's home to watch the draw.
As everyone gathered around the TV and waited with bated breath, the draw ended quickly.
Leicester City drew Hull City, and Arsenal drew Wigan Athletic!
Among the three opponents, the strongest is definitely Arsenal.
Hull City is second, and Wigan Athletic is the weakest.
This result is very acceptable to everyone in Leicester City.
Captain Morgan shrugged and expressed everyone's thoughts:
"At least we didn't draw Arsenal..."
"yes..."
Everyone looked at each other and then smiled.
At this time, Vardy opened his arms and said confidently: "Besides, even Chelsea we have eliminated, who can stop us?!"
Vardy has been in great form recently, scoring goals in a row, and his self-confidence is unprecedentedly high.
Hearing Vardy's words, everyone else in Leicester City agreed:
"Yeah, Chelsea can't stop us, so what about Arsenal?!"
"What the hell is Hull City?"
Looking at his teammates who were aroused by him, Vardy raised his hands and clenched his fists, and growled with a slightly ferocious face:
"That's right, guys, let's kill Hull City first! Reach the final!"
Seeing Vardy's confident and domineering appearance, Ling Feng suddenly had an illusion.
He seemed to see the omnipotent Vardy during the Blue Fox's miracle period.
The next second, everyone in Leicester City was affected by Vardy's words and couldn't help shouting in unison:
"Kill Hull City and reach the final!"
"Kill Hull City and reach the final!!"
"Kill Hull City and reach the final!!!"
. . .
The FA Cup semi-finals will be held in mid-April.
Therefore, in order to lock in the promotion quota in advance and to concentrate on preparing for the FA Cup semi-finals in mid-April, the coaching staff headed by Pearson unanimously decided to strive to win all the games in March!
From mid-March to the end of March, Leicester City will face a hellish schedule in the league that is more unbearable than the devil:
On March 12th, they played away against Vice-President Barnsley.
On March 15th, they will face the 18th-ranked Blackpool at home.
On March 22, they played away at Blackburn Rovers.
On March 26, they played at home against the bottom team Yeovil.
And the most critical game on March 29th, facing Burnley, who is second in the standings, away from home!
The English Championship has four more teams than the Premier League and eight more games. Coupled with the FA Cup and League Cup, the intensity of games is already high.
Fortunately, Leicester City has a huge points advantage in the league and can make generous rotations.
Moreover, among these teams, except for Blackburn and Burnley, their opponents are relatively weak.
Even if you don't use all your main force, you can easily defeat your opponent.
A wave of consecutive victories in the league and successive defeats of Premier League teams in cup competitions gave Leicester City players a strong sense of self-confidence:
No matter who the opponent is, we win!
For professional players, self-confidence is very important.
With confidence, you will be able to make technical moves freely on the court, and then you will have the courage to break through and confront your opponents!
With the strong confidence that "We, Leicester City, are invincible!", the Leicester City players took the lead in coming to Barnsley, South Yorkshire, to face Barnsley, the deputy squad leader of the league!
