Lambert hails 'world-class' Benteke

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert described Christian Benteke as "world class" after the striker's hat-trick opened the door to Premier League safety by inspiring the 6-1 home victory over basement rivals Sunderland on Monday.

Benteke's three goals came in a whirlwind 17-minute spell in the middle of the second half as a game that had been balanced on a knife edge went spectacularly the way of the home side.

Villa are now five points clear of 18th-placed Wigan and have edged above Newcastle on goal difference by joining Sunderland on 37 points. The visitors' night of woe was completed by a straight red card for Stephane Sessegnon, although his manager Paolo Di Canio insisted afterwards an appeal would be lodged against his dismissal.

For Villa, it was good-news night and hopes of survival are now high, particularly with their strikers in such supreme form.

"When you have a front three like ours, you have an absolute threat," Lambert said. "I can't speak highly enough of Christian. People don't remember he's only 22. If he keeps his feet on the ground, he has a great future.

"Everybody can see his technique for a big lad is marvellous. First and foremost, we have won, pulled away from Wigan and brought other teams into it. But we have turned our goal difference round. That's a bonus and it could be significant."

Villa have won five of their last ten games and will reach the magical 40-point mark if they repeat their emphatic pre-Christmas Capital One Cup victory at Norwich by winning at Lambert's former club on Saturday.

Their confidence is sky high following a win initiated by stunning first-half goals from Ron Vlaar - the skipper's first for the club - and Andi Weimann.

Although Danny Rose made it 1-1 within two minutes of Vlaar's 35-yarder, Villa ran away with it in the end and Gabby Agbonlahor put the icing on the cake with the 88th minute opportunism that took him past Dwight Yorke as his club's top all-time Premier League goalscorer.

"The way we played right from the off in such a high-pressure game was outstanding," Lambert added. "It was fantastic.

"Look at our form since the turn of the year and we have been playing extremely well. We have young lads getting better and better and the crowd have identified with that. They are bouncing off each other, which is fantastic.

"You can judge by a crowd how a team are performing and the stadium here was absolutely rocking. That Holte End can be a magnet at times if you keep them on your side."

Villa's highest haul of goals in a Premier League home match since they beat Wimbledon 7-1 in February 1995 rekindled Sunderland's relegation fears following the euphoria of successive victories over Newcastle and Everton.

Di Canio, who was bated repeatedly by Villa fans who interpreted his hand gestures in the Capital One Cup tie at Swindon in the autumn as signifying they were going down, led his players over to the visiting supporters at the final whistle.

He held both his hands up and made it clear afterwards that he was saying sorry for the collapse.

"It is not acceptable," he said. "There were two different teams... Villa had desire and ferocity and looked like it was the last chance of their lives. It was like we had been in the last few weeks.

"My players didn't perform in the way we can. After two wins in a row, your stomach is full and you relax. We have to apologise because we have a big responsibility to the fans. It's beautiful to celebrate when you have won against Newcastle and Everton but you have to stand in front of everyone when you lose as well.

"We will be in tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and have to work hard with the blood in our eyes. We need three points, maybe four or five. The second (Villa) goal was not us. They are the best side on the counter-attack and we have to analyse deeply what we have done tonight and in the last two weeks."

In stressing that Sessignon's dismissal for a late 70th minute lunge at Yacouba Sylla was unwarranted, Di Canio confirmed an appeal would be launched.

"It's nothing," he said. "He didn't want to cause any damage. For sure we are going to appeal. I understand the referee fell into a trap... it's not fair for something that's not nasty. It's clear there was not any intention to damage the opponent."

Dempsey sparks comeback win with equalizer against Man City

Clint Dempsey moved from Fulham to Tottenham last summer with hopes of playing in the UEFA Champions League. If Spurs are to reach Europe's club pinnacle, it will have Dempsey, in large part, to thank.


With Tottenham trailing Manchester City 1-0 in a game with massive European implications for the London club, Dempsey slid to touch home a Gareth Bale cross in the 75th minute, sparking a three-goal surge in seven minutes that lifted his side to a 3-1 victory over City at White Hart Lane.

Bale, making his return from injury, set Dempsey up by the left post, deftly placing a cross off the outside of his left foot. The American star went to ground to redirect it past Joe Hart with his outstretched left foot and bring Spurs level after Samir Nasri's fifth-minute opener.

Tottenham was not done, though. Goals from Jermaine Defoe and Bale in rapid succession capped off the result and helped Spurs keep pace with third-place Arsenal, as they trail the Gunners by two points and have a game in hand as the race for a Champions League berth intensifies.

For Dempsey, the goal was his 11th in all competitions this season and his third in his last two matches following his Europa League brace against FC Basel.

Aguero strike sends City into final

Sergio Aguero provided a Jekyll and Hyde contribution to Manchester City's 2-1 FA Cup semi-final triumph over Chelsea.

The brilliant South American scored the second-half goal that ended up booking a meeting with Wigan next month. But he was also fortunate to escape a red card after a nasty challenge on David Luiz.

With Samir Nasri also on target for City, it was enough to repel a spirited Chelsea revival after Demba Ba had pulled one back.

The triumph keeps City manager Roberto Mancini in with a chance of extending his trophy-winning sequence to three seasons, which will answer his critics, who claim this campaign has been one of under-performance for the big-spending Blues.

That Chelsea went out with neither John Terry nor Frank Lampard being asked to make any contribution was the clearest indication yet that Rafael Benitez is presiding over a changing of the guard, even if he will be replaced as well during the summer.

Terry and Lampard have been part of all seven Chelsea FA Cup triumphs at this revamped stadium. At least they were on the bench - Ashley Cole did not even make it that far.

Petr Cech may be another survivor from Jose Mourinho's time but the goalkeeper remains an integral figure. And needing a fifth winners' medal to shove David Seaman out his share of being the most successful goalkeeper in the competition's history, Cech had a particular reason to impress.

It certainly seemed like it anyway given the brilliance of his early save to deny Aguero.

The Czech Republic international had set himself to deny Yaya Toure. That Aguero got his foot to the Ivorian's effort and steered it even closer to the corner just made Cech's plunge to the right more remarkable.

Cech then denied Carlos Tevez as City continued their fast start, with Chelsea hardly in the contest until skipper Vincent Kompany cleared Eden Hazard's mis-hit volley off the line.

That chance came about because Costel Pantilimon flapped at a cross.

With silverware so close, there had been a feeling Mancini would restore Joe Hart to his FA Cup starting line-up.

Clearly, Mancini has plenty of faith in the Romanian, just as the City fans have so much in their manager.

For it was the Italian's name that was sung loudest and longest after Nasri had broken the deadlock.

The sight of Toure powering at any defence is enough to get them quaking.

And Chelsea seemed spooked by the midfielder lumbering towards their box, which meant Aguero was afforded too much space when the short pass came.

He quickly flicked it onto Nasri, whose attempt at a return, resulted in a couple of fortunate rebounds and the perfect opportunity to lash home.

It is only a couple of weeks ago that Mancini said he wanted to punch Nasri for failing to produce top-class performances often enough.

That is was Nasri's first goal since October tells its own story. But presumably, all is forgiven - for a little while at least.

When Aguero spun away from Branislav Ivanovic and headed home Gareth Barry's cross straight after the restart, all Chelsea hope seemed lost.

Rarely can a substitute have had such an immediate impact as Fernando Torres.

For, as play restarted following his 65th-minute introduction, David Luiz drove a long ball to the edge of City's box, Torres flicked it on and Ba superbly hooked it in.

It ended City's chances of becoming only the fourth team to lift the trophy without conceding a goal and injected Chelsea with some much-needed self-belief.

Pantilimon saved at the feet of Juan Mata, then produced a wonderful stop to deny Ba.

It was spellbinding stuff, which just made Aguero's two-footed lunge at Luiz all the more stupid. Had Chris Foy seen it, City would have been left with just 10 men.

As he didn't, Aguero was still around for Torres to run his studs down the back of his calf, although in neither instance did any injury result.

It left a sour taste, although as it happened within the general run of play, it is unlikely Aguero will face any retrospective action.

Instead, he will return to this stadium in four weeks' time and aim to add another FA Cup to City's expanding trophy collection.

Mancini: Everyone fears Man United

Roberto Mancini said too many teams are afraid of Manchester United to play well against them.

The Manchester City manager believes Sir Alex Ferguson's team get easy victories because some of their opponents do not believe they can defeat the league leaders.

And he questioned the mentality of most of the teams who face United, calling them "soft".

Mancini was frustrated that Sunderland, who beat City at the Stadium of Light in December, put up less of a fight against United last week.

"No one plays well against United because they only play with fear," he said.

"Every team that plays against United plays very soft because they think this game is difficult, they can't beat them. If you play strong against United, you can beat them, like you can beat us."

United have only dropped points against four clubs this season, with Tottenham winning at Old Trafford and drawing at White Hart Lane, Everton and Norwich recording home victories and Swansea holding the league leaders at the Liberty Stadium.

Mancini said he was not accusing other teams of lacking effort, explaining: "I don't think they don't play [at] 100% but their mentality is poor in that game. They think they can do nothing but I don't think that is true. If you play with mentality, in football you can beat every team."

However, he does believe that United's two decades of dominance have given them a psychological edge and even though City are the defending champions, he feels they approach games against his team in a different way.

"We don't have the same importance like United at this moment," he added. "Maybe in 10 years, it will be the same. The history is very important."

City visit Old Trafford on Monday, returning to the scene of a 6-1 win last season, with Mancini insisting there will not be a repeat but confident his side can take three points.

He said: "The 6-1 is in history. We can talk about this for another 200 years but it is impossible to do this result another time but I think we know we can beat them because they are not better than us."

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United: Brilliant Ba books another Wembley date for Blues

LONDON -- Chelsea dumped Manchester United out of the FA Cup to set up a mouthwatering semifinal clash against Manchester City. A brilliantly constructed and executed Demba Ba volley was the difference between the two heavyweights as Rafael Benitez’s team triumphed 1-0 in the quarterfinal second leg clash.
Another key moment for the Blues was a stunning save of the season contender from Petr Cech that denied Javier Hernandez an equalizer midway through the second half.

This Bank Holiday replay, coming just 48 hours after both clubs were involved in away league fixtures, did not come to life until the second half but there was plenty of drama to overshadow handshake-gate involving the two managers and the saga of the returning Rio Ferdinand.

Juan Mata was the architect of Chelsea’s comeback in the first leg at Old Trafford and he was equally influential on home turf, with his most notable contribution the delicious chipped pass that set up Ba for the game's only goal. The FA Cup holder did not score the second goal that the team's dominance merited but still booked a date with Man City at Wembley on April 14 to keep alive the club's hopes of defending its crown.

As expected, both managers made wholesale changes to the teams that started in league clashes less than 48 hours previously.

Sir Alex trumped Benitez in the rotation stakes by bringing in seven new players to the Chelsea manager’s six, although Wayne Rooney was surprisingly not one of them. The forward was omitted from the United matchday squad for the second consecutive match with what Sir Alex claimed was a groin injury picked up on England duty. David De Gea, Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia were the only United players to start both Saturday’s 1-0 win at Sunderland and then again today.

Benitez notably dropped John Terry, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres to the bench as he significantly reshuffled his attacking options, with Ramires, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Demba Ba restored to the team, along with David Luiz and Ashley Cole.

Before the match began, there was the chance for both sets of supporters to vent their feelings towards Ferdinand, returning to the pitch for the first time since his withdrawal from England’s World Cup qualifiers.
The defender was roundly jeered by the home fans at the end of the warmups, again when the teams were read out shortly before kickoff and then whenever he touched the ball as the match began. The large United contingent responded on nearly every occasion with chants of ‘Rio, Rio, Rio’.

Ferguson sprung a tactical surprise with Phil Jones anchoring alongside Carrick, Tom Cleverely tucked in on the left of midfield and Antonio Valencia deployed at right back with Nani in front of him.

Even without Jones providing extra screening, Benitez had warned that it simply would not be possible to have a classic because of the demands on the players, and so it initially proved as both sides struggled to settle into a rhythm.

Chelsea was forced into an early change after Ashley Cole pulled up with a hamstring injury while chasing Danny Welbeck. He looked in severe pain as he hobbled off, to be replaced by Ryan Bertrand.

It took 30 minutes for the game’s first real opening, which came when Hazard played in Ba on the right. The striker shot powerfully to De Gea’s near post, but the United keeper was alert and smartly kept it out.

Hazard looked the most likely player to conjure an opening. Running with the ball from the left, he skipped past Jones and shared a one-two with Oscar before smashing his shot narrowly over the bar.

Petr Cech nearly became the victim of a hopeful Javier Hernandez long-ranger. It did not wobble in the air as much as the goalkeeper’s reaction suggested, but the captain’s blushes were saved by his right leg.

Chelsea had ended the first period marginally in charge and took control early in the second through a superbly constructed goal that blew the cobwebs off what had been a tepid encounter.

Mata seemingly had few options when he picked up the ball in a central area in the middle of the United half. But the Spaniard’s feet are in perfect sync with his sharp football brain, and he picked out Ba’s run with a perfectly weighted chipped pass. The Senegalese had plenty to do, but had the technique to match his confidence. A brilliant first-time hooked finish on the volley surprised De Gea as much as onlookers to put Chelsea ahead for the first time in the two-legged tie.

United responded with typical vigor. Hernandez inspired one of the saves of the season from Cech with a diving header that had looked destined for the net. Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs were then sent on in place of ineffective pair Tom Cleverley and Nani to save United’s FA Cup campaign.

Hazard gave United a let off after 67 minutes when he burst into the penalty area following a mistake from Carrick only to shoot a yard wide of the goal. It prompted a flurry of opportunities for the home side, but the team's finishing did not match its approach play as, time and again, chances sailed above and either side of the woodwork.

Mata ran the show late on but, despite late United pressure, the Chelsea survived without the security of a second goal.

Benitez: Utd strikers the difference

Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez has hailed Manchester United's strikers as the reason the Red Devils are on course to claim the club's 20th league title.

Chelsea and United renew hostilities for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals on Monday after their original quarter-final battle ended in a 2-2 draw.


However, in the Premier League, a gapping chasm divides the clubs with Chelsea trailing the league leaders by 22 points.

And an envious Benitez has pin-pointed the difference between the reigning European champions and their FA Cup opponents, believing superior striking power has driven United to the top of the Premier League.

But the 52-year-old Spaniard was quick to note the Blue were not without their own source of goal potential.

"The reason United are top of the table is they have a very strong squad," Benitez said. "Just analyse the four strikers they have and we only have two.

"They have four all at a very good level and we only have two at that level.

"It was a problem when he had just [Fernando] Torres but now we have Demba [Ba] so that is two attacking options. We have offensive players of quality."

Despite United's dominance in the league, Benitez refuses to worry about their challenge for a domestic double, solely focusing on Chelsea's late surge for silverware.

And after a topsy-turvy season where less than impressive results have already seen one manager leave Stamford Bridge, Benitez, who has announced he will not return to the Chelsea hot-seat next season, believes the Blues are in a position the end the season on a high note.

"I'm not worried about what they [United] are doing," Benitez said. "I am just concentrating on what we can do and how we can improve and win games.

"United are top of the table but I thought we were much better than them in the first game.

"We can compete but when you playing two games in three days, for months, it isn't easy so I think we are doing well in the situation we are in.

"Chelsea is a team in transition; it has a new manager and new players for this year. United have had the same manager for years and 80 per cent of the squad are the same."