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By Danny Wright

An exciting blend of cup and league football entertained us this weekend, as we found out only one Premier League team will be playing in the FA Cup semi-finals. The holders Chelsea were dumped out by Championship side Barnsley, as Luke Steele and his team mates pulled out the stops to humble a second top flight side. Having taken the game to Chelsea, Barnsley scored their deserved winner early in the second half as Kayode Odejayi out-jumped Carlo Cudinici in the Chelsea goal to net the crucial winner. A near-full strength Chelsea side disappointed badly in what should have been a routine win.

   

Manchester United, believed to be the most likely challengers to the crown, were also knocked out by Portsmouth, who recorded a 1-0 win in a controversial manner. The result upset United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who criticised referee Martin Atkinson for not awarding his side a penalty when Ronaldo was upended by Sylvain Distin, however the Scot could have little complaints about his side woeful finishing. The goal that settled the tie came from Sully Muntari’s penalty, who converted after Milan Baros had been hauled down by sub-keeper Tomasz Kuszcak. The Pole saw red for the challenge, despite coming on at half-time to replace the injured Edwin van der Saar.

  

Cardiff also sprung a cup surprise by beating Middlesborough in a comprehensive 2-0 win. The Bluebirds took the lead through Peter Whittingham on nine minutes and added the winner 13 minutes later as Roger Johnson nodded home Whittingham’s free-kick. The joy could be short-lived for the Welsh side though, as the outcome of a court case regarding the club’s debts could mean Dave Jones’ men go out of business during the week. Championship colleagues West Brom dispatched plucky Bristol Rovers out of the competition, seeing off the Gasheads empathically in a 5-1 win at the Memorial Ground. Ishmael Miller bagged a hat-trick, meanwhile James Morrison and Kevin Phillips added further goals to cancel out Danny Coles’ effort.

   

On the domestic scene, West Ham recorded their third successive 4-0 defeat in woeful fashion as Tottenham ran riot at White Hart Lane. Dimitar Berbatov headed two goals in the first ten minutes and Gilberto and Darren Bent added insult to injury. The Hammers had Luis Boa Morte sent off for a second bookable offence, as the pressure beings to mount on manager Alan Curbishley. Liverpool returned to fourth place after a 3-0 thrashing of sorry Newcastle at Anfield, but Everton remain in hot pursuit of their city rivals after they recorded a priceless 1-0 win at Sunderland, Andrew Johnson scoring with his arm to keep the Black Cats in the relegation mire.

  Wigan held Arsenal to a creditable 0-0 draw at the JJB. The Gunners will see this as two points dropped against their relegation threatened rivals, and with their title challengers in cup action, the games in hand could swing the pendulum back in Manchester United’s favour. Reading added spice to the drop battle by beating Manchester City 2-0 at the Madejski stadium. Sven’s side looked out of sorts against Steve Coppell’s battlers, and the Citizens chances were dramatically reduced when Richard Dunne left the field early with an injury. Shane Long duly pounced on the vacuum left by Dunne, slotting home the first, with Dave Kitson scoring a fine individual goal to lift the Royals to 14^th.   Fulham’s faint hopes of survival were boosted by Jimmy Bullard’s last minute free-kick, which snatched a point in a 1-1 draw at Blackburn. Morten Gamst Pedersen thought his header was enough to give Rovers victory, but Bullard had other ideas as he curled in a delightful 89^th minute free-kick to grab a share of the spoils. In other news, The People alleges West Ham and Bolton are battling for the signature of 38-year-old keeper Santiago Canizares.Images - bbc.co.uk/sportÂ