Howard Denies United FA Cup Glory

By Danny Wright

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard was The Toffees hero as the stopper saved two penalties in a shoot-out to bag his side a place in the FA Cup Final, seeing off trophy-chasing Manchester United.

Howard denied former team-mate Rio Ferdinand with an excellent save and also saved a tame Dimitar Berbatov effort to secure a 4-2 penalty triumph, after 120 minutes of football went without a goal in a poor game at Wembley.

Howard’s heroism means United are now chasing three trophies, as opposed to four, having already picked up the Carling Cup last month.

The Toffees will face Chelsea on 30 May after Guus Hiddink’s side saw off Arsenal 2-1 in the other semi on Saturday.

Gunners reserve stopper Lukas Fabianski had a day to forget as he let in Florent Malouda’s scuffed shot at his near-post to let Chelsea back into the match after Theo Walcott’s deflected effort but Arsenal ahead.

The 23-year-old then handed Chelsea the winner by dashing out of his goal to close down Didier Drogba from Frank Lampard’s long ball, presenting the big striker with an open net to secure a 2-1 win.