9th March, 2014
Wigan Athletic will host Arsenal in the semi-final pairing for English FA Cup in the draw held today at the Wembley Stadium in London.
The second semi-final pairing is between Hull City and Sheffield United. The two matches will be played between 12 and 13 April.
Wigan, the defending champion achieved the unexpected by knocking out Manchester United 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in the late match played today.
It was the second time, in consecutive years that Wigan will stun the Manchester team. Last year, the team relegated to the Champions League, denied City of the FA Cup in the final match.
City, playing at home, were seeking to avenge their 1-0 defeat in last season’s final, but instead it was second-tier Wigan who advanced to a last-four date with Arsenal thanks to goals from Jordi Gomez and James Perch.
Jordi Gomez gave Wigan the lead with a 27th-minute penalty after Martin Demichelis fouled Marc Antoine-Fortune and James Perch made it 2-0 within seconds of kick-off in the second half.
Samir Nasri pulled a goal back for City with 22 minutes remaining, but the Championship side — relegated within days of last season’s final — withstood heavy pressure from the hosts to record another famous FA Cup win.
The Etihad was buoyant after City’s 3-1 win over Sunderland in last weekend’s League Cup final, but the home fans were silenced in the 27th minute when Wigan took the lead.
A neat turn took Fortune past Demichelis on the Wigan left and after the Argentine brought him down, Gomez sent goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon the wrong way from the penalty spot.
City’s frustration was evident, with Nasri booked for kicking the ball away, and Wigan extended their lead early in the second half when Perch stole in front of Gael Clichy to tuck in a low cross from James McArthur.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini reacted by sending on James Milner, David Silva and Edin Dzeko, and the latter came within a whisker of equalising in the 64th minute with a header that hit the post.
The hosts continued to push, though, and four minutes later Nasri dragged them back into the tie with a left-foot shot from outside the box that skidded into the bottom-right corner.
City threw everything at Wigan in the closing stages, with Emmerson Boyce producing an extraordinary goal-line block to thwart Dzeko, but Wigan held on by the skin of their teeth.
Collated English FA Cup quarter-final results on Sunday:
Sheffield United 2 (Flynn 65, Brayford 67) Charlton Athletic 0
Hull City 3 (Davies 68, Meyler 72, Fryatt 77) Sunderland 0
Manchester City 1 (Nasri 68) Wigan Athletic 2 (Gomez 27-pen, Perch 47)
Played Saturday:
Arsenal 4 (Ozil 7, Arteta 68-pen, Giroud 83, 85) Everton 1 (Lukaku 32)
afp