Second-tier Coventry scored twice deep into stoppage time to beat Wolverhampton 3-2 in the FA Cup on Saturday and reach the semifinals for the first time since 1987, the year the team won the famous competition.
United States striker Haji Wright completed the remarkable comeback in the 10th minute of added-on time, after Ellis Simms — with his second goal of the game — equalized for Coventry three minutes earlier at Molineux.
Wolves looked to be heading to Wembley Stadium for the last four next month after scoring in the 83rd and 88th minutes.
Sitting in eighth place in the Championship, Coventry was the lowest-ranked team to get to the quarterfinals. The club from central England can look forward to a trip back to Wembley, where it lost the Championship playoff final to Luton at the end of last season.
It also gives Mark Robins, Coventry’s manager, another magical FA Cup moment. Robins likely saved Alex Ferguson from getting fired three years into his storied tenure as Manchester United manager by scoring the winner in an FA Cup third-round match against Nottingham Forest midway through the 1989-90 season, when Ferguson was under severe pressure.
That is widely heralded as a turning point in Ferguson’s nearly 27-year tenure.
Manchester City hosts Newcastle later in Saturday’s other quarterfinal match. On Sunday, Manchester United welcomes great rival Liverpool and Chelsea hosts second-tier Leicester.
PREMIER LEAGUE
In the first two games of the three in the Premier League on Saturday, Burnley boosted its unlikely hopes of staying up with a first win in 2024 while relegation candidates Luton and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1.
Next-to-last Burnley beat 10-man Brentford 2-1 to end an 11-game winless run in all competitions and move eight points adrift of safety in its bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Jacob Bruun Larsen converted a 10th-minute penalty awarded after a push by Brentford left back Sergio Reguilon, who was sent off for the offense because he was the last man. David Datro Fofana added a second before Kristoffer Ajer reduced the deficit in the 83rd to ensure a nervy finish at Turf Moor.
Forest stayed three points above Luton, which is third-to-last and occupying the final relegation spot, after seeing its 34th-minute volley opener by Chris Wood canceled out by substitute Luke Berry.
Forest will not be sitting too comfortably because it could be hit with a points deduction in the coming weeks for overspending.
Fifth-place Tottenham visits Fulham later.
___
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Be the first to comment