[NoSkillz]

Wed. February 15, 2023

FA Cup - 4th Round Replay
Dover (3rd in Premier League) vs. Sheffield Wednesday (6th in Premier League)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: N/A Sheffield Wednesday: 3-1
Past Meetings: 6W 3D 4L

We tied Sheffield at Hillsborough a couple weeks ago, bringing on this replay. A couple weeks before that, we destroyed them 6-0 at Crabble and that must be one of the reasons for the betting line to be in our favour to such an extent. As usual, we'll have to watch for Steve Pates (18 goals) and Darijo Jukic (14 goals).

Neil Cairney and Graham Allan are travelling back to the club today but will miss tonight's game. Emmerson Harvey is healthy again and will start in midfield. I'm also throwing Shaun Spall back out there - I have a Champions League match coming up next week and I'm saving Gian Marco Fanfoni for that contest. That said, Fanfoni will likely come on as a substitute at some point tonight. Paul Moses is in at striker for the way-out-of-form Shanon Andrea and I don't even have Andrea on the bench today. I also have Daniel Traore starting at DC today in place of Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. The youngster Yilmaz has been very steady, for the most part, in relief of Traore and the still-injured Rayane Hamon but I'm giving Traore a chance today in a cup competition to regain his fitness. Manuel Perez will start in goal.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - M. Perez
D - R. Gaucho, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, E. Harvey, S. Spall, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - M. Yilmaz, E. Agbo, G. Fanfoni, L. Kunchev, H. Cruz, W. Rooney, Z. Bardi

No surprises for Sheffield, as they are in a 4-4-2 diamond with Pates and Jukic up front and Erwin Mulder in goal. I tell the team I expect a win tonight.

10' - A decent start for us but no great chances. Arsene Bamba avoids a tackle and cuts into the area but his sharp angled shot is turned aside by Mulder.

19' - The normally dangerous Simon Woodman, who is really better suited as a midfielder, is playing right fullback tonight and he allows Bamba past him for the second time already. It's a good rush and Bamba's cross is headed to goal by Paul Moses but Mulder is in good position again for the save.

23' - Some good passing, with Moses sending it to Emmerson Harvey and then it's laid off to Shaun Spall. His rocket is stopped well by Mulder.

27' - Spall again just outside the area and his one-touch shot is off the goal post!

30' - We've done everything but score, as we're completely dominating. Moses takes a little pass from Bamba and from a poor angle, shoots but Mulder makes the diving stop.

HALFTIME - Utter domination everywhere but on the scoreboard, as we hold 60% of possession and a crazy 15-2 (6-0 on target) shot advantage. I tell the team they are outplaying them everywhere but we just need one goal.

52' - Sheffield keeper Erwin Mulder is en fuego today, as Bolis feeds a nice pass inside to Chiquinho and his hard shot is stopped. Great save!

63' - We just can't convert anything right now. Shaun Spall is out and Gian Marco Fanfoni comes in.

66' - Chiquinho with a great through ball to Bolis but his tight angle shot is once again saved by Mulder.

79' - Zoltan Bardi is in for Emmerson Harvey and will play midfield.

90' - With another FA Cup game possibly coming up in three days, I'm absolutely DREADING an overtime match but here we are. Chiquinho has it on an innocent looking rush down the right sideline and he reaches the byline before sending a cross into the area. For some reason, Sheffield decide not to even mark the ever-dangerous Paul Moses and our young striker takes a touch past Mulder then shoots into a yawning net for the shocking late goal! DOVER GOAL 1-0

90'+3 - I try to milk some time, taking out Chiquinho and bringing in Wayne Rooney.

And that's it! We move on in the competition.

Dover 1 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday
Goals - Paul Moses (7.8)
Assists - Chiquinho (7.0)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.2), Renato Gaucho (7.1), Arsene Bamba (7.1)
Attendance - 12,612

We dominated the game but could only eke out the last minute goal. We held 55% of possession and a 32-3 (10-1 on target) shot advantage. We need to finish better but Mulder was excellent for Wednesday. We'll play Blackpool in the next round.

-- We earn £92,000 for the win.



Champions League Update

--Dortmund beat Liverpool away 2-1 and Galatasaray SHOCK four-time defending champions Manchester City 2-1. WOW. City will need to get a positive result at home in the second leg to move on.



Next Up

-- We're right back at it in FA Cup play, as we face Championship side Blackpool in the 5th round at their stadium.