United and Chelsea crash out of FA Cup

LONDON, England -- Holders Chelsea followed fellow English giants Manchester United in crashing out of the FA Cup at the quarterfinal stage on a day of stunning upsets.

Big-spending Chelsea, who lost to Tottenham in the League Cup final last month, were shocked 1-0 away to struggling second-tier side Barnsley on Saturday evening.

Barnsley followed up their surprise fifth-round success against Liverpool to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1912 -- when the Yorkshire club won the trophy.

Nigerian forward Kayode Odejayi headed the only goal in the 66th minute, beating Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini to Martin Devaney's deep right-wing cross.

The 26-year-old netted his first goal in 29 games, and just his second this season, as the home side survived a late onslaught from Chelsea to go through.

Cudicini, deputizing for the injured Petr Cech, almost conceded a nightmare goal in the first half when his attempted clearance hit Odejayi but trickled wide of the goal.

Chelsea, who cruised into the quarterfinals of the Champions League in midweek, again almost went behind when Istvan Ferenczi hit the outside of the near post with Cudicini stranded.

The visitors piled on the pressure after going behind, but Joe Cole, Nicolas Anelka and captain John Terry all squandered chances as Barnsley held on to record a famous win and cast further doubt on the future of Chelsea manager Avram Grant.

"It is the worst day since I came here," the Israeli said. "I'm very disappointed and sad about this. It is an important competition. We had a chance to do something and we didn't do it.

"You can always say it is the attitude, but you never know. We knew it was not an easy pitch to play on and we didn't play well, especially in the first half. But all the credit to Barnsley because they showed a lot of spirit."

Tykes manager Simon Davey added: "We went to Liverpool and put on a show. People said we couldn't do it again but we've only lost twice here all season and I believed we could do it.

"All the credit has got to go to the players. To take on a team like Chelsea, with the millions they've got is unbelievable. We had a game plan and it worked. I've never been to Wembley. I can't wait."

Manchester United's treble dreams were earlier shattered by Portsmouth at Old Trafford as Sulley Muntari's 76th-minute penalty gave the visitors a famous 1-0 victory.

United's substitute goalkeeper Tomas Kuszczak, who replaced Edwin van der Sar at half-time, fouled Milan Baros to concede the spot kick and was also sent off for the challenge.

Muntari duly beat England defender Rio Ferdinand who took over in goal and Harry Redknapp's men survived a United onslaught to book their passage into the semifinals at Wembley.

"This was fantastic. We came here the other week and got slaughtered. This time we had a plan and we stuck with it. We grafted and we deserved it," said a delighted Redknapp, who has reached the last four as a manager for the first time.

It was a stunning upset -- Pompey's first victory at the stadium in 51 years --but United were the architects their own downfall as Cristiano Ronaldo missed three good chances to make the game safe.

Before a full house at Old Trafford, referee Martin Atkinson turned down what appeared to be a clear penalty to United in the sixth minute when Sylvain Distin barged into the Portuguese star.

United manager Alex Ferguson remonstrated furiously with match officials but would have remained convinced his side would achieve the breakthrough in open play.

"The game was decided by the decision not to give us a penalty. They had great confidence to hang on knowing the referee was on their side," the Scot fumed.

"(Lassana) Diarra had eight or nine fouls in the match. It's incredible. It's not a nice thing to talk about but the treatment Ronaldo is getting, I'm worried about him.

"Keith Hackett (the Professional Game Match Officials Board chief), is in a nice, comfortable position and does nothing really. I don't think he makes a contribution to the referees' performances in our country.

"That should be addressed. He's not doing his job properly. That guy will go and referee next week no problem. You see his favorites always get the games, and that's disappointing."

Before half-time Carlos Tevez had a shot headed off the line by Pompey defender Glen Johnson with goalkeeper David James well off his line

Dutch international Van der Sar did not come out for the second half because of a groin strain and was replaced by Kuszczak.

Tevez accidentally blocked a goalbound header from teammate Nemanja Vidic in the 58th minute and, in the same move, Ronaldo fired inches wide.

Ronaldo, who has scored 30 league and cup goals this season, then missed two fine chances, shooting well wide and heading over from close range.

Substitute Carrick also missed a glorious opportunity when he rounded James in the 70th. But Distin got back to tackle the midfielder as he tried to force the ball over the line and it stayed out.

Two minutes later, James dived to his right to push a shot from Patrice Evra onto the post and Portsmouth survived to score the only goal of the game.

Kuszczak was shown red for bringing down Baros as he closed on an empty goal. With Van der Sar already off, that meant United did not have another goalkeeper to replace him so Ferdinand went between the posts.

He was unable to stop Muntari's expertly taken low spot-kick, however, even though he dived the right way.

Defeat for United ends their hopes of repeating their 1999 feat of winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

In Sunday's other quarterfinals, Premier League side Middlesbrough host second-tier Cardiff, while fourth division Bristol Rovers are at home to West Brom.

In Saturday's Premier League action, Liverpool climbed to within two points of third-placed Chelsea with a 3-0 crushing of struggling Newcastle at Anfield.

Spain striker Fernando Torres continued his hot run, scoring one and setting up another as the home side moved three points above city rivals Everton, who have played one fewer match, as they seek to clinch the fourth Champions League berth.

Liverpool took a fortuitous lead two minutes before half-time when Jose Enrique's clearance from a Torres pass cannoned into the net off Reds winger Jermaine Pennant.

Steven Gerrard set up Torres for his 25th goal since arriving in the summer with a superb pass right on half-time, and the Spaniard repaid the England midfielder in kind six minutes after the break as Newcastle slumped to a fourth successive defeat despite substitute Obafemi Martins hitting the crossbar from long range.

Relegation-threatened Fulham snatched a 1-1 draw away to UEFA Cup hopefuls Blackburn thanks to a late goal from Jimmy Bullard.

Second-bottom Fulham, who have not won away in 31 matches, saw Eddie Johnson hit the post in the second half before Morten Gamst Pedersen headed home from Jason Roberts' cross a minute later on 59.

But midfielder Bullard continued his comeback from a long-term knee injury with a stunning free-kick in the last minute of normal time.

Reading moved out of the bottom three with a 2-0 victory at home to eighth-placed Manchester City, whose poor run continued.

City had skipper Richard Dunne carried off with a gashed shin before Reading's Andre Bikey slammed a shot against the bar on the hour.

Shane Long netted the opener soon after with a clinical finish from Kevin Doyle's cross, and his strike partner sealed victory in the 88th minute with a fine solo effort after cutting in from the right flank. E-mail to a friend

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