Arsenal crash out of FA Cup

Arsenal’s season of woe took another miserable turn yesterday as the Londoners crashed out of the FA Cup in a 2-0 defeat at Sunderland.

Arsenal – all but eliminated from the Champions League in midweek following a 4-0 rout by Milan – saw their last realistic chance of ending a seven-year trophy drought snuffed out at the Stadium of Light.

Kieran Richardson took advantage of a poor clearance to lash in Sunderland’s opener in the 40th minute before more shoddy Arsenal play culminated in a 77th-minute own goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The defeat means the Gunners are left with only qualification for next season’s Champions League to play for this term, and provides further ammunition for Arsene Wenger’s growing legion of critics.

Wenger had uncharacteristically criticised his players in public following the Milan defeat and demanded a response against Sunderland.

However, his men were always struggling to impose themselves as Martin O’Neill’s team advanced to the quarter-finals with an energetic display.

Elsewhere, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas’s problems mounted after his side laboured to a 1-1 draw with lower league Birmingham.

Daniel Sturridge headed home a second-half equaliser to save Chelsea’s blushes at a restive Stamford Bridge after David Murphy had fired Birmingham into a shock lead on 21 minutes.

Villas-Boas’s position has come under scrutiny following reports of a training ground mutiny by his senior players after last weekend’s Premier League defeat against Everton at Goodison Park.

His team have now won just once in their last six games across all competitions and Villas-Boas was forced to watch as his side were booed off the field following another unconvincing display.

“It is a poor result of course. We had a better performance in the second half compared to the first half,” Villas-Boas said afterwards.

“1-1 is not what we expected, but it gives us another chance at Birmingham as we try to win a trophy,” added Villas-Boas, who insisted he enjoyed “unconditional” support from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

Championship side Leicester claimed a Premier League scalp as David Nugent’s second-half winner clinched a 2-1 victory at Norwich.

Nigel Pearson’s team made the perfect start through Irish defender Sean St Ledger, who headed in Ben Marshall’s corner in the fifth minute.

Norwich equalised in the 23rd minute when Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel gave away a penalty with a foul on Elliott Bennett.

Schmeichel saved Wes Hoolahan’s spot-kick, but couldn’t prevent the midfielder scoring from the rebound.

However, Nugent gave Leicester victory when he latched onto Jermaine Beckford’s flick and fired home in the 71st minute.

Japanese teenager Ryo Miyaichi inspired Bolton as the struggling Premier League side brushed aside Championship outfit Millwall 2-0 at The Den.

Owen Coyle’s team, beaten semi-finalists last season, are second bottom of England’s top flight, but they quickly took control in south London as on loan Arsenal midfielder Miyaichi marked his first Wanderers start by sweeping a high finish past Steve Mildenhall in the fourth minute.

Former Liverpool striker David Ngog ended Millwall’s hopes of a replay when he claimed his third goal of the season with a powerful strike from just outside the penalty area in the 59th minute.

Toffees through

Everton took the express route into the last eight with a 2-0 win over Championship club Blackpool at Goodison Park.

It took only 49 seconds for David Moyes’s side to take the lead through Royston Drenthe’s em-phatic finish and striker Denis Stracqualursi increased their ad-vantage just five minutes later with a close-range finish.

Blackpool wasted a chance to reduce the deficit in the final minutes when veteran striker Kevin Phillips blasted a penalty over the bar.

FA Cup fifth round

Chelsea 1
Sturridge 62;
Birmingham 1
Murphy 21;

HT: 0-1. Att: 36,870.
Missed penalty: Mata (C) 23.

Everton 2
Drenthe 1; Stracqualursi 6;
Blackpool 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 38,347.

Millwall 0
Bolton 2
Miyaichi 4; Ngog 59;

HT: 0-1. Att: 11,134.

Norwich 1
Hoolahan 23;
Leicester 2
St Ledger 5; Nugent 71;

HT: 1-1. Att: 26,658.

Sunderland 2
Richardson 40; Chamberlain 78 og;
Arsenal 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 26,042.

Playing today
Crawley vs Stoke City - 13.00
Stevenage vs Tottenham - 15.00
Liverpool vs Brighton - 17.30

Next fixtures
Saturday: Premier League – 16.00 Chelsea vs Bolton; Newcastle vs Wolves; QPR vs Fulham; West Brom vs Sunderland; Wigan vs Aston Villa. 18.30 Manchester City vs Blackburn.
Sunday: Premier League – 14.30 Arsenal vs Tottenham; Norwich vs Manchester United. 16.00 Stoke vs Swansea. League Cup final – 17.00 Cardiff vs Liverpool.

The Championship
Barnsley 2 - Portsmouth 0
Crystal Palace 4 - Watford 0
Ipswich 3 - Cardiff 0
Leeds United 3 - Doncaster 2
Nottm Forest 2 - Coventry 0
Peterborough 3 - Bristol City 0
Southampton 4 - Derby 0

Standings: Southampton 59; West Ham 57; Reading 54; Cardiff 53; Blackpool 52; Birmingham 51; Hull, M’boro 50; Brighton 49; Leeds 48; Burnley 47; C. Palace 43; Leicester, Barnsley, Derby 42; Ipswich, Watford 40; Peterborough 37; Millwall, Bristol City 31; N. Forest 28; Portsmouth (-10), Coventry 25; Doncaster 24.

League One
Chesterfield 1 - Sheff. Wed.0
Exeter 3 - Bury 2
Hartlepool 3 - Notts County 0
Leyton Orient 1 - Scunthorpe 3
MK Dons 5 - Oldham 0
Rochdale 1 - Bournemouth 1
Sheff. United 2 - Preston 1
Tranmere 1 - Charlton 1
Walsall 2 - Wycombe 0
Yeovil 3 - Colchester 2

Tomorrow
Brentford vs Carlisle

Standings: Charlton Athletic 68; Sheffield United 62; Sheffield Wednes-day 57; Huddersfield 55; Milton Keynes Dons 52; Stevenage 48; Carlisle 46; Bournemouth 44; Hartlepool 41; Brentford, Notts County 40; Colchester, Preston, Bury 39; Leyton Orient 38; Oldham 35; Tranmere Rovers 34; Yeovil, Exeter 33; Scunthorpe 31; Walsall 28; Chesterfield, Rochdale 27; Wycombe Wanderers 26.

League Two
Accrington 0 - Plymouth 4
Wimbledon 1 - Morecambe 1
Barnet 1 - Shrewsbury 2
Bristol Rovers 0 - Oxford Utd 0
Burton Albion 1 - Rotherham 1
Dagenham 0 - Cheltenham 5
Hereford 1 - Swindon 2
Macclesfield 0 - Aldershot 1
Port Vale 2 - Gillingham 1
Southend 1 - Crewe 0
Torquay 1 - Bradford 2

Standings: Southend, Cheltenham 59; Swindon Town 58; Shrewsbury 57; Torquay 56; Crawley 55; Oxford United 47; Port Vale 45; Rotherham United 44; Accrington, Burton Albion 43; Crewe Alexandra 42; Gillingham 41; More-cambe 40; Aldershot, Bristol Rovers 37; Wimbledon 36; Barnet 33; Bradford City 31; Macclesfield 30; Plymouth Argyle, Hereford 27; Northampton, Dagenham 24.