Everton v Manchester United Fa cup semi final.
Two late goals from Romelu Lukaku against Chelsea in the last round have set up the Merseyside club for a massive semi final with the mighty Manchester United on Saturday evening.
The pressure seems to be building on Everton manager Roberto Martinez and the game tomorrow could really seal his fate as the Toffees boss. Win tomorrow and maybe the fans will sweep the performances of the season under the carpet for a while, as their thoughts will turn to a fa cup final, one incidentally, they will start favourites for.
It couldn’t be a tougher game though for Bob Martins and his team however, as Man Utd, despite losing recently to the white machine that is Spurs, have hit a bit of form lately and will be big favourites for this semi final.
The omens are good though for Everton as in the last semi final these two played, 7 years ago, it was the Toffees who came out on top after a penalty shoot out and booked their place for a showdown with Chelsea. Chelsea beat the Goodison Park team though in the 2009 Fa cup final. The Blues won 2-1, with goals from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard cancelling out Louis Saha’s 25th second strike.
Martinez has said that he is not worried about the pressure that he is under leading up to this game and I am sure he will be looking at his big name players to put in a big performances on the night. It will need a big game from the likes of Barkley, Lukaku, and Deulofeu if Everton are going to replicate that game from 2009. Lukaku has been having a great season, but the Flemish striker hasn’t scored since the his brace against Chelsea in the last round of the cup, it would be a good time for the prolific 22 year old to get his scoring boots back on.
The Toffees come into this game on the back of a huge midweek defeat to Merseyside rivals Liverpool. The Reds thumped their neighbours 4-0 on Wednesday night at Anfield, hardly the best preparation for this weekend. The Toffees fans will be hoping that the gaoling defeat will spark a reaction from their team and take the disappointment from that game and take it out on Louis Van Gaal’s team.
It is a massive game for both teams involved, hopefully Everton can change their fortunes and pull off a small shock and continue the good form they have had in this competition this season and return to Wembley in May. If they do win tomorrow they could set up a second cup final between themselves and Watford just like back in 1984.
This is a great chance for Everton and their boss to shut up a few critics and heap more pressure on man United manager LVG. I really think Lukaku is due a goal and come tomorrow night his performance in front of goal could be what makes the difference.
Up the Toffees!!
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