FA Cup fifth round, LIVE – Latest score and updates from Doncaster vs Crystal Palace and Swansea vs Brentford

• Doncaster vs Crystal Palace and Swansea vs Brentford kick off at 4pm GMT 
• Swansea have won their last five meetings with Brentford in all competitions 
• Doncaster haven’t beaten a top-flight club in the FA Cup since January 1985 
• Doncaster XI: Marosi, Blair, Downing, Anderson, Andrew, Crawford, Whiteman, Kane, Coppinger, Marquis, May.
• Crystal Palace XI: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Dann, Van Aanholt, Townsend, Milivojevic, Meyer, Schlupp, Ayew, Batshuayi. 

By Max Winters For Mailonline

Published: 09:30 EST, 17 February 2019 | Updated: 10:11 EST, 17 February 2019

Advertisement

Matt Doherty appears to be on a personal mission to win the FA Cup for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Irish defender spared their blushes with a last-minute equaliser at League One Shrewsbury Town in the fourth round and then scored twice and created another in the replay.

Here at Bristol City, it was Doherty’s thrusting runs down the right wing that most unsettled the hosts and his first-half assist for Ivan Cavaleiro helped carry Wolves into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003. 

Ivan Cavaleiro finds the back of the net from Matt Doherty’s cut back to give Wolves a first-half lead at Bristol City

Cavaleiro wheels away in celebration after breaking the deadlock in the FA Cup fifth-round tie away at Ashton Gate

The goalscorer is mobbed by team-mates with Conor Coady getting himself in the thick of the celebrations

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE 

Bristol City (4-2-3-1): Fielding 6; Wright 6, Kalas 6, Webster 6, Dasilva 5; Morrell 6 (Pack 46, 6.5), Brownhill 6.5; Eliasson 5 (Taylor 46, 6.5), Palmer 5 (Paterson 66, 6), O’Dowda 6; Diedhiou 5.5

Subs not used: Watkins, Kelly, O’Leary, Baker

Booked: Wright, Kalas

Manager: Lee Johnson 6 

Wolverhampton (3-5-2): Ruddy 6.5; Bennett 6, Coady (c) 7, Boly 7; Doherty 8 (Neves 81), Dendoncker 7, Moutinho 7, Saiss 6.5, Otto 6; Raul Jimenez 7 (Traore 90+2), Cavaleiro 7 (Gibbs-White 70, 6.5)

Subs not used: Ennis, Helder Costa, Ruben Vinagre, Norris  

Goalscorers: Cavaleiro 28

Booked: Moutinho, Gibbs-White

Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo 7 

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Attendance: 24,394

Man of the Match: Matt Doherty 

Ivan Cavaleiro gives Wolves a first-half lead over Bristol City. CLICK HERE for more from MATCH ZONE

 

The Black Country club were in the Championship then. A hell of a lot has changed since.

Could they win the Cup for the first time since 1960? It may just be possible. They have no concerns in the Premier League, sitting high and dry in seventh, or the ‘best of the rest’ as it has become known.

The complete absence of relegation fears at any point in their first season back in the top-flight means Nuno Espirito Santo’s side might as well have a crack at the Cup.

Manchester City remain, of course, and one of Chelsea or Manchester United but if the quarter-final draw is kind, it may just open up for Wolves.

Lee Johnson’s City may have lost their nine-game winning run – they were the most in-form side in Europe prior to this – but can be proud of a second-half onslaught that had Wolves wobbling.

They have become a first-rate cup side under Johnson’s leadership, claiming a number of Premier League scalps, but now one of the country’s brightest young coaches can focus on taking them into the top division.

Wolves full-back Matt Doherty brings the ball forward from defence as Bristol City’s Jay Dasilva looks to block his path

Bristol City’s Famara Diedhiou jumps high to win the ball ahead of Wolves’ Jonny Otto during the first-half of the game

Wolves’ Belgian midfielder Leander Dendoncker attempts to whip in a cross from the right-hand flank against Bristol City

A Bristol City supporter holds aloft an inflatable FA Cup as the home crowd gets in the spirit of the occasion on Sunday

Bristol City player Kasey Palmer is sent crashing to the turf as Wolves duo Willy Boly and Leander Dendoncker challenge

That will most likely come through the Championship play-offs if they can regain their momentum.

It quickly became apparent that the duel between Doherty and the City left-back Jay Dasilva would be of critical importance to the outcome.

As the Premier League side stifled City’s early enthusiasm and quietened the crowd with their relentless possession game, Doherty was unfailingly the outlet for long balls to the right flank.

Dasilva, just 20, who is on loan at Ashton Gate from Chelsea for the season, is naturally an attack-minded wing-back but while his youthful energy is an advantage in academy games, it can be a weakness in the defensive armour in matches like this.

Doherty probed time after time having found himself in great swathes of space and it was inevitably the Irishman’s intervention that delivered the game’s opening goal – from its first shot – on 28 minutes.

It was Conor Coady’s searching ball from just inside his own half that found Doherty and, his confidence high from early contests with Dasilva, he took him on and drove towards the box. 

Wolves’ goalscorer Ivan Cavaleiro looks to get his toe to the loose ball ahead of Bristol City’s Josh Brownhill (right)

Wolves midfielder Romain Saiss tries to direct a header towards goal as the Premier League side threaten

Bristol City midfielder Kasey Palmer has his hands on his head after an opportunity goes begging for the Championship side

Wolves midfielder Leander Dendoncker attempts to shield the ball from his opponent during a hard-fought first-half

Wolves defender Matt Doherty looks to get his side on the front foot as Bristol City’s Adam Webster slides in to challenge

Dasilva seemed to anticipate Doherty cutting onto the outside, running past the ball as the Wolves man skimmed inside him. The break of the ball set Doherty into the clear and he cut the ball back to the unmarked Cavaleiro.

His low shot beat both the desperate lunge of Tomas Kalas, whose efforts unsighted goalkeeper Frank Fielding, and Cavaleiro’s shot just went straight through them both.

Having taken the lead, Wolves were brimming with confidence and could easily have killed off the tie before half-time.

Two minutes after his assist, Doherty played a one-two with Leander Dendoncker and then Raul Jimenez, whose cute flick set the right-back into a shooting position. Deflected, his shot bounced off the far post.

Seconds later and the left side of City’s defence was punctured again with another Jimenez touch teeing up Dendoncker for a shot that Fielding parried at his near post.

It was a one-sided half, City restricted to half-chances, with Callum O’Dowda trying an acrobatic effort that flew over and Kasey Palmer heading off target. Otherwise, it was all defensive graft.

Johnson sent his team out five minutes early for the second-half and made a double change plus a switch to 4-4-2 to try and enliven them. 

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez swivels and tries to direct a shot on goal as the Premier League outfit threaten a goal

Joao Moutinho directs a free-kick towards goal as Wolves threaten to double their advantage in the second period

It had some effect, with O’Dowda getting in behind Jonny Otto to cut back to a completely unmarked Dasilva. But the youngster had too much time to think about the strike and blazed over the bar.

Kasey Palmer, another on loan from Chelsea, flashed a free-kick just wide of the post and John Ruddy had to make a one-handed save to keep out Matty Taylor’s shot after Josh Brownhill had tricked his way past three defenders.

The Ashton Gate faithful found their voices now with every attack. O’Dowda’s corner deflected towards the Wolves goal off Adam Webster, only for Doherty – who else? – to clear off the line.

Wolves were only threatening fitfully now, with Fielding’s fingertips touching a Joao Moutinho free-kick over the bar and his palms pushing away a shot by Morgan Gibbs-White.

There was one final wave of pressure, with Ruddy touching over Taylor’s effort before Marlon Pack clipped over the bar from close range with little time to react.

And in the dying seconds, Fielding, waved forward by Johnson for a corner, saw a shot blocked by Ruddy inside a packed Wolves box.

‘Que sera, we’re going to Wembley,’ sang the Wolves fans, daring to dream. And why not?

Revealed: New academic research shows impact of too many headers can cause short-term memory loss

• Scientists tested 20 footballers after asking them to head 20 balls in-a-row
• They found that the effects on memory and ‘saccadic’ eye speed were ‘glaring’
• Ryan Mason has called for children to learn how to head using a sponge ball

By

Ian Herbert For The Mail On Sunday

Published:
17:30 EST, 16 February 2019

|
Updated:
17:30 EST, 16 February 2019

New academic research has found that an intense period of heading footballs can cause short-term memory loss and eye focus, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.

In a development which further underlines the need for research into the neuropsychological effects, scientists from Liverpool Hope University tested 20 amateur footballers after asking them to head 20 balls in quick succession.

They concluded that the effects on memory and ‘saccadic’ eye speed — the ability to use both eyes to rapidly refocus on different points — were ‘glaring’.

Research has found an intense period of heading footballs can cause short-term memory loss

Dr James Roberts, a specialist in motion control at the university’s Health Sciences department, said he had been surprised by the findings, which came after the players were asked to head back balls from a throw-in.

‘When the players were tested immediately afterwards, there were clear effects,’ he said. ‘There was a decline in both saccadic eye speed and short-term memory. That’s concerning when you consider most recreational players will have to go about their everyday lives, such as drive home after a game.’

The study was also designed to test whether ball pressure made much material difference to players heading a ball, though it did not. Dr Roberts said further tests, including a control group, would be required before any definitive conclusions could be made. That is now to be carried out.

The findings come a week after the Mail on Sunday revealed work by eight medical establishments worldwide had concluded that the risks of developing motor neurone disease are more than eight times higher among those who sustain repeated blows to the head and spine in top level sport.

The Mail on Sunday has been campaigning for three years for more research into the long-term effects of blows to the head in sport, revealing in 2016 the findings of a Stirling University study which claimed changes to brain function can be caused by everyday head impacts associated with heading footballs.

Scientists concluded that the effects on memory and ‘saccadic’ eye speed were ‘glaring’

Former Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason — who at 27 is now a youth coach at the club — added to the debate last week, expressing concerns about the effects of heading on young players.

Mason was forced to retire from the game in 2018 after sustaining a fractured skull as a Hull City player in a heading duel with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill. Mason said he thinks children should be using sponge balls for heading so they can learn a safer technique while their skulls are still developing.

‘If you’ve got a seven-or-eight-year-old heading a solid ball, and the brain and his bone in his skull isn’t fully developed, then that could potentially be doing damage,’ Mason said.

‘I look at some kids and they head the ball with the top of the head and their technique is all wrong, therefore the pressure that it’s putting on the brain is a lot more.

‘I don’t think kids should be heading real balls. 

‘The older you get, you get more experience and your heading technique gets better. Maybe bring in sponge balls to learn the technique and gain that experience of actually challenging for a header. I don’t think repetitive heading at a young age is doing the kids any good, that’s for sure.’

Ryan Mason has called for children to learn how to head footballs by using a sponge alternative

The United States have had a ban in place for the past three years on under-11 players heading the ball. There are also limitations for 11 to 13-year-olds.

‘America is probably more advanced than England in terms of research, and they have taken the measure of actually banning it up to a certain age,’ added Mason. ‘So maybe we can follow those footsteps to protect our kids.’

Professional Footballers’ Association chief Gordon Taylor has also argued for a similar restriction to be in place here.

The Football Association said it is ‘committed to researching and examining all areas’ of head injuries in the game, including the long-term effects on players.

Advertisement