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Sheffield United caused an FA Cup shock by beating Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. David Carney's strike towards the end of the first half sent the Blades into the fourth round at the expense of Gary Megson's side. Megson had opted to rest a number of his star players, and made seven changes to the side which beat Derby on Wednesday, with the most noticable absentee being Nicolas Anelka, who is being linked with a move away from the club. New signing Tamir Cohen was given his debut for the club, partnering Danny Guthrie in the heart of midfield, while Blerim Dzemaili was named amongst the substitutes. Daniel Braaten took the place of Anelka as the sole front man, and had an early opportunity to open the scoring, but he headed over the bar following good work from El-Hadji Diouf. The Norwegian would have broken the deadlock just a minute later but for brilliant defending from the United defence. Stelios Giannakopoulos headed Diouf's cross back across goal and Braaten's effort was goalbound but for an excellent block. Diouf was next to try his luck, but he sliced his effort from 25-yards stright into the 4,000 strong travelling supporters, much to their delight. The hosts had a major let off after 35 minutes, Chris Armstrong's cross was flicked into the path of Luton Shelton by Lee Hendrie, but Shelton somehow headed over the bar from inside the six yard box. But Bryan Robson's men were to make the most of their advantage, and took the lead three minutes before the break. Stephen Quinn released Carney down the left, and after making a run inbetween Nicky Hunt and Andy O'Brien, he slotted the ball past Ali Al-Habsi at his far post. The Blades took their lead into the break, and Megson responded by introducing Dzemaili for his first team debut. The Swiss international replaced Hunt and took his place in midfield, allowing Joey O'Brien to switch to full-back in place of Hunt who had missed the clubs last two games with an ankle injury. It was Bolton who came out stronger for the second period, with Guthrie forcing Paddy Kenny into parrying a fierce shot, and he just recovered in time before Stelios could tap home. Diouf picked up a booking just after the hour, and was immediately replaced by Christian Wilhelmsson, with the Senegalese international now off to represent his country in the African Cup of Nations. Bolton seemed to be running out of ideas in the final third, despite seeing more of the ball, they couldn't break down a stubborn United defence, and having found themselves caught too far up the field, Jon Stead almost doubled their lead with 15 minutes to go, but he hit his effort just over the bar. Andy O'Brien was replaced by Abdoulaye Meite for the final ten minutes as Bolton looked to tighten up at the back following a knock to O'Brien, but from then on, the game petered out and it was Sheffield United who advanced into round 4, bringing an end to Bolton's four match winning run at the Reebok. It was the first time since 2004 that the Trotters have failed to advance past the third round, when Tranmere Rovers came out on top after a 2-1 replay victory after extra time. |
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