The Full Draw For The 5th Round:Crystal Palace v Liverpool or Bolton Wanderers
Arsenal v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa v Leicester City
West Brom v West Ham
Bradford City v Sunderland or Fulham
Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City
Derby County v Reading
Preston NE or Sheffield Utd v Cambridge Utd or Manchester Utd
From Your Esteemed Local Paper:It's probably fair to say that a trip to Selhurst Park wasn’t high up on many Liverpool FC fans’ wish lists for the FA Cup fifth round draw.
The euphoria from Kopites over the weekend that the competition has been seriously opened up by the shock home defeat inflicted on Premier League champions Manchester City by Championship Middlesbrough and the frankly shameful loss at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea who surrendered a two goal lead to lose 4-2 to third tier Bradford City helped to temper their own frustrations at being held to a goalless stalemate on their own turf by Bolton Wanderers.
Although just three days before a Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park, the replay against the Trotters at the Macron Stadium remains extremely winnable but Brendan Rodgers’ men won’t be ecstatic about what lies in wait for them in the last 16 should they progress.
Given that the likes of Bradford, Blackburn, Derby, Reading and Preston/Sheffield United were all viable alternatives, the prospect of making the long trip down to suburban south London to tackle Alan Pardew’s revived Crystal Palace - the Eagles have won all four games since he returned to the club from Newcastle United – is not the most appealing.
Liverpool’s last two trips to Selhurst Park have been two of the low points of the last two seasons.
Back in November the Reds were soundly beaten 3-1 despite going ahead just two minutes into the contest through Rickie Lambert’s first goal for the club.
Dwight Gayle equalised on 17 minutes while late efforts from Joe Ledley (78) and Mile Jedinak (81) secured the three points for what at the time was still Neil Warnock’s side.
Six months earlier was the infamous night for Liverpool that Palace fans dubbed ‘The Miracle of Crystanbul’ in mocking reference to the Reds stirring comeback success in the 2005 Champions League final.
Still reeling from the 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea and Steven Gerrard’s slip in their previous match that had derailed their dreams for winning a first ever Premier League title, Brendan Rodgers side surrendered a 3-0 lead created by Joe Allen (18), a Damien Delaney own goal (53) and Luis Suarez (55) to allow the Eagles to hit back through Delaney (79) and Gayle (81, 88).
Indeed, the Reds have failed to win on their last six visits to Palace with their last victory coming on December 13 1997 – a 3-0 stroll thanks to Steve McManaman (39), Michael Owen (56) and Oyvind Leonhardsen (61).
The last FA Cup meeting between the sides was a fourth round replay in 2003. After a goalless draw at Selhurst Park, 10-man Palace - Dougie Freedman was sent off after 70 minutes – stunned Gerard Houllier’s side at Anfield with a 2-0 win thanks to a 55th minute effort from Julian Gray and Stephane Henchoz’s 79th minute own goal.
Current Palace boss Pardew netted the extra time winner for the Eagles in their most famous FA Cup meeting with Liverpool as they defeated the Reds 4-3 in a rollercoaster semi-final at Villa Park in 1990.
The topsy-turvy affair saw Ian Rush put Kenny Dalglish’s men in front on 14 minutes only for Mark Bright to equalise in the first minute of the second half.
Palace then took the lead through Gary O’Reilly on 70 minutes but Steve McMahon drew Liverpool level with nine minutes remaining,
Just two minutes after that the Reds were back in front courtesy of a John Barnes penalty but Andy Gray took the tie into extra time when he netted on 88 minutes with Pardew grabbing the decisive goal in the seven goal thriller on 109 minutes.
LIVERPOOL ECHO
