Manchester ready to block United’s treble dream

LONDON, (Reuters) – Manchester City would ease some  of the hurt inflicted on them over the last four decades by  Manchester United if they were to win their FA Cup semi-final at  Wembley Stadium tomorrow and end United’s treble hopes.

Ryan Giggs

Whoever does come through will start as favourites to win  the FA Cup itself on May 14 when they will face the winners of  Sunday’s other semi-final between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke  City.

For different reasons both matches have excited the  imagination of fans beyond just the teams involved — Saturday’s  because of the intense rivalry and significance of the tie to  both Manchester clubs, and Sunday’s because Bolton and Stoke  rarely come so close to glory.

United have won their last seven matches in all competitions  and are on a high after beating Chelsea 2-1 on Tuesday for a 3-1  aggregate success to secure a place in the semi-finals of the  Champions League.

United are also seven points clear of Arsenal at the top of  the Premier League and there is a possibility they could repeat  their Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble of 1999  as they have hit form at just the right time.

Although they will be without the suspended Wayne Rooney,  Ryan Giggs, 37, has been outstanding in their recent run of  victories.

“Our confidence is really high and players are coming back  from injury and that’s what you want at this stage of the season  as there are games every three days,” said Giggs.

“The manager will chop and change the team… but we’ve got  20 players probably competing for 11 places.”

Unfortunately for United, Rooney, who has returned to form  with 10 goals since Feb 1, is unavailable following his swearing  incident at West Ham United two weeks ago.

City may also have to make do without the services of former  United striker Carlos Tevez, who picked up a hamstring injury on  Monday.

His absence could dent their chances of reaching the final  for the first time since 1981. Thirty years ago they lost 3-2 to  Tottenham Hotspur in a replay while their last FA Cup success  was in 1969 when they beat Leicester City.

Although owner Sheikh Mansour has invested hundreds of  millions into the club, City have yet to end their 35-year wait  for a major trophy and will have to show a dramatic improvement  on their abject display in Monday’s 3-0 loss at Liverpool to  prevent United rubbing their noses in the dirt again.

EVEN LONGER

While City’s wait for major honours has lasted since 1976  when they won the League Cup, Bolton and Stoke have gone even  longer without collecting a major piece of silverware.

Stoke, who have been playing in the FA Cup since 1883, have  never reached the final. They last reached the semis in 1972  when they lost to Arsenal.

That was also the year they won their  only major trophy beating Chelsea in the League Cup final.

Bolton have won the FA Cup four times, the last of those  triumphs coming in 1958 when Nat Lofthouse, their greatest ever  player who died earlier this year, scored both goals when they  beat Manchester United 2-0 at Wembley.

Both sides, sitting comfortably in mid-table, have beaten  each other in the Premier League this season, and Bolton manager  Owen Coyle says the idea of winning the Cup as a tribute to  Lofthouse, has taken hold in the town.

“It would be nice if that comes to fruition but I think  there’s a lot of tough obstacles in the way for that to happen,”  he told Reuters.

“We’re more than up for the challenge and we will do  everything we can to reach the final against a very good Stoke  side.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis told reporters: “It’s a great  achievement that we have got this far but we are not getting  carried away with the idea we have had any sort of success. We  have done well in the League and reaching the Cup final would  show we are definitely moving in the right direction.”