Hull boss Liam Rosenior saw Daniel Bachmann dent the Tigers’ play-off hopes – then heaped praise on the Watford keeper after the 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road.

Bachmann saved Ozan Tufan’s 11th-minute penalty to rob City of vital points in their push for the top six.

Rosenior spared Tufan any criticism for the miss, insisting Bachmann deserved all the credit for keeping City at bay.

The manager said: “Their keeper was magnificent. You just have to hold your hands up. There was the penalty stop and three or four other world-class saves.

“But no blame on Ozan. He’s been brilliant all season. He’s brave and he will take the next penalty.

“I was pleased with the response of the whole group after that. We never gave up until the final whistle. I can’t fault this group – I’m so proud of them.

“The players worked themselves into the ground and never gave up. They’re a credit to this club and a credit to the shirt.”

Hull continue their quest for the top six on Wednesday away to FA Cup semi-finalists Coventry.

They lie six points behind sixth-placed Norwich having played a game less and Rosenior added: “Norwich dropped points today and they will be as flat as we are.”

Turkish forward Tufan, rejected by Watford in 2022 after a loan spell, faced a barrage of abuse as he prepared to take the kick in front of the home end.

Watford’s defenders also encroached as they complained that the ball was not on the spot.

But Austrian stopper Bachmann remained calm and dived low to his left to save.

Watford interim boss Tom Cleverley, beaten just once in his seven games in charge, restored Bachmann to the team when he took over last month.

He said: “I don’t know how much homework has gone into that or whether Dan dived into the archives of penalties against us, but it was a fantastic save.

“He showed his real worth today. I knew his worth from playing alongside him for all those years – not only on the pitch but in the dressing room.

“He’s massive for me. He’s come in for some unfair criticism but we have full belief in him and we know how important he is to the squad.”

But Cleverley was not happy with a Watford performance that saw the Hornets fail to get a shot on target in the first 60 minutes.

They have not won at home in the league since November 28 – 12 matches – and Cleverley said: “We were flat for an hour. We need to make things happen, not wait for them to happen.

“I must change the mentality. From the first minute we must grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

“But we’ve played five of the top seven and we’ve made them all work hard to get points off us.”

Gary Rowett felt Birmingham lacked rhythm as they drop points at Rotherham

Birmingham interim manager Gary Rowett was left frustrated after his side were held to a 0-0 draw at Rotherham.

The result edged the Blues two points clear of the Championship relegation zone but it was a missed opportunity to move closer to safety against the already-relegated Rotherham.

Steve Evans was back in the home dugout following his shock midweek return following the sacking of Leam Richardson and he will have been pleased with the spirited display which kicked off his second stint as Millers’ boss.

Play was stopped for more than half an hour after nine minutes of the first period when referee Keith Stroud was alerted to a medical emergency in the home stand, with the supporter being taken to hospital after receiving treatment.

The game lacked quality following the restart but burst into life in the closing stages, with Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield having an effort ruled out for offside.

Rowett said: “It was an attritional game. The way that Rotherham are going to be set up, you know they’re going to be very direct and play for second balls and make it difficult to get out.

“I thought it was difficult to find any rhythm. It was a tough game.

“The first half was a non-event. Second half was a little bit better, we just needed those moments of quality to open the game up. Sometimes we did that without finding an end to it and sometimes we lacked composure.”

On Stansfield’s disallowed goal, Rowett added: “There is a player in or around the goalkeeper. There is about 15 but one is in an offside position. I don’t think he saves it anyway. It does not impact the keeper’s vision. He hits it so hard and low and wide of the keeper that he isn’t going to save it.”

Birmingham lead third-bottom Huddersfield by two points and they travel to face the Terriers next weekend.

“I don’t think you can get any bigger at this stage of the season,” Rowett added.

“Every game is massive and every game is one where you don’t want to waste an opportunity. We just could not quite find that winning goal today.”

Rotherham boss Steve Evans is glad to be back at the New York Stadium.

He said: “It was everything you would have wanted. It was exciting. It was a fantastic welcome. How I got received will go down as another wonderful memory at this place.

“That is how we play. We played against a team fighting for their lives and against top players.

“The boys have gone through the pain barrier. All we can do is freshen them up and get them ready for Bristol City and Cardiff.

“The break in play changed the momentum of the game because they were under the cosh. It was like starting afresh. It gave the Birmingham lads an opportunity to reset.

“We asked the boys to work incredibly hard. From a neutral point of view a draw was probably a fair result.”

Home
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FA Cup
Man City 1-0 Chelsea: Player ratings as Silva strikes late to punish wasteful Blues
Bernardo Silva struck late on to send Man City to the FA Cup final
Nicolas Jackson guilty of missing several excellent chances for Chelsea
City will meet either Man Utd or Coventry in the final

By Tom Gott
Apr 20, 2024
City are heading back to Wembley
City are heading back to Wembley / Alex Pantling/GettyImages
Manchester City booked their place in the FA Cup final with a scrappy 1-0 victory over Chelsea on Saturday.

Chelsea created plenty of opportunities, with Nicolas Jackson proving to be particularly wasteful in front of goal, and as was the case in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, the Blues were punished for their lack of cutting edge.

Bernardo Silva popped up with just a few minutes remaining to seal a much-needed victory for City, whose quest to win the double remain alive.

How the game unfolded
City had the better of the opening exchanges, with their high press causing Chelsea a number of defensive scares early on, but Nicolas Jackson offered up the first shot on goal seven minutes in with a tame effort into the gloves of Stefan Ortega.

Kevin De Bruyne's delightful pass put Phil Foden through on goal and the Englishman dinked his way around Djordje Petrovic, but Foden found himself too wide and could only send an aimless cross back into the six-yard box which was nodded away by Marc Cucurella.

Cucurella also scrambled away a cut-back from Bernardo Silva, but the offside flag quickly put an end to the tension.

It looked like Chelsea were going to take the lead when Jackson found his way past Ortega, but with defenders rushing back to the line, the Senegal international sent a misguided pass back into the box which was comfortably cleared.

John Stones had to block from Noni Madueke and Ortega saved from Cole Palmer as Chelsea tried to ramp up the pressure, but neither side could break the deadlock before the interval.

Madueke skied over the bar shortly after the restart before Ortega made two excellent saves to deny Jackson, and just a few minutes later, Petrovic had to get down quickly to deny Foden as both sides made a fast start to the second half.

Moises Caicedo fluffed yet another charge through on goal in what was becoming an increasingly frustrating showing from Chelsea in front in the final third.

The Blues were made to pay for their profligacy in the 84th minute as the ball found its way to Silva at the back post, and the Portugal international fired home to keep City in the race for two trophies this season.

Man City player ratings (4-1-4-1)
Stefan Ortega
Ortega impressed in goal / GLYN KIRK/GettyImages
GK: Stefan Ortega - 8/10 - Fairly busy throughout but did pretty much everything he needed to do. A smart save from Palmer in the first half and a great double-stop on Jackson after the restart.

RB: Kyle Walker - 5/10 - Guilty of giving Jackson far too much space in behind him. Bailed out by his pace once or twice.

CB: John Stones - 6/10 - Made a huge block to deny Madueke. Did his job well before being withdrawn at the break.

CB: Manuel Akanji - 5/10 - Surprisingly deployed in the hybrid midfield role but made things look a little uncomfortable at times.

LB: Nathan Ake - 7/10 - Busy up against Madueke but usually came out on top. Comfortable with the ball at his feet as well.

DM: Rodri - 5/10 - Looked tired after playing 120 minutes in midweek. Lost Palmer on more than one occasion.

RM: Phil Foden - 6/10 - Buzzed around with nice energy but didn't offer a whole lot in front of goal. Couldn't have done any better when he rounded Petrovic in the first half.

CM: Bernardo Silva - 7/10 - Pretty quiet before popping up with the all-important moment.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne - 6/10 - Like Silva, De Bruyne was not himself before sending in the cross which turned out to be the winner.

LM: Jack Grealish - 7/10 - City's most dangerous forward. Looked dangerous whenever he got on the ball and was involved in most of City's best moments.

ST: Julian Alvarez - 5/10 - Not particularly involved in proceedings. Chelsea's tough defence eliminated the space for him.

Substitutes
SUB: Ruben Dias (46' for Stones) - 6/10

SUB: Jeremy Doku (65' for Grealish) - 6/10

SUB: Oscar Bobb (88' for Alvarez) - N/A

Subs not used: Ederson (GK), Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, Sergio Gomez, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic

Manager
Pep Guardiola - 5/10 - This was far from a vintage performance from City, who looked very open at the back far too often.

Chelsea player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Nicolas Jackson
A wasteful day for Jackson / Alex Pantling/GettyImages
GK: Djordje Petrovic - 6/10 - Busier in the second half but rose to most challenges set to him. A particularly smart save to deny Foden.

RB: Malo Gusto - 7/10 - A good battle with Grealish. Very involved in Chelsea's attacks but perhaps lacked accuracy with his crosses.

CB: Trevoh Chalobah - 7/10 - Busy but comfortable. Looked happy with the ball at his feet and even popped up on the right wing.

CB: Thiago Silva - 7/10 - Marshalled the defence well, even flashing some nice agility when locked in a footrace.

LB: Marc Cucurella - 7/10 - Made some really important clearances early on when Chelsea were trying to establish themselves in the game.

DM: Enzo Fernandez - 5/10 - Played plenty of forward passes to try and force Chelsea in behind City's defence but not all of them were on target.

DM: Moises Caicedo - 6/10 - Tried to bring his energy in midfield but picked up a sloppy booking as he tried to chase the tempo of the game.

RM: Noni Madueke - 6/10 - A couple of nice sights of goal but most of Chelsea's attacks came down the opposite wing.

AM: Cole Palmer - 7/10 - Tried to involve himself in everything and played plenty of smart balls in behind City's defence. Span Rodri with some excellent footwork.

LM: Conor Gallagher - 7/10 - It's clearly a weird role for Gallagher but his typically impressive pressing was key to Chelsea's efforts.

ST: Nicolas Jackson - 4/10 - Can't fault the work rate as Jackson got in behind time and time again, but his inability to put the ball in the back of the net left fans in disbelief at times.

Substitutes
SUB: Mykhailo Mudryk (79' for Madueke) - 5/10

SUB: Axel Disasi (79' for Gusto) - 5/10

SUB: Ben Chilwell (88' for Cucurella) - N/A

SUB: Raheem Sterling (88' for Fernandez) - N/A

Subs not used: Marcus Bettinelli (GK), Alfie Gilchrist, Benoit Badiashile, Carney Chukwuemeka, Deivid Washington

Manager
Mauricio Pochettino - 7/10 - He'll be fuming. Chelsea created so many good opportunities here but once again found themselves on the losing side at Wembley.

Player of the match - Stefan Ortega (Man City)
Related Topics
Chelsea FC
Bernardo Silva
Manchester City FC
FA Cup
Phil Foden
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