FA Cup memories: Macken a mess of the cup

It was Manchester City at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup in February 2004. It should have been so simple considering it was before the billions. And it was… for 45 minutes.

The game had barely started before our legendary club captain Ledley King curled a shot home from inside the box and the atmosphere was electric on what should have been a routine Wednesday night win.

That sentiment was put further forward when the explosive Robbie Keane doubled the lead around the 20-minute mark before German midfielder Christian Ziege coolly converted a free kick to make it three. A red card for Joey Barton followed after the whistle and you’d have thought an absolute mauling of the Mancs on a wet night London was on the cards, right? Wrong.

If you’re a regular at White Hart Lane you’ll know that in the South Stand the atmosphere in the corridors at half-time is usually very upbeat and positive, fuelled by fearless belief that Tottenham can turn anything around, or better yet in this case, hang on and add to a spectacular lead with 45 minutes left on the clock. But in the back of every Spurs fan’s mind over the years there has always been that inkling of fear and doubt that something potent and uncalled for will jump out of the shadows and bite us on the backside.

[linequote]Ledley King curled a shot home from inside the box and the atmosphere was electric on what should have been a routine Wednesday night win[/linequote]

As overpriced Carlsberg got gulped during the interval on the night of February 4 all those years ago, conversations about the trip to Old Trafford in the next round were in full swing and the mood was as jubilant as it could have been in the knowledge that we were comfortably on our way to the fifth round that year. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got.

Shortly into the second half an unmarked Silvain Distin gave Man City hope with a header from close range before Paul Bosvelt rubbed salt in the wound with a wicked deflected shot that sailed into our net. With 20 minutes to go heads were turning in the home ranks with sinking thoughts of the inevitable and when it came with the 80th minute equaliser from none other than Shaun Wright-Phillips, one of the best Cup comebacks in history was confirmed.

Before that night City had notched only one win in their previous 18 games but when first half substitute Jon Macken looped a header over Kasey Keller (think Harry Kane’s winner vs. Woolwich last season) to swing the game in City’s favour the wait had been well worth it for the travelling supporters as a Manchester derby was set up for the resilient blues.

The then City manager Kevin Keegan said post-match: “They’ll talk about this game long after we’ve all gone,” – and here is a blog post about it 12 years on. Still, we’re nothing if we aren’t entertaining and that night remains one of the most momentous occasions at our great stadium in its illustrious history of hosting FA Cup football at White Hart Lane.

[linequote]Let’s show what the competition means by channelling our collective voice, achieving the right result and putting to bed any hint of a weak mentality under the lights[/linequote]

An additional point to take from the memory is that after scoring the winner Jon Macken has since revealed that the City players could hear the away fans singing at half-time despite being three goals down so let that be a lesson to anyone attending the game against Leicester this Sunday.

Regardless of the politics surrounding the potential team selection for the competition in light of our progress in the league this year the players need to be supported just as much as in any other game or season. Let’s show what the competition means by channelling our collective voice, achieving the right result and putting to bed any hint of a weak mentality under the lights.