Martin O’Neill’s hopes of ending his FA Cup jinx died a death last night as Everton beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light.
Under Brian Clough O’Neill won the championship and League Cup as a player before winning two League Cup’s while in charge of Leicester City.
Two seasons ago he took Aston Villa to the semi-final of the FA Cup but it’ll be Davie Moyes and Everton that are Wembley bound to meet Liverpool in the last four.
Former Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic opened the scoring just before half-time before an own goal from David Vaughan killed the tie off early in the second half.
The defeat will come as a big disappointment to O’Neill and Sunderland but after staring relegation in the face in December they look certain of finishing the season in the top half of the table.
Disappointed O’Neill admitted: “Everton were better than us. They deserved to win the game. We didn’t perform well enough – we didn’t perform at all, and that’s really disappointing.
“We were ready for the night and to see the sort of atmosphere just before kick-off, the noise level, was something we should experience more often here at the Stadium of Light.
“It was a great evening, a great night for football and we disappointed.”
Moyes will face another former Celt, Kenny Dalglish in the semi-final, having lost twice in the Premiership to Liverpool already this season.
After recently celebrating the tenth anniversary of replacing the sacked Walter Smith Moyes would love to finally put a major honour on his impressive management cv.
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