Manchester City were beset by a goalkeeping crisis yesterday when the referee, Gary Willard, decided to uphold his dismissal of Andy Dibble in the game at Queen's Park Rangers earlier this month. Brian Horton, the City manager, had urged the official to look again at video evidence which appeared to show Dibble playing the ball cleanly before Les Ferdinand fell. Dibble will miss Saturday's trip to Coventry, the home game against Southampton and the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on 10 November.Simon Tracey, of Sheffield United, may be moving to Maine Road on loan. Substitutes: Chapman, Whitbread, Feuer (gk).Chelsea: Kharin; Hall (Lee, 77), Kjeldbjerg, Johnsen, Barness, Rocastle, Newton, Spackman, Wise, Peacock (Hopkin, 15), Shipperley. Substitute not used: Hitchcock (gk).Referee: K Cooper (Pontypridd) replaced by J Norbury (Harlow) h-t.. Miklosko acrobatically thwarted efforts from Erland Johnsen, Neil Shipperley and Wise twice.
After his full stretch, left-handed save from a 60th minute header, Wise held his head in disbelief - then ran up to shake the goalkeeper's hand. That single action confirmed that it was not to be Chelsea's night.West Ham: Miklosko; Breacker, Martin, Potts, Dicks, Allen, Rush, Bishop, Marsh, Cottee, Hutchison. It was Chelsea's 15th injury of the season and the manager, Glenn Hoddle, can hardly have expected the spirited response his side showed after David Hopkins came on as substitute.The West Ham goalkeeper, Ludek Miklosko, performed magnificently to deny Chelsea, ably marshalled by Dennis Wise. The former Liverpool player struck after just two minutes, his goal following a brisk move from West Ham's latest recruit from Anfield, the returning Julian Dicks. Banger surged into the area from the right, Seaman could only parry his cross shot and Lee Dixon hastily cleared as Holden closed in for the rebound.Graham, relieved to escape the 45 minutes unscathed, gave his charges some 'straight talking' during the break. Stefan Schwarz answered the call with a 25-yard left-foot shot which Gerrard was content to fend off. Campbell might have scored, but so might Oldham in a late rally.
Arsenal were not about to complain with parity.Oldham Athletic (4-4-2): Gerrard; Halle, Jobson, Redmond, Pointon; Bernard, Graham, Henry, Holden; Banger, McCarthy. Substitutes not used: Eyre, Brennan, Hallworth (gk).Arsenal (4-5-1): Seaman; Dixon (Keown, 35), Adams, Bould, Winterburn; Parlour, Selley, Merson, Schwarz, Campbell (McGoldrick, 86); Smith.Substitute not used: Bartram (gk).Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).. West Ham United 1 Chelsea 0 Liverpool's lessons in cup success are being absorbed at Upton Park's Academy. Don Hutchison, one of three recruits from Anfield, earned West Ham a place in the last 16 of the Coca-Cola Cup at the expense of Chelsea last night.
George Graham's heavily manned midfield was unable to contain the First Division's side's enthusiasm.The match had run a quarter of its course before Arsenal mustered a move worthy of their status. Merson's raking, diagonal pass opened up Oldham's left flank, Ray Parlour took the ball in his stride and Paul Gerrard beat away the rising shot.Oldham countered with typical zeal and menace. The senior England player was distinctly the busier of the goalkeepers, stretching to turn away Rick Holden's dipping shot in the eighth minute and bracing himself for the inevitable bombardment.Arsenal, deprived of Ian Wright's scoring craft, relied on Alan Smith as their sole out-and-out striker, with Paul Merson and Kevin Campbell endeavouring to lend support Oldham simply ripped up the plan. His impish turns and foraging runs constantly destabilised Arsenal's defence - Tony Adams enduring a particularly chastening experience.Even towards the end, when Arsenal had regrouped, Banger might have won it for Oldham, his well-controlled volley bringing a lunging save from David Seaman. Joe Royal's team, who swept Arsenal aside on their way to the final of this competition five seasons ago, raised the spectre again with a lusty, rousing first-half performance that ought to have produced a breakthrough. Nicky Banger, the on-loan striker considering a permanent move from Southampton to Oldham, suggested he would be a snip at pounds 300,000. Substitutes not used: Richardson, Spink (gk).Middlesbrough (4-5-1): Miller; Cox, Vickers, Whyte, Fleming; Hendrie, Blackmore, Pollock, Todd (Hignett, 79), Moore; Wilkinson.
Substitutes not used: Roberts, Wright (gk).Referee: K Morton (Bury St Edmunds).. Oldham Athletic 0 Arsenal 0 Arsenal survived the scares that come with the territory at Boundary Park and just about composed themselves sufficiently to take Oldham Athletic back to Highbury for a Coca Cola Cup third-round replay. The Boro goalkeeper's fingertip save from Yorke, and a foul on the same player which earned Neil Cox a yellow card on his return to Villa Park were signs of Villa's second-half superiority.Yorke, with long-range strikes, seemed more intent than most on seeing it reflected in the scoreline, although a second would have been harsh on Robson's men.The Middlesbrough manager did not dispute the justice of the outcome, but maintained that Miller had been fouled moments before Townsend struck.Aston Villa (4-4-2): Bosnich; Barrett, McGrath, Ehiogu, Staunton; Houghton, Parker, Townsend, Yorke; Whittingham (Lamptey, 81), Saunders. The visitors were by now finding it harder to maintain their early tempo, and Saunders promptly underlined their unease with another shot which Miller clutched at the second attempt. Hendrie forced a sprawling save from Bosnich as half-time beckoned, and Alan Moore did the same immediately after the interval.Five minutes later, Saunders sprinted clear of a clumsily set offside trap only to fire feebly wide as he cut in towards the six-yard area.
