The French striker will be absent from the Arsenal first team lineup for the first time this season on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho got the perfect birthday present when his Chelsea side beat Stoke City 1-0 in the FA Cup fourth round at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Brazilian midfielder Oscar scoring the goal from a stunning free kick.
Manchester City reached the FA Cup final for the first time since 1981 after a dramatic 1-0 win over arch rivals Manchester United, who finished with 10 men after midfielder Paul Scholes was sent off 18 minutes from time.
Arsenal crushed Middlesbrough 4-1 while Chelsea ended the challenge of minor League Scarborough with a 1-0 win.
Two goals for Roman Pavlyuchenko and two own goals helped Tottenham Hotspur advance to an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Fulham after a 4-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers in their fifth-round replay on Wednesday.
Liverpool cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 5-2 rout of Championship side Norwich City on Sunday, to kick off Juergen Klopp's long goodbye at Anfield.
"Winning the final and scoring two is fantastic," said the prolific Dutch international.
They beat Millwall to win the FA Cup final 3-0 and lift the trophy for a record 11th time.\n\n
Roberto Mancini, the King of the Italian Cup, took his first step towards Wembley when his Manchester City side earned a 1-0 third-round FA Cup win at Championship side Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Manchester City to beat second-tier Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals but Jose Mourinho's problems piled up as his Tottenham Hotspur side were bundled out in a penalty shootout by Norwich City.
Holders Chelsea eased into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 4-1 home victory over Championship (second division) side Cardiff City on Saturday while Portsmouth won by the same score at local rivals Southampton. After a season of shocks, the upsets dried up in the fifth round as Birmingham City came from behind to win 2-1 at Championship side Derby County with a last-minute goal by Liam Ridgewell while Manchester City and Stoke City drew 1-1.
Rodri won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world, beating Brazil's Vinicius Jr and England's Jude Bellingham.
Nicolas Anelka rescued Chelsea's FA Cup hopes on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at Watford to avoid a shock fifth-round exit. In their first game since Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked and with replacement manager Guus Hiddink watching in the stands, Chelsea fell behind to the Championship (second division) strugglers when Tamas Priskin netted with 21 minutes remaining.
Jack Wilshere's late strike gave Arsenal a 1-0 FA Cup third-round replay win over Swansea City and Wayne Rooney's first goal in over a month earned Manchester United a 1-0 victory over West Ham United on Wednesday.
Daniel Sturridge scored on his Liverpool debut and Luis Suarez caused controversy as the seven-times winners beat minor league Mansfield Town 2-1 to reach the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.
Brown Ideye scored twice as West Bromwich Albion progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
'We changed our attitude, desire and organisation at halftime and then we were completely different. It was good for my players to learn and to suffer on the pitch'
Aston Villa will meet holders Arsenal in the FA Cup final next month.
Premier League champions Chelsea, beginning to find their form under Guus Hiddink after a shocking start to the season, will face Manchester City in the outstanding tie of the FA Cup fifth round following Sunday's draw.
Much-maligned striker Fernando Torres rescued FA Cup holders Chelsea from an ignominious fourth-round exit after his 83rd-minute equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw at third tier Brentford on Sunday.
Luton Town made a mockery of the 85 places between themselves and Norwich City to become the first minor league club to beat a top-flight side in the FA Cup for 24 years on Saturday.
Last season's FA Cup runners-up Chelsea struck four times before the break to crush second-tier Hull City 4-0 and stroll into the quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge on Friday.
Bradford City produced another giant-killing to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
A hat-trick by Jermain Defoe sent Tottenham Hotspur into the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday as the Premier League side beat League One Leeds 3-1 away in a pulsating fourth-round replay. Leeds, going well in the third tier of English football, had knocked out Manchester United at Old Trafford in the previous round and snatched a 2-2 White Hart Lane draw in the original game.
Liverpool surrendered a two-goal lead as they were held to a 2-2 draw by third-tier Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday after second-half substitute Jason Cummins struck twice to inject some much-needed late magic into the competition. Earlier, Harry Maguire's thunderbolt for Manchester United started a goal rush at Tranmere where the Reds scored five times before halftime. Diogo Dalot, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood also scored.
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic will miss Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley after being handed a three-match ban by the Football Association (FA).
Holders Chelsea and Premier League champions Manchester United were bundled out of the FA Cup quarter-finals. Chelsea lost 1-0 at Championship (second division) side Barnsley, while Portsmouth won 1-0 at Old Trafford.
Daniel Sturridge headed in the equaliser as Chelsea drew 1-1 with Birmingham City on Saturday to force a replay of their FA Cup fifth-round encounter after a performance that did nothing to alleviate the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Manchester City thrashed West Ham United 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday to claim their first back-to-back wins since October.
Portsmouth beat Cardiff City 1-0 to win their first FA Cup since 1939.
Didier Drogba struck late to clinch a 2-1 victory for Chelsea over Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday. The Ivory Coast striker pounced on Frank Lampard's lofted pass with six minutes remaining to give Chelsea their first FA Cup success over Arsenal since 1947.
West Ham United have been fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($108,061) by FIFA following a dispute with the Senegalese FA over Diafra Sakho who played in an FA Cup match having withdrawn from the squad for the African Nations Cup.
Alex Ferguson may have been stripped of his Manchester United ambassadorial role last week but his legacy as manager remains a stifling cloud for those following in his footsteps, with Erik ten Hag the latest to be jettisoned after failing to measure up.
Chelsea coach Antonio Conte declared himself 'a serial winner' after leading his side to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday and said it was up to the club to decide whether to fire him.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Premier League clubs Watford and Hull City, and Championship side Leeds United paid the penalty for fielding weakened teams when they were all knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Sunday -- but holders Manchester United won comfortably.
Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet produced a spectacular double save in stoppage time to earn his side a 1-1 draw at Everton after a pulsating end-to-end FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
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