Bolton's Muamba collapses on the field; tie called off

Tottenham Hotspur's FA Cup quarter-final against Bolton Wanderers was abandoned on Saturday after Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed near the centre circle.

No other player was involved in the incident, which occurred just before halftime, and after a delay of several minutes referee Howard Webb took the players off the field.

The match was abandoned soon afterwards.

Medics arrived on the pitch quickly and gave the 23-year-old Muamba CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), a Reuters eye witness said. Reports also said Muamba was fighting for his life.

A number of players gathered around Muamba, some crying and holding their heads in their hands.
As Muamba was carried off the pitch on a stretcher there were a few bursts of applause from the crowd before they fell silent.

Muamba, born in Zaire and an England Under-21 international, was taken to hospital.

Everton held

Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, mwenwhile, 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 quarterfinal on Saturday.

Sunderland have not beaten Everton in any competition since 2001 but they started the brighter of the two teams and it came as no surprise when Scotland defender Phil Bardsley gave them a 12th-minute lead with a rare goal.

A free kick wide on the right was touched to Bardsley who took a couple of steps forward before unleashing a ferocious long-range drive that eluded a cluster of players in the penalty area.

It was the full back's fourth goal since joining twice FA Cup winners Sunderland from Manchester United four years ago. Everton equalised against the run of play in the 24th minute.

Tim Cahill, who has notched more than 100 goals from midfield in his career, has struggled to find the net in recent months but his second goal of the season set up a replay at the Stadium of Light on March 27.

Cahill beat Belgian international Mignolet from eight metres after showing lightning reactions to nod in a header from Nikica Jelavic.

The Australian had two chances to grab the winner for Everton before Mignolet flew to his right in the closing stages to save a flicked header from John Heitinga and quickly picked himself off the floor to stop Jelavic's close-range followup.

"That was a fantastic double save by Mignolet, really brilliant," Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill told ITV Sport.