LONDON — Wigan Athletic scored three times in four wild minutes Saturday to stun Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park and reach the semifinals of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's 81-year history. The visitors, facing another relegation battle in the Premier League and underdogs in this quarterfinal, had effectively booked their place in the last four after 34 minutes following goals from Maynor Figueroa, Callum McManaman and Jordi Gomez. Defender Figueroa headed Wigan in front from a corner in the 30th minute, former Everton schoolboy McManaman capitalized on Phil Neville's mistake to double the lead 90 seconds later, and Gomez, the Spanish midfielder, made it three with an exquisite left-foot curler from 20 meters. Everton, five-time winner of England's premier cup competition and runner-up in 2009, was booed off at halftime by its disbelieving fans. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez said: “I thought the performance was outstanding, from the keeper all the way through; to come to Goodison Park, to be able to score three goals and keep a clean sheet speaks volumes. “I think we deserve a little bit of credit, we stopped them from being dangerous,” he told ITV Sport. “We knew when to keep the ball, when to go forward, and we looked a real threat every time we got into the final third.” Wigan's appearance in the semifinal at Wembley will be a poignant one for its chairman, Dave Whelan. Whelan was 23 when he broke his leg at the famous stadium while playing for Blackburn in the 1960 FA Cup final against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves won 3-0 and the injury ended Whelan's top-flight playing career. On Sunday, Millwall faces Blackburn Rovers in an all-Championship tie and Manchester United meets Chelsea in the remaining sixth-round match. Both semifinals will take place at Wembley on the weekend of April 13 and 14. EPL relegation scrap hots up Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa came from behind to seize critical wins over Sunderland and Reading respectively Saturday and boost their hopes of escaping relegation from the Premier League. “That was the best I have seen us play,” QPR manager Harry Redknapp told the BBC. “We need to have a run of results like that.” Villa moved out of the bottom three after goals from Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor gave it a 2-1 victory at Reading whose relegation plight intensified. Bottom club QPR drew level on points and on goal difference with Reading as January signings Loic Remy and Andros Townsend helped fire it to a 3-1 win over Sunderland at Loftus Road. Norwich City's Grant Holt missed an injury-time penalty to allow Southampton, in 16th place, to leave Carrow Road with a 0-0 draw, and West Bromwich Albion beat League Cup winner Swansea City 2-1 at the Hawthorns. QPR stays bottom on 23 points, level with Brian McDermott's Reading. Wigan slipped into the bottom three as Villa climbed to 17th place with 27 points. Southampton, on 28, and Newcastle and Sunderland, both on 30 points, are not out of trouble yet. Newcastle hosts Stoke City Sunday. — Agencies
