Man United thrashed West Bromwich, EPL roundup

Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable goalscoring run as Manchester United kept the pressure on Chelsea and Liverpool with a 4-0 victory over West Bromwich at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov and Nani were also on the mark for United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side came up with the perfect response to victories from leaders Chelsea and second placed Liverpool earlier in the day.
Rooney, so impressive in England’s World Cup victories over Kazakhstan
and Belarus last week, also had what appeared a perfectly valid first half strike ruled out by referee Mark Halsey.
But that hardly mattered when the United forward extended his extraordinary scoring sequence to eight goals in the last six games for club and country.
A golden period of three goals in 15 minutes started in the 56th minute when United broke out of defence, Berbatov sprung Rooney with a pass from the halfway line and the forward powered into Albion territory, easily sidestepping Ryan Donk, before beating the keeper with an unstoppable near post shot.
In the 69th minute, any lingering hope Albion had of rescuing a point from their visit disappeared when Ronaldo doubled the home team’s lead.
Again, the goal showcased United at their most devastating and lethal best, hitting Albion on the counter-attack with Darren Fletcher's short pass beinghelped into the path of Ronaldo by Rooney and the Portugal winger easily scored the goal.
Two minutes further on, and Berbatov netted a goal, nonchalantly turning in the ball at the far post after Jonas Olsson had failed to deal with Nani’s low cross. Nani completed the rout on the stroke of normal time, turning in Rooney’s far post cross after Ryan Giggs and Berbatov had launched another flowing attack.
On Sunday, Hull City gatecrashed the Premier League’s top four again with a 1-0 home defeat of West Ham United thanks to Michael Turner’s 51st minute goal.

EPL results for 18th, 19th, 20th October'08

Saturday 18th October

Chelsea 5 - 0 Middlesbrough
Arsenal 3 - 1 Everton
Liverpool 3 - 2 Wigan Athletic
Manchester United 4 -0 West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Bolton Wanderers 0 - 0 Blackburn Rovers
Fulham 0 - 0 Sunderland

Sunday 19th October

Hull City 1 - 0 West Ham United
Stoke City 2 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Monday 20th October

New Castle United 2 - 2 Manchester City

Torres double strike helps a thrilling comeback win for Liverpool against Man City in EPL

Liverpool 3 (Torres 55' 73', Kuyt 90') Man City 2(Ireland 18', Garrido 41')

Liverpool went through ecstasy and agony against Man City - celebrating a fabulous fightback but losing Martin Skrtel with a serious knee injury.

After being two goals down at City, Dirk Kuyt's last-gasp goal sealed their best comeback win since the Champions League Final in Istanbul.

But Skrtel (right) - hurt making a superb tackle to deny Ched Evans with the score at 2-2 - will be out for months with ligament damage.

Seconds after the defender was taken off on a stretcher, Kuyt stabbed in the winner.

City were flying when Stephen Ireland opened the scoring and Javier Garrido doubled the lead just before half-time.

But Fernando Torres pulled a goal back for the visitors and City then had Pablo Zabaleta sent off on 67 minutes for a stupid lunge at Xabi Alonso.

City were fuming when Skrtel got away with a kick to Jo's back which disrupted their plans by forcing him off. Gelson Fernandes came on to replace him.

Liverpool were soon level through Torres's second goal of the game and completed their turnaround when Kuyt struck in injury time.

Other matches in EPL:

Tottenham 0-1 Hull City

Blackburn 0-2 Manchester United

West Brom 1-0 Fulham

Wigan 0-1 Middlesbrough

Everton 2-2 New Castle

West Ham 1-3 Bolton

Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa

Portsmouth 2-1 Stoke City

Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal

Spain crowned European Champions

Spain 1(Torres 33') Germany 0

Vienna: Spain ended their 44-year wait for a major international title with a 1-0 victory over Germany at the Euro 2008 final here on Sunday.Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game in the first half as football's perennial underachievers finally banished that unwanted tag to the history books.It was the first time Spain had won the European title since 1964 and their first final since 1984.They seemed to start tentatively and a mistake from Sergio Ramos gave Miroslav Klose a glorious opportunity after just four minutes, but after taking the ball past Carles Puyol his next touch was too strong and he ran the ball out of play.Spain gradually started to settle but three-time champions Germany still had the next chance, Thomas Hitzlsperger hitting a tame shot straight at Spain captain Iker Casillas.Just before the quarter-hour mark Jens Lehmann came to Germany's rescue as a cross from Andres Iniesta deflected off Christoph Metzelder's boot and only a stunning reaction save from the Arsenal stopper prevented a goal.Spain were starting to take control and Torres headed a Xavi free-kick over the bar.On 23 minutes Sergio Ramos cut in from the right and crossed to the back post where Torres climbed above the considerably taller Per Mertersacker; his downward header beat Lehmann but unfortunately for Spain not the base of the post.Up the other end Spain's slightly suspect defence was struggling to cope with the direct running of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski but Germany created little despite captain Michael Ballack's volley being blocked by Sergio Ramos.Then on 33 minutes Torres put Spain ahead with a moment of sublime quality. He latched onto a piercing through ball from Xavi, outpaced Philipp Lahm and chipped the ball over the advancing Lehmann with a flicked shot that could have threaded the eye of a needle.Spain were suddenly rampant and Iniesta crossed to the back post where the unmarked David Silva had a rush of blood to the head and lashed a volley wildly over.Spain seemed brimming with confidence at the start of the second period and both Xavi and Silva went close with long range efforts before Torres again outpaced the German defence but couldn't quite reach the ball before Lehmann came out to smother.Germany coach Joachim Loew responded by sending on a second forward in Kevin Kuranyi to replace midfielder Hitzlsperger.That immediately shifted the momentum of the game and on the hour a mistake from Puyol was almost punished as Ballack fired just wide; moments later Casillas came storming out of goal to take a cross from Ballack off Kuranyi's head.Spain remained dangerous and Sergio Ramos forced Lehmann into a fine block with a powerful header from a Xavi free-kick before Torsten Frings cleared a shot from Iniesta off the line.Brazil-born Marcos Senna came within inches of settling the game in the final 10 minutes but he couldn't quite stretch his leg out far enough to meet substitute Daniel Guiza's downward header with the goal at his mercy.

Final squads anounced for euro 2008

All 16 competing nations at UEFA EURO 2008 have submitted their finalised 23-man squad lists to UEFA.
Countdown begins
There are just three days to go until kick-off and the countdown begins in earnest now that all 368 competing players have been named. Co-hosts Switzerland get the tournament under way against the Czech Republic in Basel on 7 June, before fellow co-hosts Austria begin their Group B campaign the following day in Vienna. Comprehensive profiles of each player with all the latest statistics will be available on http://www.euro2008.com/

UEFA EURO 2008 squads

Austria: 1Alex Manninger 2 Joachim Standfest 3 Martin Stranzl 4 Emanuel Pogatetz 5 Christian Fuchs 6 René Aufhauser 7 Ivica Vastic8 Christoph Leitgeb 9 Roland Linz 10 Andreas Ivanschitz 11 Ümit Korkmaz12 Ronald Gercaliu 13 Markus Katzer 14 György Garics 15 Sebastian Prödl 16 Jürgen Patocka 17 Martin Hiden 18 Roman Kienast 19 Jürgen Säumel 20 Martin Harnik 21 Jürgen Macho 22 Erwin Hoffer23 Ramazan ÖzcanCoach: Josef Hickersberger

Croatia: 1 Stipe Pletikosa 2 Dario Šimić 3 Josip Šimunić 4 Robert Kovač 5 Vedran Ćorluka 6 Hrvoje Vejić 7 Ivan Rakitić 8 Ognjen Vukojević 9 Nikola Kalinić 10 Niko Kovač 11 Darijo Srna 12 Mario Galinović 13 Nikola Pokrivač14 Luka Modrić 15 Dario Knežević 16 Jerko Leko 17 Ivan Klasnić 18 Ivica Olić 19 Niko Kranjčar 20 Igor Budan 21 Mladen Petrić 22 Danijel Pranjić 23 Vedran RunjeCoach: Slaven Bilić

Czech Republic: 1 Petr Čech 2 Zdeněk Grygera 3 Jan Polák 4 Tomáš Galásek 5 Radoslav Kováč 6 Marek Jankulovski 7 Libor Sionko 8 Martin Fenin 9 Jan Koller 10 Václav Svěrkoš 11 Stanislav Vlček12 Zdeněk Pospěch 13 Michal Kadlec 14 David Jarolím 15 Milan Baroš 16 Jaromír Blažek17 Marek Matějovský 18 Tomáš Sivok 19 Rudolf Skácel20 Jaroslav Plašil 21 Tomáš Ujfaluši 22 David Rozehnal 23 Daniel ZítkaCoach: Karel Brückner

France: 1 Steve Mandanda2 Jean-Alain Boumsong 3 Eric Abidal 4 Patrick Vieira 5 William Gallas 6 Claude Makelele 7 Florent Malouda 8 Nicolas Anelka 9 Karim Benzema 10 Sidney Govou 11 Samir Nasri 12 Thierry Henry 13 Patrice Evra 14 François Clerc 15 Lilian Thuram 16 Sébastien Frey 17 Sébastien Squillaci 18 Bafétimbi Gomis19 Willy Sagnol 20 Jérémy Toulalan 21 Lassana Diarra 22 Franck Ribéry 23 Grégory Coupet Coach: Raymond Domenech

Germany: 1 Jens Lehmann 2 Marcell Jansen 3 Arne Friedrich 4 Clemens Fritz 5 Heiko Westermann6 Simon Rolfes 7 Bastian Schweinsteiger 8 Torsten Frings 9 Mario Gómez 10 Oliver Neuville 11 Miroslav Klose 12 Robert Enke 13 Michael Ballack 14 Piotr Trochowski 15 Thomas Hitzlsperger 16 Philipp Lahm 17 Per Mertesacker 18 Tim Borowski 19 David Odonkor 20 Lukas Podolski 21 Christoph Metzelder 22 Kevin Kuranyi 23 René AdlerCoach: Joachim Löw

Greece: 1 Antonios Nikopolidis 2 Giourkas Seitaridis 3 Christos Patsatzoglou 4 Nikolaos Spyropoulos5 Traianos Dellas 6 Angelos Basinas 7 Georgios Samaras 8 Stylianos Giannakopoulos9 Angelos Charisteas 10 Georgios Karagounis 11 Loukas Vintra12 Konstantinos Chalkias 13 Alexandros Tzorvas14 Dimitrios Salpingidis 15 Vassilios Torosidis 16 Sotirios Kyrgiakos 17 Theofanis Gekas 18 Ioannis Goumas 19 Paraskevas Antzas 20 Ioannis Amanatidis 21 Konstantinos Katsouranis 22 Alexandros Tziolis 23 Nikolaos Liberopoulos Coach: Otto Rehhagel

Italy:1 Gianluigi Buffon 2 Christian Panucci 3 Fabio Grosso 4 Giorgio Chiellini 5 Fabio Cannavaro 6 Andrea Barzagli 7 Alessandro Del Piero 8 Gennaro Gattuso 9 Luca Toni 10 Daniele De Rossi 11 Antonio Di Natale 12 Marco Borriello13 Massimo Ambrosini 14 Marco Amelia 15 Fabio Quagliarella 16 Mauro Camoranesi 17 Morgan De Sanctis18 Antonio Cassano 19 Gianluca Zambrotta 20 Simone Perrotta 21 Andrea Pirlo 22 Alberto Aquilani 23 Marco Materazzi Coach: Roberto Donadoni

Netherlands: 1 Edwin van der Sar 2 André Ooijer 3 John Heitinga 4 Joris Mathijsen 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst 6 Demy de Zeeuw 7 Robin van Persie 8 Orlando Engelaar 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy 10 Wesley Sneijder 11 Arjen Robben 12 Mario Melchiot 13 Henk Timmer 14 Wilfred Bouma 15 Tim de Cler 16 Maarten Stekelenburg 17 Nigel de Jong 18 Dirk Kuyt 19 Klaas Jan Huntelaar 20 Ibrahim Afellay 21 Ryan Babel 22 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 23 Rafael van der VaartCoach: Marco van Basten

Poland: 1 Artur Boruc 2 Mariusz Jop 3 Jakub Wawrzyniak 4 Pawel Golański 5 Dariusz Dudka 6 Jacek Bąk 7 Euzebiusz Smolarek 8 Jacek Krzynówek 9 Maciej Żurawski 10 Łukasz Garguła11 Marek Saganowski 12 Tomasz Kuszczak 13 Marcin Wasilewski 14 Michał Żewłakow 15 Michał Pazdan16 Jakub Błaszczykowski 17 Wojciech Łobodziński 18 Mariusz Lewandowski 19 Rafał Murawski 20 Roger Guerreiro21 Tomasz Zahorski 22 Łukasz Fabiański 23 Adam Kokoszka Coach: Leo Beenhakker

Portugal: 1 Ricardo 2 Paulo Ferreira 3 Bruno Alves 4 Bosingwa 5 Fernando Meira 6 Raul Meireles 7 Cristiano Ronaldo 8 Petit 9 Hugo Almeida 10 João Moutinho 11 Simão 12 Quim 13 Miguel 14 Jorge Ribeiro 15 Pepe 16 Ricardo Carvalho 17 Ricardo Quaresma 18 Miguel Veloso 19 Nani 20 Deco 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Rui Patrício23 Hélder Postiga Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari

Romania: 1 Bogdan Lobonţ 2 Cosmin Contra 3 Răzvan Raţ 4 Gabriel Tamaş 5 Cristian Chivu 6 Mirel Rădoi 7 Florentin Petre 8 Paul Codrea 9 Ciprian Marica 10 Adrian Mutu 11 Răzvan Cociş 12 Marius Cornel Popa 13 Cristian Sapunaru 14 Sorin Ghionea 15 Dorin Goian 16 Bănel Nicoliţă 17 Cosmin Moti 18 Marius Niculae19 Adrian Cristea 20 Nicolae Dică 21 Daniel Niculae 22 Ştefan Radu 23 Eduard StăncioiuCoach: Victor Piţurcă

Russia: 1 Igor Akinfeev 2 Vasili Berezutski 3 Renat Yanbaev4 Sergei Ignashevich 5 Aleksei Berezutski 6 Roman Adamov7 Dmitri Torbinskiy 8 Denis Kolodin 9 Ivan Saenko 10 Andrei Arshavin 11 Sergei Semak12 Vladimir Gabulov 13 Pavel Pogrebnyak 14 Roman Shirokov 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov 16 Vyacheslav Malafeev 17 Konstantin Zyrianov 18 Yuri Zhirkov 19 Roman Pavlyuchenko 20 Igor Semshov 21 Dmitri Sychev 22 Aleksandr Anyukov 23 Vladimir Bystrov Coach: Guus Hiddink

Spain: 1 Iker Casillas 2 Raúl Albiol 3 Fernando Navarro4 Carlos Marchena 5 Carles Puyol 6 Andrés Iniesta 7 David Villa 8 Xavi Hernández 9 Fernando Torres 10 Cesc Fábregas 11 Joan Capdevila 12 Santi Cazorla 13 Andrés Palop14 Xabi Alonso 15 Sergio Ramos 16 Sergio García 17 Daniel Güiza 18 Álvaro Arbeloa19 Marcos Senna 20 Juanito Gutiérrez 21 David Silva 22 Rubén De La Red23 Pepe Reina Coach: Luis Aragonés

Sweden: 1 Andreas Isaksson 2 Mikael Nilsson 3 Olof Mellberg 4 Petter Hansson 5 Fredrik Stoor6 Tobias Linderoth 7 Niclas Alexandersson 8 Anders Svensson 9 Fredrik Ljungberg 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović 11 Johan Elmander 12 Rami Shaaban 13 Johan Wiland14 Daniel Majstorovic 15 Andreas Granqvist 16 Kim Källström 17 Henrik Larsson18 Sebastian Larsson 19 Daniel Andersson 20 Marcus Allbäck 21 Christian Wilhelmsson 22 Markus Rosenberg 23 Mikael Dorsin Coach: Lars Lagerbäck

Switzerland: 1 Diego Benaglio 2 Johan Djourou 3 Ludovic Magnin 4 Philippe Senderos 5 Stephan Lichtsteiner 6 Benjamin Huggel 7 Ricardo Cabanas8 Gökhan Inler 9 Alexander Frei 10 Hakan Yakin 11 Marco Streller 12 Eren Derdiyok 13 Stéphane Grichting 14 Daniel Gygax 15 Gelson Fernandes 16 Tranquillo Barnetta 17 Christoph Spycher 18 Pascal Zuberbühler 19 Valon Behrami 20 Patrick Müller21 Eldin Jakupovic22 Johan Vonlanthen 23 Philipp Degen Coach: Jakob Kuhn

Turkey: 1 Rüştü Reçber 2 Servet Çetin 3 Hakan Balta 4 Gökhan Zan 5 Emre Belözoğlu 6 Mehmet Topal7 Mehmet Aurélio 8 Nihat Kahveci 9 Semih Şentürk 10 Gökdeniz Karadeniz 11 Tümer Metin 12 Tolga Zengin13 Emre Güngör14 Arda Turan 15 Emre Aşık 16 Uğur Boral17 Tuncay Şanlı 18 Kazım Kazım19 Ayhan Akman 20 Sabri Sarıoğlu 21 Mevlüt Erdinç22 Hamit Altıntop 23 Volkan Demirel Coach: Fatih Terim

Manchester United claimed Champions League Title in Mascow

Moscow: Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was Manchester United's hero as Sir Alex Ferguson's side claimed the club's third European Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea on a night of almost unbearable drama in Moscow. As many had predicted, the competition's first all-English final ended in penalties and ultimately it was van der Sar's full-length save from Nicolas Anelka that ensured United won the shoot-out 6-5 after the match had ended 1-1 after extra-time. The triumph ensured ensured a season that has seen United mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster ended with both the Premier League and Champions League trophies back at Old Trafford. Chelsea had their chance to claim the trophy for the first time after Cristiano Ronaldo had had his effort saved by Petr Cech. But captain John Terry pushed his spot-kick - Chelsea's fifth - wide of the target. It was hard on the London club, who could justifiably claim to have come closest to winning the match in the two hours that preceded the dramatic finale. It was also debatable whether Terry would have taken a penalty had Didier Drogba not been sent off shortly before the end of extra-time for tapping Nemanja Vidic on the face as several players on either side squared up to each other. United's early domination had yielded a deserved opener in the form of Ronaldo's 26th-minute header, the Portuguese winger's 42nd goal of an extraordinary season. But after failing to take the chances that followed, Ferguson's men were pegged back by Frank Lampard's equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Chelsea went on to dominate after the break and almost claimed a winner when Drogba's 25-yard shot came back off the post with van der Sar beaten. Chelsea struck the woodwork again in the opening period of extra-time, Lampard's cute shot on the turn bouncing off the bar with United's goalkeeper once more struggling. Substitute Ryan Giggs then had a glorious chance to mark his record-breaking 759th appearance for United in style but the veteran winger never really connected with Patrice Evra's cutback and Terry was able to head the ball to safety. With the exception of Park Ji-Sung's exclusion from United's match-day squad, there were no surprises in the personnel on display, although Ferguson did tweak United's usual shape. Owen Hargreaves was deployed on the right side of midfield with Ronaldo in the left-sided role that Park had been tipped to fill. With Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez alongside each other in attack, Ferguson also departed from the lone-striker policy. Michael Essien's relative inexperience at right-back may have influenced United's thinking and it was the Ghanaian's poor positioning that enabled United to take the lead.

Ronaldo missed penalty as Man Utd draw with Barca into the Champions League's first leg SF

Barcelona: Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo missed an early penalty as his side drew 0-0 with a dominant Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. The Portugal international sent his spot kick high and wide after Barca centre-back Gabriel Milito handled the ball in the area with just over a minute on the clock. Barca, the only non-English side in the semis, have been poor in the league but gave a far more impressive performance against an out-of-sorts United and will feel short-changed by a result that leaves the tie delicately balanced before next week’s return at Old Trafford. United seemed to have got off to a dream start when Milito conceded a penalty in the second minute, handling the ball after Ronaldo had beaten him to a header in the area. But the normally super cool Portuguese completely missed the target, sending the ball past Victor Valdes’s left post after he tried to chip it into the top corner. The crowd exploded with delight at the winger’s error, while United seemed to be in shock at their team mate’s miss. Barca took advantage of the confusion in the United ranks to put the visitors under heavy pressure with Deco driving forward from midfield and providing some good service for Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o. United barely got a sniff off the ball as Deco and Yaya Toure bossed the midfield and when they did get possession they looked nervous and surrendered the ball almost immediately. Barcelona continued to dominate the middle of the park but did not seriously challenge Van der Sar until the United goalkeeper tipped a long-range shot from right back Gianluca Zambrotta over the bar.

Chelsea Escape defeat At Anfield in Champions League's 1st leg SF

Liverpool 1(Dirk Kuyt 43) Chelsea 1(Riise own goal 90+4)

Chelsea escaped from Liverpool with a 1-1 draw after the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, rescued by an injury time own goal from substitute John Arne Riise. Dirk Kuyt had given Liverpool the lead after 43 minutes when he fired between goalkeeper Petr Cech’s legs and with almost five minutes of injury time played, it looked as though Liverpool would take a deserved lead to Stamford Bridge for next week’s second leg. However with Austrian referee Ko Plautz looking at his watch, Chelsea stitute Salomon Kalou lofted one last h ball into the Liverpool penalty area. ise, who had replaced the injured Fa Aurelio after 62 minutes, stooped t and head the ball clear, but instead ed it past helpless goalkeeper Pepe Reina and into the roof of his own net. It gave Chelsea a share of the spoils they hardly deserved as Liverpool dominated for long periods but were denied by some outstanding saves from Cech. With time almost up, it looked as though the seventh meeting between the teams in the Champions League in the last four seasons was about to end in a 1-0 scoreline for the fourth time. Instead, this match became the first to produce two goals and leave the tie on a knife-edge with Chelsea the slight favourites to advance to the final in Moscow on May 21. Although Chelsea started the brighter, they failed to create any real scoring chances. Their best opportunity in the opening exchanges came after only three minutes when Didier Drogba saw his free-kick deflected to safety by the wall. The breakthrough eventually came two minutes before half-time after a sustained period of Liverpool pressure. The move began with a quickly taken free-kick by Xabi Alonso who found Kuyt. His cross was headed clear by John Terry to Lampard who was dispossessed by Kuyt. The ball ran to Alonso who found Javier Mascherano, and his miscued shot beat Claude Makelele’s atted head er, allowing Kuyt to fire ugh C ech’s legs to put Liverpool ahead. It was the third time he had scored in knockout rounds after goals against Milan and Arsenal and looked to have done enough to win the match. Cech then denied Torres with another fine stop at his near post and Chelsea took full advantage.

Man Utd manage to Draw with Tevez's late equalizer

London: Carlos Tevez equalised two minutes from the end for Manchester United to draw 1-1 at Blackburn and stay three points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League title race. Roque Santa Cruz put Blackburn ahead in the 21st minute at Ewood Park and Rovers threatened to throw the title race wide open. After Rovers goalkeeper Brad Friedel had made a series of top quality saves, Tevez leveled in the 88th minute when he headed home a flick-on from Paul Scholes. United now have 81 points and Chelsea 78 with the two teams meeting at Stamford Bridge next Saturday. United have a far superior goal difference of 54 against Chelsea’s 36. Chelsea were idle after beating Everton 1-0 Thursday. Blackburn unsettled United’s defence and was rewarded with Santa Cruz’s 20th goal of the season. Both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic missed the ball as Morten Gamst Pedersen’s throw in found its way to Santa Cruz’s feet. Nani released Wayne Rooney in the 86th only for Friedel to divert the shot wide. After Friedel produced another save to deny John O’Shea’s header,Tevez nodded home at the far post to level after Scholes flicked on Nani’s corner. In Saturday’s other games, fourth place Liverpool won 2-0 at Fulham to push the cottagers closer to relegation.

Barca draw again in spanish league

Madrid: Barcelona’s chances of winning the Spanish title looked doomed after a 0-0 draw in the local derby with Espanyol. Despite dominating the game for long periods, the Spanish giants failed to find the net in their Nou Camp stadium thanks to a combination of poor finishing and solid defending from Espanyol. Barca have drawn their last three league games. Real Madrid now have an eight-point advantage over Barca at the top of the table and a game in hand. The 30-time Spanish champions could have this season’s league title wrapped up by the time Barca visit the Santiago Bernabeu stadium for the latest edition of ‘El Clasico’ on May 7. Barcelona had a purple patch in the middle of the first half but Xavi Hernandez, Gianluca Zambrotta and Samuel Eto’O couldn’t convert good opportunities. Even the introduction of the often-inspirational Lionel Messi at half time failed to break the deadlock. Barca pressed hard for almost the entire second half but were unable to break down a resilient Espanyol.

AC Milan beat Reggina as Kaka scored hat-trick in Serie A

Rome: World player of the year Kaka scored a hat-trick as AC Milan beat lowly Reggina 5-1 at the San Siro on Sunday to keep alive their Champions League qualification hopes. Milan are still four points behind Fiorentina, who beat Palermo 1-0 at home on Saturday, with four matches to play as they chase that crucial fourth place and a slot in Europe's premier competition next season. Sixth-placed Sampdoria stayed level on points with Milan as they beat Udinese 3-0 at home, leaving the seventh-placed north-easterners eight points behind Fiorentina and out of the race for Europe's premier competition. Third-placed Juventus need only one more point to ensure they play Champions League football next season as veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory at Atalanta. Milan got off to a flying start with Kaka putting them ahead from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Francesco Modesto. Luca Vigiani brought down veteran Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf on 34 minutes and Kaka held his nerve a second time from 12 yards. But five minutes before the break, Reggina pulled one back through Edgar Barreto, who sent a fizzing strike into the top corner of Australian goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac's net. Kaka completed his treble with a low right-footed shot from the left into the far corner and super-poacher Filippo Inzaghi mopped up the loose ball after substitute Pato's shot was turned onto a post by goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo. Pato put the final gloss on the result, heading home a cross from French midfielder Yohann Gourcuff.

Chelsea's chances of EPL championship shrink as they drew with Wigan

London: Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Premier League took a huge dent at Stamford Bridge on Monday when an injury time goal from Emile Heskey gave the visitors a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge against wigan. His strike cancelled out a 55th minute goal from Michael Essien that had given Chelsea the lead. Manchester United have 80 points, Chelsea have 75, Arsenal with in third place on 71 points after losing at United on Sunday. They still looked all set to close the gap on United to three points thanks to Essien’s strike. However, they were punished for not taking their chances when Heskey latched on to a cross from Jason Koumas and lashed the ball past Petr Cech from close range.

Inter Milan maintained their top position by beating fiorentina

Inter Milan beats Fiorentina 2-0 at the San Siro on Sunday to maintain their four-point lead in Serie A. Goals from Esteban Cambiasso and teenage striker Mario Balotelli earned the champions a deserved victory over Champions League chasing Fiorentina. The result also gave AC Milan a Champions League lifeline after they lost 3-2 at Juventus on Saturday. The Viola’s loss meant Milan remain just four points off fourth place and the final Champions League qualification position. Inter had the better of the first half chances but goalkeeper Sebastien Frey was in fine form. But he could do nothing 10 minutes after the restart when Patrick Vieira managed to square the ball into the box, finding Cambiasso, who rifled home into the roof of the net. Seven minutes later rising star Balotelli beat the offside trap and kept his head to cooly slot home.

Manchester United nail down Arsenal in EPL

Manchester United defeat Arsenal 2-1 and move six points clear of second-place Chelsea in English soccer's Premier League. Liverpool beat Blackburn 3-1. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty kick and Owen Hargreaves struck a free kick past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann after Emmanuel Adebayor put Arsenal ahead in the 48th minute at Old Trafford. United, now unbeaten in eight league matches, has 80 points from 34 matches, with Chelsea on 74 points from 33 of 38 games. Arsenal remains on 71 points, with Liverpool five points further back. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres scored the 30th goal of his debut season at the club to help the Reds in their attempts to secure the last qualifying spot for next season's Champions League. City rival Everton is five points back in fifth spot. Steven Gerrard and Andriy Voronin also got goals, with Roque Santa Cruz replying for Blackburn in injury time. Gerrard got the opening goal after 60 minutes. Torres headed into the net from a Gerrard cross after 82 minutes, with his replacement Voronin finishing from close range in the last minute.

Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A soccer round up

Madrid: Marco Ruben scored with two headers and rallied Recreativo Huelva to a 2-2 draw against FC Barcelona. The Argentine forward looped the equaliser over approaching goalkeeper Victor Valdes inside the far post in the 71st minute. Samuel Eto’o accounted for both of Barcelona’s goals, outjumping his marker in the second minute to deflect Giovani dos Santos’ short cross and spraying a bouncing ball from long range into the top corner in the 46th. Barcelona failed to subdue the 17th-place Recreativo and can fall further behind La Liga leader Real Madrid. Madrid, which plays no 19 Murcia, has 66 points, six more than Barcelona. Villarreal, which plays 9th-ranked Almeria, has 59. Recreativo has 37 to be four clear of relegation. Earlier on Saturday, Mohammed Tchite scored in the 83rd to give Racing Santander a 2-1 win over Valencia.

Juve beat 10-man AC Milan in thriller

Rome: Juventus dealt a potentially fatal blow to 10-man AC Milan’s Champions League hopes with a 3-2 win in blockbuster match in Turin. Goals from Alessandro del Piero, David Trezeguet and Hassan Salihamidzich gave the hosts the edge over the reigning European champions, who counted two Filippo Inzaghi goals while Daniele Bonera was dismissed in the second half. Juve thus closed the gap on second-placed AS Roma to seven points.

Manchester United and FC Barcelona storm into the Champions League Semis

Manchester United 1(Carlos Tevez 70) AS Roma 0

Manchester: Manchester United kept alive their dream of a Champions League and Premier League double when they beat AS Roma 1-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to become the third English side to qualify for the semi-finals. Carlos Tevez scored the only goal after 70 minutes when he dived in low to head home an Owen Hargreaves cross and secure United’s 11th straight home win in European competition. That put the English champions and league leaders 3-0 up on aggregate, a result that secured a place in the last four and maintained their belief they can win the European Cup for the third time in Moscow in May after the triumphs of 1968 and 1999. Roma, trailing 2-0 from the first leg, had a chance to get back in the tie with a 30th minute penalty for a foul by Wes Brown on Mancini but Daniele de Rossi blasted over the bar. United, into the last four for the second successive season and for the fifth time in the Champions League, will now face Barcelona at the end of the month.

FC Barcelona 1(Yaya Toure 43) Schalke04 0

Barcelona: Barcelona set up a mouth-watering Champions League semifinal against Manchester United with a nervy 1-0 win over Schalke 04 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. Barca, 1-0 up from the first leg of the quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen, were put under severe pressure in the opening half hour but the Schalke storm blew itself out just before halftime and the Catalans were gifted a goal after a series of mishaps in the German defence. Midfielder Yaya Toure scuffed the ball in from close range in the 43rd minute after a Bojan Krkic cross from the right had ballooned off the foot of a defender and was then headed off the line. Now Barca have 2-0 aggregate over Schalke04.

Liverpool and Chelsea reach Champions League SF

Liverpool 4(Hyypia 30, Torres 69, Gerrard 85(pen), Babel 92) Arsenal 2(Diaby 13, Adebayor 84)

Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-2 in a classic Champions League battle at Anfield on Tuesday to clinch their quarter-final tie 5-3 on aggregate and reach the semi-finals. Arsenal, took the lead through Abou Diaby after 13 minutes. Liverpool fought back with a header from Sami Hyypia on the half hour and a stunning shot on the turn from Fernando Torres in the 69th minute to take a 2-1 lead on the night and 3-2 on aggregate. A breakaway by substitute Theo Walcott which saw him skate past four Liverpool players six minutes from time set up Emmanuel Adebayor to make the score 2-2 — 3-3 on aggregate and Arsenal ahead on away goals. Liverpool got a lifeline a minute later when Arsenal defender Kolo Toure tugged Babel’s arm to concede a penalty and Gerrard, who had not had the best of games, scored to put Liverpool 3-2 ahead. Babel sealed the win with his stoppage time goal to finally ease the tension at Anfield which was almost unbearable throughout an absorbing, enthralling encounter.

Chelsea 2(Ballack 4, Lampard 87) Fenerbahce 0

London: Michael Ballack put Chelsea on course for another Champions League semi-final collision with Liverpool as his goal set up a 2-0 win over Fenerbahce in Tuesday’s quarter-final, second leg. Ballack’s first half header was followed by a late Frank Lampard strike at Stamford Bridge to send Avram Grant’s side through 3-2 on aggregate.

Man Utd escapes defeat as Rooney's late equaliser in EPL

Middlesbrough: Wayne Rooney’s late equaliser rescued a point for Manchester United as they were pushed all the way by Middlesbrough in a pulsating 2-2 Premier League draw at the Riverside Stadium here on Sunday. Middlesbrough’s 12 million pounds (US$24 million dollars) club record signing Afonso Alves finally came good to break his duck with cool finishes either side of half-time to threaten table-topping United with a rare defeat. But Sir Alex Ferguson’s men displayed their title credentials by hitting back through Rooney’s 17th goal of the season with 16 minutes left, as the England striker swept home a low Park Ji-Sung cross from close range with the aid of a deflection off defender David Wheater. The draw was enough to push United three points clear at the top as they close in on their 10th Premier League crown. But their failure to win on Sunday means that second-placed Chelsea retain hopes of preventing the Old Trafford club from successfully defending their title.

Real Madrid forced to draw by Mallorca in Spanish Primera La Liga

Madrid: Ten-man Real Madrid continue to give their title rivals hope after dropping two points in an action-packed 1-1 draw at Real Mallorca. Wesley Sneijder put Real ahead shortly before half-time but Sergio Ramos was sent off for two bookings midway through the second half and seven minutes later Mallorca made the extra man count with substitute Borja Valero curling in a brilliant equaliser on Saturday. Real are now seven points ahead of Villarreal at the top of the Spanish first division but Manuel Pellegrini’s team can shave that lead to four points with victory over Sevilla on Sunday. Barcelona are eight points behind Real and have a tricky home match against Getafe. Real were relieved to pick up a point as Mallorca should have won the match late on but Daniel Guiza hit the crossbar with the goal at his mercy to let the champions off the hook.

Inter Milan regain top slot at Serie A

Milan: Inter Milan restored their four-point lead in Serie A after goals from Patrick Vieira and Mario Balotelli secured a 2-0 win at Atalanta on Sunday. Second-placed AS Roma’s 3-2 win over Genoa on Saturday had cut the gap to a point but champions Inter returned to form with a clinical display after three league games without a win. Vieira’s 21st-minute header was controversial however, after he climbed all over Atalanta defender Maximilano Pellegrino to convert Balotelli’s corner. Balotelli, 17, scored his first league goal when he rounded the keeper in the second half. With six games remaining, Inter have 72 points and Roma are on 68. Fourth-placed Fiorentina are four points clear of AC Milan in the race for the final Champions League spot after strikers Giampaolo Pazzini and Adrian Mutu sealed a 2-0 win over Reggina.

Arsenal drew with Liverpool and Chelsea stunned by Fenerbahce into the Champions League 1st Leg QF

ARSENAL 1(Adebayor 23) LIVERPOOL 1(Dirk Kuyt 26)

London: Arsenal and Liverpool drew 1-1 in an end-to-end Champions League quarter-final first leg match at the Emirates Stadium. Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor headed Arsenal in front after 23 minutes when he rose unchallenged to power the ball past keeper Pepe Reina from close range. Arsenal’s joy was shortlived, however, as Liverpool equalised in the 26th minute when captain Steven Gerrard surged past three defenders wide on the left and crossed for Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt to slide home. Wednesday’s match was the first of three between the teams inside seven days. The game had all the power, speed and high tempo play typical of the Premier League and while Arsenal created the better chances, Liverpool defended superbly. Their only slip was to leave Adebayor free to score his 24th goal of the season and his second in successive games in the Champions League. Robin van Persie had a great chance to put Arsenal ahead after 20 minutes when he found himself in space and onside after escaping his markers after collecting a 50-metre pass from Mathieu Flamini. Somehow though, with only Reina to beat, he sent a left-foot volley high over the bar. Two minutes later he forced Reina into a low dive to his left to force a corner—from which Arsenal scored. Van Persie’s cross found the unmarked Adebayor and the tall striker rose unchallenged to powerfully head home. Gerrard, who had an outstanding game, provided a quick response with the cross for Kuyt who nipped in between Philippe Senderos and Gael Clichy to equalise. Arsenal appeared to have legitimate claims for a penalty denied when Kuyt seemed to pull back Aleksandr Hleb’s left shoulder inside the box. Dutch referee Pieter Vink, who did not need to use cards throughout the game, waved play on. Liverpool were fortunate twice in the space of five minutes midway through the second half. Defender Martin Skrtel cleared an Emmanuel Eboue shot off the line and a shot from Cesc Fabregas hit Arsenal team mate Nicklas Bendtner standing on the Liverpool goal-line.

TEAMS:

Arsenal: 24-Manuel Almunia; 5-Kolo Toure, 10-William Gallas, 6-Philippe Senderos, 22-Gael Clichy; 27-Emmanuel Eboue (26-Nicklas Bendtner 67), 16-Mathieu Flamini, 4-Cesc Fabregas, 13-Aleksandr Hleb; 11-Robin van Persie (32-Theo Walcott 46), 25-Emmanuel Adebayor.

Liverpool: 25-Pepe Reina; 23-Jamie Carragher, 37-Martin Skrtel, 4-Sami Hyypia, 12-Fabio Aurelio; 8-Steven Gerrard, 20-Javier Mascherano, 14-Xabi Alonso (21-Lucas Leiva 76); 19-Ryan Babel (11-Yossi Benayoun 58), 18-Dirk Kuyt; 9-Fernando, Torres (10-Andriy Voronin 86).

FENERBAHCE 2(Kazim-Kazim 65, Deivid 81) CHELSEA 1(Deivid 13 own goal)

Istanbul:Fenerbahce midfielder Deivid went from zero to hero as his side came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal, first leg. Deivid had looked like the villain of the peace when he gifted Chelsea the lead with an early own goal at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium. But the Turkish champions snatched an equaliser through Colin Kazim-Kazim midway through the second half and Deivid made amends for his earlier blunder with a breathtaking winner nine minutes from full-time. As the club's volatile fans crammed into the stadium hours before kick-off, it was easy to see why they were unbeaten in the last 11 home European matches. In such a seething cauldron of noise, Chelsea's stars made an assured start and scored with their first serious attack in the 13th minute. Frank Lampard cleverly dummied Ashley Cole's pass, allowing Florent Malouda to find space on the left side of the penalty area. He drove a low cross towards Didier Drogba and Deivid tried to clear but only succeeded in deflecting the ball past by wrong-footed keeper Volkan Demirel into his own net. Confidence now flowing, Michael Essien almost doubled Chelsea's lead moments later with a swerving 25-yard strike that skimmed the crossbar. Drogba's muscular presence unsettled Zico's team time and again. Michael Ballack had yards of space to produce a majestic defence-splitting pass to Drogba. The Ivorian striker was only denied a goal by Demirel's charge from his line. Kazim-Kazim was an unlikely saviour for Fenerbahce. He was called Kazim-Richards when he was bought by Brighton with a transfer fee donated by a fan but changed his name after moving to Turkey last year. Fenerbahce equalised as Grant's side were caught sleeping at the back in the 65th minute. Mehmet Aurelio's pass cut out Chelsea's centre-backs and Kazim-Kazim timed his run perfectly before lashing it past Cudicini.And there seemed little danger when Deivid took possession 30 yards out in the 81st minute. He quickly disproved that theory with a stunning strike that arrowed into the top corner.

TEAMS:

Fenerbahce: 1-Volkan Demirel; 19-Onder Turaci, 2-Lugano, 36-Edu, 6-Gokcek Vederson; 33-Claudio Maldonado, 15-Mehmet Aurelio, 25-Ugur Boral (8-Colin Kazim-Richards 54); 99-Deivid, 9-Mateja Kezman (23-Semih Senturk 72), 20-Alex

Chelsea: 23-Carlo Cudicini; 5-Michael Essien, 26-John Terry, 6-Ricardo Carvalho, 3-Ashley Cole; 13-Michael Ballack, 4-Claude Makelele, 8-Frank Lampard (12-John Obi Mikel 76); 15-Florent Malouda, 11-Didier Drogba, 10-Joe Cole (39-Nicolas Anelka 86).