Malaga rally to 4-2 win over Rayo Vallecano

Barcelona: Malaga came from behind to beat Rayo Vallecano 4-2 through Jose Rondon's double to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Spanish league on Thursday. Diego Costa stroked in a spot kick to give Rayo the lead five minutes in after Malaga defender Jesus Gamez fouled Emiliano Armenteros in the area. But Malaga dominated the rest of the way at La Rosaleda Stadium. Rondon headed home Eliseu Pereira's cross to equalize in the 35th. The Venezuela striker then netted again in the 58th when he took Eliseu's pass, held off his marker, and shot under the goalkeeper for his ninth goal of the season. Substitute Enzo Maresca put the result beyond doubt for the hosts with a header in the 70th. Roberto Trashorras scored Rayo's second with...

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EPL | Arsenal beat Everton 1-0 to move into 3rd place

Liverpool: Thomas Vermaelen scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park to move above rivals Tottenham into third place in the Premier League. Arsenal made just one change to their team that beat Newcastle 2-1 last time out as Aaron Ramsey replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the starting line-up. The Gunners kept their three-pronged attack with Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott playing just behind Van Persie. The Gunners started the game at a rapid pace and got into their passing game immediately, which lead to an early chance for Theo Walcott who was put through down the middle. He twisted and turned and his shot was blocked only as far as Ramsey who saw his effort deflected over. From the resulting corner,...

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EPL | City set record with 2-1 win over Chelsea

London: Manchester City narrowed the gap on leader Manchester United to a single point on Wednesday, scoring twice in the last 13 minutes to beat Chelsea 2-1 and win a Premier League-record 20th straight home game. Chelsea led through Gary Cahill's 60th-minute deflected shot but Sergio Aguero leveled the scores in the 78th with a penalty and Samir Nasri scored the winner seven minutes later following an exchange of passes with Carlos Tevez, who returned to action after six months away. "When they scored, I think we didn't deserve to go behind," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "But we wanted, we desired to win this game. "It's more than three points, this game." Chelsea had won four straight under new coach Roberto Di Matteo but their...

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EPL | Blackburn beat Sunderland 2-0

Blackburn, England: Blackburn eased their relegation worries with a 2-0 home win over Sunderland in the Premier League on Tuesday. Blackburn moved six points clear of the drop zone with nine games remaining after second-half goals by Junior Hoilett and Ayegbeni Yakubu. After a dull first half, Hoilett broke the deadlock in the 58th minute when he volleyed in after Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet's weak punch from a long throw-in. Yakubu wrapped up a deserved win for the hosts when he headed home in the 86th from Bradley Orr's cross. Players from both teams wore 'Pray for Muamba' T-shirts during the warm-up before the game in support of Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who is recovering in intensive care following a cardiac arrest during...

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Terry ruled out of Chelsea's trip to Man City

London: Chelsea defender John Terry has been ruled out of their vital upcoming Premier League clash against Manchester City after failing to overcome a knock picked up against Napoli. The 31-year-old was substituted during the latter stages of the Blues' thrilling extra-time win over the Italian side in the Champions League after injuring his knee and will miss the match at the Etihad Stadium, although Roberto Di Matteo is hopeful that his captain will be fit to face Spurs. "We almost have a fully fit squad for the City game, only [Oriol] Romeu and Terry are out,” the interim coach told reporters. "It's still a bit too early for Terry. He did very well to come back in such a short time and we were lucky. He should be fine for the weekend...

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Coppa Italia | Juventus beat Milan to the final

Italy: An extra-time goal from Mirko Vucinic was enough to take Juventus through to the Coppa Italia final after a pulsating 2-2 draw with AC Milan at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday. Holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg, the Turin giants were boosted by an Alessandro Del Piero goal in the first half, but goals after the break from Djamel Mesbah and Maxi Lopez subjected the Bianconeri to their first defeat of 90 minutes this season and took the tie into extra-time. Vucinic stepped up though to score a sumptuous goal to send the Old Lady to the final. Don't Miss With the Bianconeri holding all the cards going into the game, it was the Rossoneri who started the brighter of the two sides. Milan were completely dominating possession in the early...

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La Liga | Messi sinks Granada in record show

Barcelona: Lionel Messi hit a hat trick to become Barcelona's all-time leading scorer and keep the defending Spanish champions in the title chase with a 5-3 win over Granada on Tuesday. Less than two weeks after scoring a Champions League record five times, the three-time world player of the year took his career club tally to 234 goals, beating a 57-year-old milestone held by Cesar Rodriguez by two goals. Messi set up Xavi Hernandez's opener before extending Barcelona's lead in the 17th. And after Granada surprisingly rallied with two quick goals after halftime, Messi scored twice more to secure the win, recording his eighth hat trick of the season. "Messi doesn't score goals, he scores incredible goals," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said....

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Real Madrid draw 1-1 with Malaga

Madrid: Real Madrid's 11-game winning streak in La Liga came to an end as Malaga secured a dramatic 1-1 draw late on at the Santiago Bernabeu. Despite the visitors enjoying large spells of possession during the game, Karim Benzema put Los Blancos ahead until Santi Cazorla fired in a beautiful stoppage-time equaliser to ensure the spoils were shared, meaning the gap to Barcelona at the summit of the table is now eight points. The Real Madrid players showed respect to the plights of Eric Abidal and Fabrice Muamba at kick-off, wearing two-sided shirts offering messages of support to the duo in their respective battles with illness. When the game began, a flurry of chances for both sides made for an exciting spectacle, and Willy Caballero was...

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Cisse seal Newcastle win over Norwich

London: Newcastle United got their Europa League bid back on track with their first victory in four games against Norwich City at the Sports Direct Arena. The Magpies moved within two points of Chelsea in fifth place thanks to Papiss Cisse's solitary strike, during Alan Pardew's 500th career league game as manager. The scoreline could easily have been different as Canaries' keeper John Ruddy kept his side in the game with a string of impressive saves, but Paul Lambert's men failed to conjure a comeback to extend their winless run to four games. Pardew was able to recall Cisse back into the side alongside top scorer Demba Ba, whilst midfield lynchpin Cheikh Tiote missed out through injury. Norwich top scorer Grant Holt was relegated to the...

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Suarez, Downing fire Liverpool into FA Cup semis

Liverpool: Liverpool advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup after beating Stoke 2-1 at Anfield thanks to strikes from Luis Suarez and Stewart Downing as they kept alive their pursuit of a cup double. The Uruguayan gave the Reds the lead with a great right-footed strike in the 22nd minute following a good attacking move by the home-side. However they were pegged back minutes later by the former player Peter Crouch who headed home from close range in controversial circumstances. Downing, who hadn't scored since his 20 million pounds move from Aston Villa in the summer, finally got on the score-sheet when he fired a powerful shot past Sorensen to send his team into the semi-final's of the competition. Liverpool made one change from the...

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Torres scores as Chelsea enter FA Cup semis

London: Fernando Torres ended a 25-hour goal drought by scoring twice for Chelsea in a 5-2 victory over Leicester on Sunday to guide his team into the FA Cup semifinals. The Spain striker had failed to score for Chelsea since October until he found the net in the 67th minute, and he added another goal in the 85th at Stamford Bridge. Gary Cahill opened the scoring with a 12th-minute header. He marked his first Chelsea goal by unveiling a "Pray 4 Muamba" T-shirt in tribute to his former Bolton team-mate, who is in intense care after going into cardiac arrest and collapsing in Saturday's abandoned match at Tottenham. Salomon Kalou doubled Chelsea's lead in the 17th with a neat finish, and Raul Meireles rounded off the win in the 90...

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Champions League | Chelsea thrash Napoli 4-1 to enter quarters

London: Chelsea have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League following a 4-1 win over Napoli at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, winning 5-4 on aggregate. Chelsea made four changes from the team that beat Stoke at the weekend as David Luiz replaced Gary Cahill in the centre of defence, Michael Essien started in favour of John Obi Mikel, Juan Mata came in for Raul Meireles and Daniel Sturridge took the place of Salomon Kalou in attack. Napoli also made changes, but following their incredible 6-3 win over Cagliari at the weekend, only two changes were made to the team. Andrea Dossena was replaced by Christian Maggio and danger man Edinson Cavani returned to the starting line-up for Goran Pandev. Chelsea opened the scoring...

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Champions League | Real Madrid smash CSKA to enter quarters

Madrid: Real Madrid have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after making short work of CSKA Moscow with a 4-1 win in their second-leg clash at the Santiago Bernabeu. With the tie still on a knife edge after a 1-1 draw from the first encounter in Moscow, a Cristiano Ronaldo brace alongside goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema proved enough for Jose Mourinho's men to comfortably see off the threat of the visitors on their way into the last eight. Zoran Tosic's brilliant effort with 13 minutes remaining was nothing but bitter consolation, as the Russian outfit crashed out of the competition by a 5-2 aggregate scoreline. CSKA began with promise, and fired an early warning shot Madrid's way after seven minutes, with...

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Hazard excited by Man Utd interest

Manchester: Eden Hazard has admitted that he is excited by the interest shown in him by Manchester United, after Sir Alex Ferguson made the trip to France to see the Lille starlet in action over the weekend. The Red Devils boss attended the Ligue 1 club's 2-1 defeat away at Lyon to check on the progress of the talented Belgian, who has caught the eye of many Premier League sides. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has also made no secret of his desire to bring the 21-year-old to England. Hazard, who has scored 11 times in 27 appearances so far this season, concedes that he is likely to move onto an English club when the time is right and that the interest shown by United excites him, but insists that he must keep focus on his duties with Lille. The...

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Ranieri seeks more emotion from Inter in CL

Milan: Inter Milan manager Claudio Ranieri was moved to tears when he saw his squad end a nine-match winless streak at the weekend, and he's hoping the emotion carries over for another inspirational victory against Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday. Marseille carries a 1-0 first-leg lead to the San Siro but the French club is reeling after slipping to its fourth league defeat in a row without scoring a goal on Friday night, 1-0 away to Ajaccio. Inter beat Chievo Verona 2-0 Friday with late goals from Walter Samuel and Diego Milito for its first win since defeating Lazio 2-1 on Jan. 22 and Ranieri had tears in his eyes after Milito's strike. "It shows how much this means to me," Ranieri said. "This win comes just at the right time,...

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Munich confident of comeback vs Basel

Munich: After putting seven goals past Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich is confident it can overcome a one-goal deficit to FC Basel in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Swiss champion holds a slim advantage going into the second leg of their round of 16 tie thanks to substitute Valentin Stocker's 86th-minute winner at St. Jakob Park. But Bayern thrashed Hoffenheim 7-1 on Saturday in its 900th Bundesliga win to lift sagging morale after a difficult start to the year that had yielded only three wins from six league games. "This will give us a push for Tuesday. We know we have to make good a one-goal deficit," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said. "We're capable of scoring goals." After boasting of "textbook goals," ''sublime football" and "a frenzy,"...

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Messi scores twice as Barca beat Racing

Barcelona: Lionel Messi scored his 49th and 50th goals of the season to lead Barcelona to a 2-0 win at Racing Santander in the Spanish league on Sunday. Four days after scoring a Champions League-record five goals in Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen, Messi reached the 50-goal mark for the second straight season and closed to within five of matching Cesar Rodriguez's all-time club record of 235. Barcelona' fourth straight victory kept them 10 points behind runaway leader Real Madrid, but with 12 rounds to play the defending champions' chances of catching their fierce rival are dwindling. Messi broke through Racing's 10-man defense in the 29th minute, and the three-time FIFA World Player of the Year added a penalty in the 56th...

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Espanyol thrash Vallecano 5-1, Valencia held 2-2

Barcelona: Espanyol thrashed Rayo Vallecano 5-1 thanks to Kalu Uche's hat-trick for their first win in six games in the Spanish league on Sunday. The Nigerian striker headed in the fourth-minute opener at Cornella-El Prat stadium as Espanyol sought to rebound from last week's 5-0 loss at Real Madrid. Coutinho then scored his first goals since arriving at Espanyol on loan from Inter Milan. The 19-year-old Brazilian tapped in a cross from Sergio Garcia in the 10th and slalomed through two defenders to add another in the 23rd. Uche found the net with a superb chip shot from the edge of the area to make it 4-0 before halftime. Former Espanyol striker Raul Tamudo pulled one back for Rayo in the 54th, but Uche capped his hat-trick from a pass...

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AC Milan open up 4-point lead on Juventus

Rome: AC Milan bounced back from their loss to Arsenal by beating Lecce 2-0 on Sunday, as the Rossoneri opened up a four-point lead atop Serie A after Juventus were held to yet another draw, 0-0, by Genoa. Italy midfielder Antonio Nocerino put Milan ahead seven minutes in at the San Siro and Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled the lead in the 65th with his league-leading 19th goal of the season. In Genoa, Juventus hit the woodwork three times in the second half but could not find the target and had to settle for their 14th draw of the season - the most in the league. Also, it was: Atalanta 1, Parma 1; Catania 1, Fiorentina 0; and Cesena 0, Siena 2. While they still managed to advance in the Champions League, Milan were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal on Tuesday...

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Stunned Man City lose top spot to Man United

Swansea: Manchester City lost their top spot in the Premier League to rival Manchester United after a shock 1-0 defeat at Swansea on Sunday. Luke Moore scored with a powerful close-range header for the Welsh side in the 83rd minute as City, unbeaten in the league at home, lost their fourth away match this season. Man United beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 to move first - one point ahead of City. City's Micah Richards had a goal called back for offside in the dying minutes of the game at the Liberty Stadium. Joe Hart saved a penalty from Scott Sinclair in the 7th minute after the England goalkeeper was judged to have brought down Wayne Routledge. Yaya Toure was caught in possession by Gylfi Sigurdsson and Swansea coolly put Routledge down...

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Europa League | Sporting rally to beat City

Lisbon: Sporting Lisbon will take a lead to England next week in their Europa League round of 16 tie with Manchester City, after a 1-0 victory at the Estadio de Alvalade. A classy backheel finish from Xandao early in the second half proved the difference between the two sides, as City failed to prove their credentials against a well-organised home outfit. Ricardo Sa Pinto's team created the best chances of the match, and only Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s nervousness prevented Sporting from taking a bigger lead to Manchester. The hosts were first to create danger just three minutes into the game, when Daniel Carrico tried to find Van Wolfswinkel with a long ball, forcing Joe Hart to leave his place between the posts to nod away. The clearance fell...

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United go down to Bilbao in Europa League

London: Manchester United slipped to yet another poor home defeat in Europe this season after being beaten 3-2 by Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford in the Europa League. The home side took the lead, against the run of play through Wayne Rooney before Fernando Llorente equalised with a powerful header on the brink of half-time. Oscar De Marcos turned home a wonderfully crafted winner and Iker Muniain hit a late third before Rooney turned home a penalty in stoppage time to round off a thrilling affair. United made five changes to their side, Phil Jones moved into midfield as Chris Smalling was reintroduced to the defence and Javier Hernandez partnered Rooney in attack. Athletic made one change to the side that beat Real Sociedad in Sunday's...

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Relieved Milan grateful for rare Van Persie miss

London: With AC Milan's Champions League hopes under attack, the ball rebounded invitingly to Arsenal's Robin van Persie in front of goal and the striker seemed certain to level the last-16 tie at 4-4 on aggregate to complete an amazing comeback on Tuesday. Unbelievably, though, the Dutchman who cannot stop scoring chose the wrong option and his attempted dink went straight into the arms of relieved Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, and with it Arsenal's best chance of staying in the competition. The incident early in the second half proved a pivotal moment in the match as Arsenal, who had roared into a 3-0 half-time lead, ran out of steam and Milan held on for a 4-3 aggregate victory to move into the quarter-finals. "All that really mattered...

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Inter break five-game losing streak with draw

Milan: Inter Milan came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home to Catania in Serie A on Sunday and end their five-game losing run. Alejandro Gomez and Mariano Izco gave Catania a solid halftime lead as Inter was roundly booed throughout the first period. The game changed in less than 10 second-half minutes, however, as Diego Forlan helped Inter hit back with the team's first goal in six games before Diego Milito leveled. Inter are still winless in their past nine games, but the result could give coach Claudio Ranieri a stay of execution as he seeks to avoid becoming the club's second managerial casualty of the campaign. Inter are a point behind sixth-place Roma, which lost 2-1 in a heated derby match against Lazio with both sides...

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Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas sacked after 8 months

London: Andre Villas-Boas was fired by Chelsea after barely eight months in charge of the Premier League club on Sunday, leaving owner Roman Abramovich ruing his gamble on the inexperienced Portuguese and searching for his eighth manager in nine years. A regular visitor at training recently, the Russian oligarch lost patience with the 34-year-old Villas-Boas after Chelsea's first loss to West Bromwich Albion since 1979 on Saturday left the club fifth in the league, with 46 points from 27 games, and out of the lucrative Champions League qualification places. "Andre Villas-Boas has parted company with Chelsea," the club said in a statement. "The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship...

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Real crush Espanyol to be in the driver's seat

Barcelona: Real Madrid brushed aside Espanyol 5-0 on Sunday to march on toward their first Spanish league title in four seasons with their 10th consecutive win. Real dominated throughout, barely breaking a sweat in a commanding victory that restored their 10-point lead over defendings Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo took advantage of a defensive error by Espanyol to open the scoring with his league-leading 30th goal. Germany midfielder Sami Khedira added a goal before halftime. Gonzalo Higuain then scored twice and Kaka also found the net in the second half to seal Real's 12th win in 13 league games at Santiago Bernabeu stadium this season. "The team was focused on what it needed to do and we played the easiest game we could," Kaka said. "We...

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