Four second half goals saw Chelsea thrash Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge as the visitors pushed the self destruct button after the break. Tim Sherwood’s men kept the hosts at bay during the first half but one mistake after the restart was enough for the Blues to score.
English Premier League
While in position, Jan Vertonghen lost his footing and under pressure tried to pass the ball back. The attempted pass was poor and was pounced on by Samuel Eto’o who calmly slotted home past Hugo Lloris. Eto’o was brought down on the hour mark by Younes Kaboul inside the box and the defender was sent off. Eden Hazard converted the spot kick with ease. Tottenham found themselves in an irrecoverable position. To make matters worse, substitute Demba Ba came on and scored a brace in the dying minutes. The first was when Sandro slipped while trying to deal with a cross and the forward drilled the ball home. He grabbed another a minute later when Kyle Walker’s back header fell short and he was on hand to finish up.
Manchester United recorded a much needed win to keep their top four hopes alive when they beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns. Phil Jones headed in Robin Van Persie’s free kick on 34 minutes as the first half ended 1-0. Wayne Rooney headed in Rafael’s’ brilliant cross from the right to make it two. He then combined with Marouane Fellaini to set up substitute Danny Welbeck who scored his side’s third on 81 minutes. United will welcome the much needed confidence as they host Liverpool and Manchester City in the coming weeks.
Cardiff City beat fellow strugglers Fulham 3-1 at home thanks to Steven Caulker’s brace. Lewis Holtby scored for the Cottagers and Sascha Riether scored an own goal. Jay Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game as Southampton beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park. Bradley Johnson’s opener was cancelled out by Jonathan Walters’ penalty as Norwich City had to settle for a point at home against Stoke City. Walters was later sent off for a dangerous tackle.
English FA Cup
Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 win over Everton at the Emirates and will meet Wigan Athletic in the semi finals. Mesut Ozil opened the scoring for the Gunners in the 7th minute and Romelu Lukaku drew level on 32 minutes. Mikel Arteta restored the lead from the spot on 68 minutes and Olivier Giroud scored a brace in 2 minutes to send the hosts through.
Manchester City were dumped out of the cup by holders Wigan as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad. Jordi Gomez opened the scoring for the Latics after Marc-Antoine Fortune was brought down inside the box by Martin Demichelis. James Perch made it two soon after the restart. Samir Nasri pulled one back with over 20 minutes to play but City could not find a way back as they lost for the second straight time to Wigan in the Cup.
Ryan Flynn and John Brayford scored as Sheffield United beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 at home. Curtis Davies, David Meyler and Matty Fryatt scored as Hull City beat Sunderland 3-0 at the KC Stadium.
Arsenal will meet Wigan while Sheffield United will play Hull City in the semi finals.
Spanish La Liga
League leaders Real Madrid beat Levante 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo and Nikos Karabelas (own goal). David Villa scored a brace as Atletico Madrid beat Celta Vigo 2-0 away. Barcelona succumbed to yet another league defeat as they lost 1-0 at Real Valladolid. Real are 3 points clear of city rivals Atletico and 4 clear of arch rivals Barca.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich continued their great form as they hammered Wolfsburg 6-1 away from home. Thomas Muller and Mario Mandzukic scored a brace each while Xherdan Shaqiri and Franck Ribery also scored for the Bavarians. Naldo scored the opener of the game. Sebastian Kehl scored the only goal as Borussia Dortmund beat Freiburg 1-0 away while Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 away at Hannover. Schalke thrashed Hoffenheim 4-0 at home with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring a hat trick. Bayern lead the pack with 68 points followed by Dortmund on 48 and Leverkusen on 44. Schalke and Wolfsburg make up the top five.
Italian Serie A
Kwadwo Asamoah scored the only goal of the game as Juventus beat Fiorentina 1-0 at home. Jose Maria Callejon scored the solitary goal as Napoli beat AS Roma 1-0 at home. Inter Milan beat Torino 1-0 at home while AC Milan lost 1-0 away at Udinese. Juventus lead the table followed by Roma, Napoli, Fiorentina and Inter Milan.
French Ligue 1
Ezequiel Lavezzi scored a brace and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also scored as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bastia 3-0 away. Dimitar Berbatov and James Rodriguez scored for AS Monaco as they beat Sochaux 2-1 at home. Lille beat Montpellier 2-0 at home while Marseille lost 1-0 at home to Nice and Lyon beat Bordeaux 2-1 away from home. PSG lead with Monaco in second and Lille in third. St Etienne are in fourth with Lyon and Marseille in fifth and sixth respectively.
Portuguese Liga
Benfica 2-0 Estoril
Vitoria Setubal 2-2 Sporting Lisbon
FC Porto 4-1 Arouca
Dutch Eredivisie
Ajax Amsterdam 1-1 Cambuur Leeuwarden
Go Ahead Eagles 1-0 Twente Enschede
FC Groningen 0-2 Feyenoord Rotterdam
NAC Breda 1-2 Vitesse Arnhem
PSV Eindhoven 1-0 FC Utrecht
